by Dennis Dalman
College Avenue in downtown St. Joseph will become a visual and musical extravaganza Sunday, Aug. 25 when the 18th annual Millstream Arts Festival unfolds with nearly 50 displays of arts-and-crafts, foods and lively music and dancing.
The festival, a rain-or-shine event with free admission, will be held from 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
The arts-and-crafts, exhibited in white tents along the avenue will include a staggering variety of paintings, woodwork, ceramics, jewelry, fiber art, fine-glass work, leather goods, photography, literature, children’s activities and more.
The children’s activities will include hands-on art experiences with the Avon Hills Folk School and the Tiny School of Art and Design, as well as library activities involving books by local prose writers and poets.
Outdoor entertainment will be provided by Minneapolis-based jazz singer Leslie Vincent, AJ Spoff (pop, rock and country songs) and the Chico Chavez Orchestra, also Minneapolis-based.
Millstream is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the visual and performing arts. The number of festival-goers is expected to exceed the 6,000 mark.
The artists/craft masters who will display their works at the Aug. 25 festival will include many returning artists as well as many new ones – many of them local but some from a wider area.
This view of Split Rock Lighthouse north of Duluth was painted by Teri Schottler, one of the many new exhibitors at the upcoming Millstream Arts Festival in downtown St. Joseph. Schottler works mostly with acrylic paint on canvas because she loves the bold colors acrylics can achieve.
This is a view of College Avenue during last summer’s Millstream Arts Festival in downtown St. Joseph.
