13th annual Street Art Festival

The downtown Square in Highland, a hub for community activity, will be the place to be on Saturday, Sept. 19 as artists take to the streets for the 13th annual Street Art Festival and Art Expo. This unique festival is an art lover’s dream with something to appeal to young, old and everyone in between.

More than 50 talented artists will participate as street painters in this year’s festival. Art work will be judged and prizes awarded in four categories: professional, amateur, college and high school. All are invited to come and watch as the artists transform the pavement into a temporary art gallery, creating colorful masterpieces of amazing depth and complexity — with chalk.

Art Expo

The Art Expo, sponsored by the Highland Arts Council, will feature the work of a number of area artists. Fine artwork in many mediums such as painting, jewelry and clay will be on display and available for purchase. Dianne Burke (oils/watercolor), Christy Bodnar (Mixed Media) and Steve Vick (glass) are just a sample of fine artisans who will be displaying and selling their artwork.

Music

Musical art will also be featured as musicians take to the streets, performing throughout the day on Saturday, this year’s lineup includes Lon-L and Two Blue, Chris Belden and Jeff Pinkel Express, all of whom will entertain visitors with great blues, jazz and pop standards.

Kids Korner

An outer space experience will blast off in the Kids Korner, sponsored and hosted by Highland IBW. All little earthlings up to age 12 are welcome in the Kids Korner, where budding young artists can create chalk treasures on sidewalks around the Square. Also, special art projects, including space ships, rockets, moon rocks, and alien masks will be available for the making.

Children can also board the giant inflatable UFO (bounce house/slide) blast off in space to release some of their energy.

Then, it’s back to earth, and they can try putting together a giant wooden puzzle, play a game of tic-tac-toe, or stack the giant blocks.

“Party Up and Paint”

Release the Picasso in you at the “Party Up and Paint” area, sponsored by Starlight Visual and Performing Arts, where you can, for a small fee, create and paint your own design on canvas or paint a pre-printed fall design and take it home with you.

Times & Info

The festival runs from 11 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19.

For more information, contact the Highland Chamber of Commerce at (618) 654-3721 or nancie@highlandillinois.com or on the web at highlandartscouncil.org.