Artists in Paradise comes to town

PARADISE – Later this week local artists and their works will fill the Paradise Elementary School.

The second annual Artists in Paradise event will run three days from Thursday, July 23 through Saturday, July 25, going from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on these days.

The exhibit will feature 16 visual artists in addition to performing artists, art demonstrations, children’s activities, raffles and door prizes.

This year’s show at the historic school building themed “Experience Paradise,” provides local artists with an opportunity to show their work and get more exposure in the area through the three-day event.

The event also provides local artists with an opportunity to introduce the community to a variety of artistic creations.

“One of our goals is to educate the community about art. Demonstrations are one way to do that,” Karen Thorson said.

Artist Dane McNabb created a work featuring the show’s theme, which will be available for sale in a variety of sizes during this week’s show.

The work will be framed and placed within the school.

Both color and black and white prints of the themed artwork will be available at this week’s show.

In addition to the show itself, there will be interactive activities offering visitors to the show a hands-on opportunity to experience art.

One of these activities is the community painting, a work participating artist in the show start and visitors to the show complete over the course of the exhibit.

“It’s something we do to get people actively involved,” Thorson said.

There will also be activities geared toward the exhibit’s younger attendees.

Shirley Proctor will be running the activities for children at the show and there will be a pop-up with a variety of art activities giving kids an opportunity to use paint, beads and multimedium.  

The show is organized by the Sanders County Arts Council, which brought the first annual edition of Artists in Paradise to the school last year.

Last year’s show was a successful debut to the Artists in Paradise event and the arts council is looking forward to another busy week in Paradise. in the coming days.