The annual Barrington Art Festival in historic downtown Barrington started with a ribbon cutting, opening the 15th year of the event that Rollin Potter, director of the Barrington Cultural Commission, called a “wonderful opportunity to meet artists from all over the country.”
“A ribbon cutting symbolically opens the show and it’s just like a curtain rising at a performance,” said festival organizer Amy Amdur, of Highland Park, president of Amdur Productions, a fine arts festival company she founded in 1984.
“And a festival is, in fact, a performance,” Amdur added. “The artists are the actors on stage and their craft is their art.”
The two-day Barrington Art Festival started May 25 and was presented in partnership with the village of Barrington.
“The great thing about art, any kind of art, is that when you experience it, something happens in your mind that in a few seconds or minutes changes your mind,” Potter said. “It makes you feel better.”
Amdur visited the booth of neo expressionist artist Tali Lopez, of San Diego, California, where Amdur pointed out a work by Lopez on a 4×4-foot birchwood panel called, “Make Art, Not War,” priced at $5,500.
“This piece (“Make Art, Not War”) becomes much more complicated when you look at how it overlays with current events, and it’s a pretty controversial piece,” said Amdur, calling the work one of the most controversial art pieces she’d seen in decades.
Lopez had another work at the festival that used the words, “Be a Fountain, Not a Drain.”
Lopez talked about his concerns for the world.
“I just want everybody to just love each other,” Lopez said. “A little bit of kindness goes a long way.”
Janette Tepas, of Barrington, president of the Barrington Area Artists Association, was at the festival representing the association – which has regrown to about 30 members.
The association’s tent featured the works of 14 member artists, hailing from Skokie, Woodstock, Crystal Lake, Lake Zurich, Lake Barrington Shores and more. Their art included glasswork, photography and painting.
“We want everybody to be represented,” Tepas said.
Event amenities included children’s art activities plus the popular oversized bubble making attraction.
Laila Pinter, 5, was among the children who participated. Her mother, Audra, called the festival a “fantastic event.”
“The kids have so much fun coming every year,” she said. “We really appreciate that there are some kid-friendly activities.”
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer.
