Art is returning to the park with the 51st installment of the Winter Park Autumn Art Festival, October 12-13, hosted by Winter Park Chamber of Commerce and held in Central Park and along Park Avenue.
The event is the only juried fine art festival to exclusively feature Florida-based artists and the lineup offers a wide variety of mediums including ceramics, digital art, drawings, paintings, photography, jewelry, and sculpture. Among the 186 exhibitors is longtime festival artist John Whipple, whose paintings often incorporate a variety of found objects and textural qualities. “I want my art to be always transforming and growing,” he said. “One of the reasons I love to work in multiple disciplines is so they can inform each other, which can create something new.”
The art is the main attraction, but food vendors, kids’ workshops, 12 new live-music acts, and special promotions by Park Avenue retailers and restaurants will round out the weekend-long list of attractions for the estimated 150,000 visitors. The festival is free and open to the public, but special Patron and VIP packages offer access to additional events including an artist panel discussion on Thursday, Oct. 10, and the Saturday Night Artists’ Party at Winter Park Farmer’s Market on October 12.
All awards will be presented at the Artists’ Party and the list is as follows:
- Best of Show: $5,000
- Gerry Marino Award of Excellence: $2,500
- Morse Museum Award: $1,000
- Awards of Distinction: $700 each
- Awards of Merit: $500 each
- Awards of Honor: $350 each
- Judges Selection Awards: $300 each
- Patrons Arts Dollars: more than $6,500
Festival hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, and the following road closures will be in place from 3 a.m. on October 12 to 8 p.m. on October 13:
- Park Avenue between Lyman and Canton avenues.
- Morse Boulevard between New York and Knowles avenues.
- New England Avenue between the railroad tracks and Center Street.
Shifts are still available for anyone wanting to volunteer at the festival. Details and shift availability can be accessed here. For more information on the 51st Annual Winter Park Autumn Art Festival, log onto the event page of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce website. And click here for a look at last year’s festival.