2011 Aaron Douglas Art Fair Planned For Sept. 24

Organized by the Central Topeka Turnaround Team, the 6th Annual Aaron Douglas Art Fair will celebrate Douglas’s legacy as “the father of African American art” and showcase diverse and emerging artists from the Topeka area.

The following is from the Aaron Douglas Art Fair:
More than 40 Kansas artists, musicians, and performance artists will gather at the Aaron Douglas Art Park at 10am next Saturday, September 24th to honor the life and works of Topeka-born artist Aaron Douglas. Organized by the Central Topeka Turnaround Team, the 6th Annual Aaron Douglas Art Fair will celebrate Douglas’s legacy as “the father of African American art” and showcase diverse and emerging artists from the Topeka area.

The day-long event will include live entertainment, concessions, hands-on art exhibits, FREE children’s activities and the return of the Legacy Stage. Cyrene Holt and Mariama Hodari, nieces of Aaron Douglas, will also be available to speak with fair-goers.

This year’s featured artists will be The Craftivists, a Topeka-based group that raises awareness of social, environmental and political issues through handmade, recycled art. Other featured artists include Lisa Adame, Kevin Brown, Zachary Clement, Staci Dawn, Eclective Artists, Brittany Eilert, Laura Engelhardt, Stephanie Foster, Shanon Fouquet, Nancy Goodall, Kymm Hughes, Rachel Ledbetter, Kristine Luber, Justin and Bailey Marable, Paula Marker, Angie McFarland, Bill Neff, Rachel and Marlene Pantos, Vanessa Piper, Marie Plinsky and Pam Somerville, Mark Ralston, Darlene Regnier, Tony Rogers, Donald Shea, Jennifer Somers, Issac Stallbaumer, Mandy Stos, Billy Tomlin, the Topeka Art Guild, Julius Trotter, Stacey Utech, Ronnie Warman, WASA, OC Williams, Albert Woods, and Cameron Wright.

Musical performances by Good Ambition, Slow Ya Roll, and Brail are also scheduled for the Main Stage.

The Aaron Douglas Art Park is located at the southwest corner of 12th Street and Lane in Topeka’s Tennessee Town neighborhood. Bicycle, drop-off, and handicap parking will be available on-site. Satellite parking, with limo and van service, will also be available.

Born in Topeka, Kan., Aaron Douglas was an artist, scholar and leading educator of African American art. His work has been featured in Harper’s and Vanity Fair, as well as the Harmon Foundation in New York, the Brooklyn Museum and New York’s Gallery of Modern Art, among others. A recreation of Douglas’s famed “Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery Through Reconstruction,” anchors the Topeka Aaron Douglas Art Park.

WHAT: 6th Annual Aaron Douglas Art Fair
WHO: More than 40 local artists, musicians and performance artists, including featured artists The Craftivists
WHEN: Saturday, September 24th, 2011 from 10am to 5pm
WHERE: Aaron Douglas Art Park, 12th Street and Lane

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