Downtown La Crosse was graced this past Friday and Saturday with an amazing integrated arts festival named ARTSPIRE (art combined with inspiration) featuring the region's historical heritage and cultural diversity.
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| Elsa Va |
Some 60 artists and performers donned the sidewalks, stages and streets of the arts district while their music and words filled the air as singers, dancers, storytellers, comedians, poets and actors shared their craft with the community. There was entertainment for every age including art projects.
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| One of the many chalk drawings |
Artisans also sold their handmade wares in booths filled with paintings, photography, jewelry, glass, pottery and fabric art.
The opening event was the unveiling of the 3-D mural by the renowned John Pugh who along with area artists created a trompe l'oiel (deception technique) of the cultural and geographic heritage of our Driftless Area city. Although not 100% complete as more shading is needed, it's incredible how the mural appears concave with glaciers flanking the mural that appear to jut outwards although they were really painted on a flat surface. See for yourselves.
Fifty plus area merchants contributed to the success of the event by both monetary and product donations. In addition to a city grant which sponsored the artists and incurred costs, community members also served as volunteers. So it certainly took a village/ in this case a city to create ARTSPIRE and we are all so fortunate to have been able to enjoy the richness of the arts with our community...
It was a great event and it's good to learn the mural isn't completely done, it felt like there was just something missing. The glacier edges were pretty cool, they really do appear to be sticking out.
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