Once a year artists and art lovers from the Midwest gather at the Watertown Art Festival to show and admire works from a wide range of mediums. With exhibits of paintings, sculptures, pottery, bronze, mixed media, wood carving, jewelry, fabric, photography and so much more, there is something for every type of art palate.
The 27th Annual Watertown Art Festival will be held at the Goss Opera House in Watertown, SD, with over forty exhibits spanning three floors. Along with the exhibits, visitors can observe artist demonstrations from some of the exhibiting artist or visit the South Dakota Wine Tasting room. Prairie Berry Winery, Schade Vineyard, Strawbale Winer, Valiant Vineyards, and Wilde Prairie Winery will be available to showcase the great tastes of South Dakota.
Youth participation in the arts is something that is encouraged by the Watertown Art Festival. To help promote this the Art Festival is holding a youth exhibit for ages 5-18 years of age. This is the second year that youth exhibit has taken place, displaying their art to the public and for judging.
No event would be complete without a main attraction, and this year there are two! Every year there is a featured artist, and this year’s is June Newburg from New Ulm, MN. Newburg’s “The Guardian” is featured on this year’s Watertown Art Festival commemorative buttons. The second will be the display of the 2009-10 Federal Duck Stamp collection, which is organized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Watertown native, Joshua Spies won the 76th annual Federal Duck Stamp competition with his painting “Long-Tailed Duck with Decoy.”
With all of this wonderful talent on display, a raffle with great prizes and free admission this is a great event to bring your family to have a relaxing afternoon enjoying the art of the Midwest. Festivities take place Saturday, September 12th from 11am – 7pm and Sunday, September 13th from 10am – 4pm.
