Click here for the 2008 Festival of the Arts Prospectus

DEADLINES FOR ENTRY:
To ensure a balanced show, only a limited number of exhibitors will be accepted in any given category. To be considered artists must submit the signed entry form, fees and appropriately labeled slides or CD prior to May 11, 2008. However, early application is encouraged. Discounted booth and screening fees are available for applications postmarked by March 1, 2008. No applications will be accepted after May 11, 2008. See Prospectus for more details.

IMAGINATION STATION
Fun, creative hands-on activities will keep children at
Imagination Station. Youngsters will construct their own works of
art using unexpected materials and vibrant imaginations. Activities
include one of a kind make-and-take and group projects. Puppetry
arts, literary arts and music will also be included. Imagination
Station is located on the “Left Bank” of Tuscumbia’s Spring Park.
Most activities are free.

Helen Keller Festival Hours
Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday, June 28 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Sunday, June 29 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Admission
$5.00 for Adults, $3,00 for Students

Carry On: Celebrating Twenty Years of the Alabama Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program
June 15 - July 18, 2008

This exhibition features portraits of fifty folk and traditional artists by Birmingham photographer Mark Gooch, and includes examples of the artists’ work: everything from quilts, white oak baskets, pottery and willow furniture.

Folk arts are defined as those artistic traditions that are rooted in a community and are often handed down through generations.  In 1984 the Alabama State Council on the Arts, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, established the Alabama Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program in an effort to preserve these cherished artistic traditions within the state.  Since then, more than 100 master folk artists have received teaching grants to assist in passing on their skills in traditional music, dance and craft genres to a new generation of students.

There have been many successes in the more than twenty years of the program.  In many cases, apprentices have become so skilled that they have become highly regarded as basket makers, quilters or musicians themselves.  This exhibition represents a few of the many outstanding artists who have carried on their traditions through the Alabama Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program.

The exhibit was made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Alabama State Council on the Arts, and the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel.

2008 Helen Keller Art Show of Alabama
June 15 - June 29, 2008

The 2008 Helen Keller Art Show of Alabama is a juried competition of works by Alabama children who are visually impaired, blind or deaf blind. The show is open to students in Alabama public, private, and residential schools. This annual exhibition tours the state from February through June and culminates at the Tennessee Valley Art Center. The Helen Keller Festival Board selects one art piece each year to receive the Patty Johnson Award and the piece is retained in Tuscumbia in a permanent collection. The remaining exhibition pieces are auctioned by silent bid.

Sunday, June 29, 1:00 pm and 3:30 pm
On the North Bank of Spring Park
Sharon Bounds

Sharon Bounds has played the fiddle since the age of 12. At 18, she won the Alabama Fiddling Championship. She has won the Mississippi State Championship four times and placed in the top ten in Nashville's Grand Master Fiddling Contest seven times. Bounds plays a variety of fiddle styles, from Texas and Cajun to country and bluegrass. Her flawless skill with the fiddle and wide variety of musical styles are surefire crowd-pleasers. Sharon's band consists of guitar, banjo, and fiddle

Sunday, June 29, 2:00 pm and 4:15 pm
On the North Bank of Spring Park
Smokin' Strings Quartet

Smokin' Strings Quartet features Dillon Hodges, Tim May, Mark Evitts and Brad Leiter. Hodges won the National Champion Country Music Beginner in Flat Top Guitar competition and the International Bluegrass Music Museum "Future Hall of Famers" competition. He is the youngest acoustic guitar player to be endorsed by Gibson Guitar. Hodges has performed at the Talladega Super Speedway, opened the Song Writer's Showcase at the Von Braun Civic Center and performed for the Alabama State Council on the Arts annual awards ceremony. TIm May play guitar, Dobro and mandolin. He has performed at the Grand Ole Opry, toured with Patty Loveless, played and recorded with Charlie Daniels & Eddie Rabbit. May played guitar on Moody Bluegrass: a Nashville Tribute to the Moody Blues and was featured artist and writer for "Flatpick Guitar" magazine. He regularly judges for the National Flatpicking guitar championship in Winfield, Kansas.Mark Evitts plays fiddle. He has performed at the Ryman Auditorium with Phil Keaggy, Andy Osenga, Matt Slocum, Derek Webb and on albums with International Thumbpicking Champion Kyle Reeder. Evitts played on the 2005 DVD release of "Andrew Peterson: Behold the Lamb of God Live Concert."