By Judith Prieve, Contra Costa Times
With an expanded children's area,
more headliner music and fine art, the Brentwood Arts Society is hoping to
attract record numbers to this weekend's free two-day Art, Wine & Jazz
Festival.
The 10th annual event, now in its second year at the
Streets of Brentwood, will bring together local vintners and Bay Area artists
as well as some well-known singers, top-flight bands, local food vendors and
microbreweries.
"We're expecting we'll have more than last year
because we have more to offer," the society's past president and festival
liaison Jack Gaughan said, noting the group hopes to exceed last year's 15,000
attendance mark.
Dubbed a "family-friendly festival," the
event has expanded its children's area this year, adding a Bricks 4 Kidz area
where children can play with LEGOs to their heart's content, along with areas
for children's dance, sculpture and painting projects.
To encourage budding artists, the organizers will set
up some 20 easels and provide paper and paints, as well as offer art
instructors and clay for children to sculpt their own creations and paint their
own tiles. Several local schools will get into the act by hosting a Make a
Tambourine event, while a local dance studio will teach kids how to move to the
music, and Brentwood artist Al Lopez will draw caricatures of attendees.
"It's a big thing for us to make sure young
people have a place in what we do," Gaughan said, noting the group
supports school art docent programs, gives
scholarships for art students and hosts annual districtwide art shows.
Part of that effort can be seen in the Walls of Art
exhibit, where local schoolchildren will display some 1,000 art projects.
"It gets them recognition in a public
view," Gaughan said of the art wall. "Families come to see what
they've done. A lot of families come back the second day because they want to
participate in the kids area."
In addition to the 44 juried artists exhibiting
original works in all kinds of media, a group of Liberty High School artists
will be on site chalk painting the streets throughout the day.
"My long-term goal is to someday have a
street-painting festival in Brentwood," Gaughan said.
There'll be plenty for music aficionados to enjoy
as well with nine acts playing on two stages throughout the weekend.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/oakley/ci_18748857
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