Festival Image Makers art exhibit at Trinity

(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on July 9, 2008.)

By Jenny Cressman

Show featuring works from local visual artists runs from July 14 to 19.

When the Huntsville Festival of the Arts (HFA) was founded in 1993, the impetus was music.

As the festival vision grew, the inclusion of other art forms became increasingly important. Visual arts in particular, began to be seen as a vital part of the mandate.

After the first few years, the HFA board decided to invite local artists to contribute work to be featured on the festival’s brochure. Kate Santos provided three musically themed pastel images in the late ‘90s, setting a high standard. However, the board felt it should offer the coveted cover position to others in the community.

Since then, artists have been commissioned annually to create work, in a broad range of media. In 2000, Laura Bombier made a splash with her photograph depicting a musical score emblazoned on a woman’s bare back.

IMAGE MAKERS: Five of the many Huntsville artists who have produced images for the Huntsville Festival of the Arts over the past years gathered for a photo at the opening of the Festival Image Makers exhibit held at Trinity United Church hall last week. From the left are Brenda Wainman Goulet, Beverley Hawksley, Jon Snelson, Jenny Kirkpatrick and Marni Martin.

Next, Beverley Hawksley contributed a painting featuring elegant arms with fingers of one hand pointing to a sheet of music and the other set, skyward. The latter direction proved prophetic when the following year, Brenda Wainman Goulet sculpted an angelic bronze dancer, who appeared to hover in the heavens thanks to the computer-enhanced image that was used on the brochure cover marking the festival’s 10th year.

Photographer Jenny Kirkpatrick created the 2003 cover image, followed by Charles Knapp (stained glass scene), Gus van Baarsel (three-dimensional wall hanging), Joseph Reijnen (fine metal and gem sculpture), Bill Urban (abstract oil painting) and this year, Marni Martin (woven image).

Work by these artists and the HFA’s long-time official photographer Jon Snelson, will be featured in a special exhibit entitled Festival Image Makers, taking place on July 14 to 19, from noon to 4 p.m., in the Trinity United Church hall.

THREE DIMENSIONAL: This wall hanging by Gus van Baarsel is just one of the festival images that will be on display at an art exhibit being held in the Trinity United Church hall, July 14 to 19.

Patrons of the Music at Noon concerts, also hosted at the church, are encouraged to visit the art show afterwards; both events are free.