The 32nd annual Sedona Arts Festival will return to Sedona Red Rock High School from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Oct. 7, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 8, with 126 art vendors. The festival has raised over $300,000 for arts education and scholarships during its three-decade history.
“If you’re interested in art at all, it’s a nice way to come out and see artists that aren’t specific just to Sedona,” Festival Director Lori Reinhart said. “It’s not all Southwest art. We have artists from the East Coast to the West Coast. That’s a way to broaden your view of art and pick something up. Or develop a relationship with an artist that you may buy from later.
“ Considered Sedona’s oldest and largest premier arts event, the Sedona Arts Festival is proud to present award-winning artists working in a wide array of mediums that range from painting to sculpture to glass and beyond,” the festival said in a press release.
“This is my first year doing the Sedona Arts Festival,” Sedona artist Russell DeHaven said. “I’m excited. I have never done an outdoor show like this before, with a tent. I designed all these custom-made displays. I’ve been in marketing and branding for 30 years. I’ll have the culmination of about two years worth of work, which is based on sacred geometry and geology.”
“The Sedona Arts Festival rounds out its offerings with a variety of food truck choices along with beer and wine selections,” the press release stated. “Their annual art raffle supports arts education in Sedona and the greater Verde Valley and features a wide offering of prizes that include art pieces from the festival’s participating artists.”
The festival has partnered again with Chamber Music Sedona, with all the proceeds from the art raffle going directly to the chamber’s education programs. The collaboration typically raises around $5,000.
“Then we also pay for or subsidize after-school music lessons for kids so that they can continue their music education,” Chamber Music Sedona President Brynn Unger said. “We also have supported and paid for a beginning and an advanced kids’ orchestra. That goes throughout the year. There are two sessions of that, and after each session, the kids put on a concert.”
Last spring, the festival also donated $8,000 in scholarships to Verde Valley students who are pursuing higher education in the arts.
“We also have grants that are available to anybody who’s providing arts education through programs or camps,” Reinhart said. “[The grant cycle] for that program is year-round. All they have to do is seek us out and submit an application, and we can review those at any time.”
Ben Roti Ceramics will be leading a group of Verde Valley potters at the festival who will be demonstrating clay sculpture techniques and selling their handmade pieces. The potters will also be promoting the second annual Verde Valley Pottery Festival, which will take place on Nov. 18 and 19 at the D.A. Ranch Estate Vineyards in Cornville.
“We also have Gourmet Row. It’s a row of vendors and that’s more price-friendly for consumers of homemade products — soaps, oils, hot sauce,” Reinhart said. ”Those little kinds of things that if you don’t come to the festival with $250 to spend, you can walk out the door with a jar of honey.”
Music will be provided both days of the festival beginning at 11 a.m. On Saturday, attendees will be entertained by Arizona Blues Hall of Fame inductees Steve Willis and “Sweet Baby” Ray DeSylvester.
Jacque Duhame will entertain on Sunday. “A third-generation native of Arizona, Jacque has been performing and singing in the valley for many years, from jazz to rock to blues. Her style is soulful, sassy and swinging, and [she] is an engaging performer, who gets right to heart of the audience. She moves through multiple music genres always making for an engaging and fun performance,” according to the Northern Arizona Blues Alliance.
“The art is the draw. But it’s also a lovely setting. You can peruse the art, you can come and eat, you can listen to music, you can be outside on an October day,” Reinhart said. “We also have the benefit that you’re supporting the arts in Sedona.”
Admission to the festival is $15 and may be purchased at the gate or online. Tickets are good for both days of the event. Entry for children 12 and under is free when they are accompanied by a paying adult.
The festival is still looking for volunteers; more information can be found at sedonaartsfestival.org. For more information about the festival, visit the website or call (928) 204-9456.
