By Carmen Brown
Art lovers in the Hoover area are in for a treat this fall at the nationally acclaimed 61st Annual Bluff Park Art Show, planned for October 5 at Bluff Park Community Park.
What started many years ago as a local fundraiser for the Bluff Park Elementary Library is now Jefferson County’s largest and longest-running fine arts show, bringing 3,000 to 4,000 visitors annually. Visitors can browse and meet with artists who have created their own masterpieces from metal, jewelry, photography, 2-D and 3-D mixed media, ceramics, fiber, woodwork, clay and sculpture. Children can participate in hands-on interactive activities while adults can purchase original handmade fashions and gifts.
This year’s judge will be Rod Bigelow, who has served as executive director and chief diversity and inclusion officer of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art since 2013.
The top prize is the Best in Show, which will be added to the Bluff Park Art Association’s Permanent Collection of more than 100 pieces chosen for display in Hoover schools and venues.
Parking will be on-site, and food will be available from delicious favorites like Kona Ice, Birmingham Wings & Waffles, G.R.’s Smokehouse, Chicks N Doughnuts, Urban Cookhouse, Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee, Cookie Fix and Alabama Peanut Co. Music and entertainment will be provided by musician James Quackenbush and Birmingham-born singer-songwriter Alice Bargeron.
Voted Best Community Event for three years in a row by Hoover Sun and Hoover’s Magazine, the Bluff Park Art Show is held every year on the first Saturday in October. This year’s show will feature 129 artists from around the state, region and country, including 33 who will be presenting their work for the first time. This year’s artists will come from all over Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas, as well as Virginia, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Florida and Indiana.
Each year, the Bluff Park Art Association presents a $2,500 scholarship to a graduating Spain Park or Hoover high school student who intends to pursue a career in the visual arts. The BPAA also regularly sponsors educational programs for aspiring artists in the area.
The association also sponsors a number of art-based education initiatives throughout the year, as well as numerous awards with the hope of encouraging artists to continue striving for excellence in the arts. In one exciting new endeavor, The BPAA has formed a new outreach committee led by board members Ashley Lemley and Christy Lane. BPAA members and guest artists go out into the community and share their love for art with anyone from the elderly to children at local schools. The outreach committee paid its first visit to Danberry Senior Living at Inverness, where 14 residents participated in a workshop.
This year’s show will be held Saturday, October 5, at Bluff Park Community Park at 517 Cloudland Drive from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.bluffparkartassociation.org.