Families flock to Luverne's fifth annual Art Rocks festival
LUVERNE — The gentle sound of a harp and the smell of smoked bison permeated the air as children drew on sidewalks and people mingled among artists at the Rock County Courthouse Square Saturday morning.
- Chalk art
- Longseth
LUVERNE — The gentle sound of a harp and the smell of smoked bison permeated the air as children drew on sidewalks and people mingled among artists at the Rock County Courthouse Square Saturday morning.
Art Rocks, Luverne’s very own art fair, started five years ago when local artists decided that the community needed a quality fair to showcase “true art.”
Every year, interested participants submit samples of their work to the Art Rocks Committee — Jerry Deuschle, Cindy Reverts, Chris Nowatzki and Mary Petersen — to be juried.
“There’s a fine line between art and craft,” said Deuschle, a Luverne artist. “Only artists doing their own original art work are allowed.”
The 26 selected artists this year exhibited works ranging from fine jewelry to sculpted concrete garden fixtures.
While selling their work, artists explained to customers what their art was comprised of and the process used to create it.
Under a white canopy, artist Cheryl Longseth from Sioux Falls, S.D., had frames of pastel and acrylic art neatly lined up with a few photography pieces thrown in.
“I’d like to do more abstract photography because I think people don’t do enough of it,” said Longseth, who works more with pastel and acrylic.
Abstract photography, Longseth said, is when viewers can’t tell what they’re looking at.
“You only see the shapes, the color and the composition,” she explained. “The intention is for you to respond to the image and not fit it into a category of something you’ve seen before.”
Kris and Anna Fuller, a mother-daughter pair from Sherburn, drove for about an hour to take in the sights and sounds of Art Rocks.
“Every booth we’ve gone by so far has been pretty cool,” said Anna Fuller, an art minor at Augsburg College.
In between learning about and purchasing exquisite artworks, fairgoers were entertained by a lineup of regional musicians.
The Renaissance Players transported their audience back to a different era as they serenaded them with unique harp accompaniments.
Parents watched as their children decorated their designated sidewalk squares with their most creative chalk work for the Kids Rocks Sidewalk Art Contest.
As the evening ended, awards presented at the fair included: Best of Show — Annie O’ Fallon, Sioux Falls, S.D.; Best 2D art — Chad Nelson, Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Best 3D art — Dan Bartos, Yankton, S.D.
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