FEA Roswell Arts Festival

Its Time for the 51st Annual Roswell Arts Festival

By Julie Senger

On September 16-17, north Fulton families will be gearing up to attend the Roswell Recreation Associations annual Roswell Arts Festival! The festival features regional artists, local entertainment, childrens activities and several food trucks where you can purchase lunch or an early dinner.

Beginning in 1966, the Roswell Recreation Association began the Arts Festival to promote the arts in Roswell while raising funds for additional recreation and parks projects. It has been so successful that it is the only fundraising initiative of the Association. Over the years, more than one million dollars have been raised and subsequently used to help purchase park land, playground equipment, spraygrounds, meditative gardens, and many other projects that have benefitted residents of all ages in Roswell. Visit JessicaCBarker.Wixsite.com/roswellartsfestival/about to see the long list of projects that have been funded by the Arts Festival.

Each year, the Roswell Arts Festival attracts award-winning artists from all over the region in a variety of different mediums. Here are a couple of last years award winners

Brenda Steele

Brenda won an award in the 3-D category at 2016s Roswell Arts Festival. She began her artistic journey in 1984, creating stained glass. Her venture into jewelry designing was literally by chance. She was visiting a lifelong friend in Fairhope, Alabama who had just taken a jewelry class. Her friend showed her how to make a pair of earrings, and she was hooked! What started as a hobby, grew into a small business, which is now Brendas full-time job.

Over the years, Brenda has found her niche in wire, mostly copper. Most of her designs are created through the bending and forging (hammering) of copper wire. Brenda said, The hunt for unique, exotic and unusual stones and beads, and turning them into beautiful creations, is very exciting for me. My goal is to create unique, functional art and some just for fun.

Brenda creates jewelry, wine bottle decorations, bookmarks, key holders and more. She is especially drawn to stones such as agate, jasper and turquoise. You will see the marriage of glass, stones, beads and wire in many of her pieces.

Some of Brendas other awards include the following:

- First Place, Dahlonega Art Council Spring Art Show 2010
- Second Place in the Fine Arts Category, 2010 Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival, Foley, Alabama
- Second Place in Best of Show, Mountain Flower Festival 2013, Dahlonega, Georgia


Manami Yagashiro Lingerfelt

Manami was a winner in last years 2-D category at the Roswell Arts Festival. She was born in Japan, graduating from Tokyo Musashino Art Junior College in 1985 and earned an additional BFA degree from Kennesaw State University in 2015. Manami began her art career in Tokyo, Japan as a graphic designer and illustrator with major magazines and newspapers. Over the years, she had the opportunity to explore the world, dwelling briefly in places such as India, Nepal, Sweden and other parts of Asia and Europe from 1987-1997. Manami now calls Dallas, Georgia home and has produced paintings inspired by the mystical aspects of the places she visited and of the natural world.

Manami desires to express positive energy through her paintings. She has been featured in exhibits in both the United States and Japan and is a continuing presence at art shows and in publications.
Her most recent awards include the following:

- 1st Place Award, 44th Leaf Festival Arts and Crafts 2017
- Best in Show, 2016 Canton Festival of the Arts
- 2016 Winner of the Cartersville Super Kroger Muralist
- 3rd Place, Art Carnegie Artists of Georgia 2nd Annual Art Exhibit & Competition
- 2016 Best in Show, First Friday Art Walk, Marietta Square

To learn more about Manami or her art, please visit ManamiArt.com/.

These artists are just two examples of the many artists and various mediums you will see represented at the Roswell Arts Festival. So, come on out, and see the wonderful works that this years artists have in store for you! By supporting these artists, you are also helping to build more parks and recreational facilities for the Roswell community. The Roswell Arts Festival will be held in the Historic Town Square at 610 Atlanta Street. Festival hours are 10:00am-5:00pm on both days. Visitors are encouraged to park at Roswell City Hall, which is located at 38 Hill Street, Roswell.