AURORA | The organizers of the Aurora Cultural Arts District annual arts festival wanted to find a way to stand out.
That’s not exactly an easy proposition, considering the sheer number of arts events that pop up every summer across the metro area. The field is much more varied than big draws like the annual Cherry Creek Arts and Chalk Arts festivals. Boulder offers an art and jazz fest, Vail’s annual get-together features work by art students from Colorado Mountain College and the yearly arts showcase in Salida features canvases and photos set up on the banks of the Arkansas River. Littleton hosts an “Affordable Arts Festival,” and mountain towns from Crested Butte to Beaver Creek have their own take on the community arts showcase.
The variety makes for a rich Colorado cultural scene, but it also made it tougher for ACAD administrators to get the word out about the Aurora Arts Festival planned for June 28.
“There’s always a challenge of getting our brand out there,” said Satya Wimbish, ACAD’s vice president. “There’s also just the challenge of getting people to come to Aurora.”
This year, the solution will come in a conscientious theme and participation from all corners of the community. The outdoor festival’s informal title, “Reup: Recycle and Upcycle,” sums up the spirit of the daylong event on the 16-block section of East Colfax Avenue between Dallas and Florence streets. The centerpiece of the festival will be a juried section dedicated to recycled art composed of reused and re-imagined materials.
“Artists tend to use materials that are easy to recycle,” said ACAD Managing Director Tracy Weil, who took the helm at the district more than a year ago. “You go to arts fests all around town and you see people working in recycled materials … bottle caps or old metal.”
The idea of reclaiming old materials for creative purposes is hardly new. The recycled art movement is growing in popularity at galleries and festivals across the state, but ACAD organizers see potential in making the movement the driving force of the district’s signature event, and extending it to future festivals.
“We wanted to keep this as the theme for future years and try to grow it,” said Weil, whose past work includes rebuilding arts districts in the RiNo district of Denver and the western stretches of Colfax Avenue. “We’d love to become the place for the recycled arts festival in Colorado.”
The first steps in building that status have seen ACAD brass reaching out to other organizations. The ARC Thrift Store on East Colfax and Florence Street donated 50 old paintings for the festival. Artists will add their own imagery to the existing canvases and compete for top status during the festival’s juried show.
“That’s going to help us stand out, focusing on using what people have,” Wimbish said. “We’re trying to engage the community more and more, to let them be a part of building the festival.”
It’s part of a bigger push to win wider recognition for a district that comprises multiple theaters, art galleries and restaurants, despite setbacks. This year, ACAD didn’t receive recognition as an “Emerging Arts District” from the state, a formal status that would have brought with it grant money and more exposure on a national scale.
“They want to give us one more year to do a few more things,” Weil said, adding that the state board pointed specifically to better signs and more engagement with local community groups. “We’re going to work on that this coming year … We’ve reached out to the Asian Pacific Development Center, Aurora Warms the Night and neighborhood associations, doing whatever we can do to engage them.”
The festival is an important part in that push, and Weil insists the effort is paying off. Last year, about 1,500 people attended the event and Weil hopes for greater numbers in 2014. He’s counting on input from local businesses, residents and the artists who call the district home to help get the word out. Performers from local theater companies, dance troupes and musicians will take to the street to get the word out about the offerings in the neighborhood.
“We’re producing ‘Rent’ on the main stage at the Fox theatre this year, so we’re going to do a shortened concert version of some of the songs from the show during the festival,” said Keith Rabin Jr., executive artistic director of the Ignite Theatre Company. The troupe is one of the resident companies at the Fox, and Rabin said the chance to perform at the festival offers valuable exposure. “It’s promoting the show itself and the cast. You can say how great your show is, but nobody believes you until you put it out in front of them.”
That same theory will drive this year’s festival on a bigger scale. Turning old bottles, scrap metal and discarded canvases into fresh and vibrant art is all the more fascinating when it happens in the open-air atmosphere of East Colfax Avenue.
The Aurora Arts Festival will run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on June 28th in the Aurora Cultural Arts District, centered at Fletcher Plaza, 9898 E. Colfax Ave. Admission is free. Information: 303-344-2223 or auroraculture.org.
Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at 720-449-9707 or agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com
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