What is Franklin ArtWeek all about? Well, come get a taste!
Taste of ArtWeek, a kick-off celebration to Franklin ArtWeek, will be held on Saturday, April 27 from 4 - 8 pm. The festival will include food trucks, free live performances, a craft fair, and a hands-on crafts and demo tent on the Franklin Town Common, as well as a beer and wine garden and fine art exhibition at Hayward Manor, and is intended to give attendees a “taste” of what ArtWeek is all about. The kick-off is being organized by the Franklin Cultural Council, in partnership with Random Smile Project charity. Proceeds from the event will benefit both organizations.
“Now that we’ve got one year of Franklin ArtWeek under our belt, and they just passed a new regulation in Franklin to allow food trucks and beer gardens for the first time, and Franklin just got its Cultural District status, we thought this would be a fun way of launching Franklin ArtWeek and kicking off spring,” says Stacey David, of the Franklin Cultural Council. The idea grew from a smaller version of Taste of Franklin ArtWeek last year at the Franklin Historical Museum, explains David.
Franklin ArtWeek itself, a statewide arts festival April 26-May 5, 2019, will feature 45 unique ArtWeek events hosted in Franklin this year.
“We’re thrilled, and we have a bunch of new players,” says David. Examples of some of the new and innovative programs include Pete’s Nerd Emporium bringing in game designers to talk about what goes into creating games as well as the artwork in the games, food programs such as an educational presentation on olive oils and balsamic vinegar by Little Shop of Oils in which they’re collaborating with the Cake Bar and a series on the art of canning by Agway, as well as a puppetry theatre group. A searchable calendar of all ArtWeek programs is available at www.artweekma.org.
Tickets for the huge Taste of ArtWeek kickoff celebration can be purchased online at www.randomsmile.org/festival.
La Cantina Winery, Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers, Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing Company, Crue Brew Brewery, and Zelus Beer Company will all be featured in their beer and wine garden. Beer and wine garden tickets are $20, and will provide guests with either a flight of six tastes of different beverages, or two full pours.
Food trucks at the festival include iGottaQ BBQ, Twisted T’s bread cones, Away Café American and Thai, The Dogfather hot dogs, Shishkaberry’s chocolate covered strawberries, Like No Udder ice cream, The Whoopie Wagon, and Sarcastic Sweets cupcakes. Food truck tickets are $20 for adults for 4 tickets and $10 for children for 2 tickets. Each ticket can be turned in to a participating food truck for one item, allowing guests to taste a variety of cuisines. Tickets for both the food trucks and beer garden can be purchased in advance at www.randomsmile.org/festival.
The live performances are free and require no ticketing. They will be held on gazebo stage on the Town Common, and include:
4:00 - 4:45 Cape Cod Sax Quartet, featuring professional Berklee musicians (jazz)
4:55 - 5:15 Dean College Theater Rep Ensemble & Dean College Dance Company
5:20 - 5:40 Feet in Motion School of Dance
5:45 - 6:05 Franklin School for the Performing Arts Dance Company
6:15 - 7:00 Jeff Roy & Friends (pop music)
7:15 - 8:00 Kaye Kelly & Mark Hardt, Berklee (folk music)
Over 30 craft fair booths will be located on the Common, behind the gazebo.
“These will be strictly hand-made crafts,” says David. “We were adamant about that. We’ve been to a lot of fairs that have mass produced things, and we really wanted to show the breadth and depth (of talent).”
Out of the craft fair grew a desire to let ArtWeek patrons make their own—hence, the ArtWeek Experience Pavilion, a special tent full of art demonstrations and hands-on projects, including The Family Creative Corner, sponsored by Senate President Karen E. Spilka, with free crafts for kids. Demos will feature Chinese brush painting, handmade bobbin lace making by The New England Lace Group, acrylic landscape painting, and ceramic bowl making. In addition, hands-on projects will include pet tattoos and animal coloring pages hosted by Leashrly Life, bookmark making by the Franklin Public Library, spring flower crafts with Lifelong Learning Institute’s Solutions program, literary origami made from old books, sand art bottle making, and children’s real-time portraiture.
The Franklin Art Association will be hosting a fine art exhibition and small works sale inside Hayward Manor. Paintings and photographs from their member artists will be on display, along with prints, note cards, and other fine art items. Entry to the art show is free of charge.
For more information about Taste of ArtWeek, or to purchase tickets, please visit www.randomsmile.org/festival. Sponsors for Taste of ArtWeek include Mass Vacations, the MetroWest Visitors Bureau, Dean Bank, Middlesex Savings Bank, La Cantina Winery, Dean College, and Senate President Karen E. Spilka’s office.