Taste of the Arts 2012

August 1, 2011 Updated Aug 8, 2012 at 8:01 AM EDT

The Taste of the Arts is Fort Wayne's finest arts and food festival!
It is quickly becoming one of the most entertaining arts, culture and food festivals in the region. This year's Taste of the Arts will end the summer season with a one-day event featuring 68 scheduled performances, dozens of local restaurants, random entertainment and more ways to engage the arts than ever.

August 25, 12-7pm

Six performance stages
Arts Marketplace
Hands-on activities
Over 30 local restaurant vendors

At Taste of the Arts, we bring the region’s arts and culture organizations to downtown Fort Wayne’s arts campus for a day-long festival. This provides an opportunity for the community to sample the different kinds of fine art, dance, theatre, music and more that Northeast Indiana has to offer.

This concentrated celebration of art and culture also features a crafts bazaar with goods made by local artists and artisans. Browse for hours and rub shoulders with passionate creators. Hungry? Try some the incredible food available from from local bistros, restaurants and eateries throughout the region. Order a full meal or smaller tasting portions so you can have a little of everything. And, of course, there’s a beer garden featuring locally crafted brews and other libations for the of-age crowd to enjoy.

Stages and performance centers are spread throughout the Arts United Center and plaza, Friemann Square Park, Auer Center for Performing Arts the Hall Center (Cinema Center). The icing on the cake? Proceeds from this event go directly toward Arts United’s Art Education Grants.

Taste of the Arts is becoming the city’s largest local food sampling event with over 30 restaurant booths expected to sell small samples of everything from bruschetta to burritos; berry cheesecake to bangers and mash. New restaurants this year include Downtown Deli, Honey on the Table, and Higher Grounds at STAR. Two beer and wine vendors will join Mad Anthony, which has been at the Taste every year: JK O’Donnell’s Irish Ale House and Baker Street. Tickets for food and beverages will be $1 each, with most items ranging from 1 to 4 tickets.

Hands-on activities are provided at “The Taste” by different arts organizations with booths setup around Freimann Square. A major focus for Arts United in producing the event is for residents to learn about the wide range of non-profits that make up our arts community. It is not too late to sign up for those arts-related organizations that want a free booth to share information and offer hands-on fun for the crowd.

Back by popular demand to Freimann Square is the Busker stage. BuskerFest fans will enjoy some random acts as sponsor Downtown Improvement District again transforms Freimann Square into “Busker Square.” Acts will be on stage throughout the day and street performers (musicians, jugglers, magicians, balloon artists, etc.) are encouraged to setup among the many arts organization booths around the park fountains.

The Art Marketplace will feature its largest group of artists selling a wide array of paintings, photos, pottery, jewelry and handbags. For the first time, artists from outside the Northeast Indiana region will participate. Plans are already underway for the 2013 Taste of the Arts Marketplace, as the committee prepares to jury the event next year and open it for national call-out to artists.

Artlink will be hosting a Community Art installation called “White to Bright”. Look for a booth that contains a small living room setting painted in white. The public will have the opportunity to purchase .50 cent sheets of bright stickers to be placed anywhere they would like in the white living room. At the end of the community event the living room will look paint-splattered through the use of stickers. The community artists may also leave their name in the “White to Bright” Sign-in Book listing them as an official participant. To complete the project in November 2012 everyone will receive an invitation to the opening exhibit on December 7, 2012 of the White to Bright Installation in Artlink Gallery.

Fort Wayne Youtheatre is hosting a rummage sale and costumes will be available to try on inside the Arts United Center throughout the day. The History Center is open for free during the festival. Cinema Center offers free movies.

Other partnerships are in the works for the festival. To bring awareness to Arts United’s next building campaign for Arts Lab, a proposed black box theatre and arts incubator space, various genres of fine arts will be demonstrated from painters, sculptors, and artists who will create their art as festival patrons watch. This will take place on the Auer Center patio, the future site for the Arts Lab wing.

Decorated wheelbarrows will be displayed and a voter’s choice competition will be held for the best design at the Taste of the Arts. Arts United’s Neighborhood Grant Initiative is sponsoring the World on Wheels (WOW) project with Catherine Kasper Place, a collaborative project to build awareness for the Fresh Food Initiative with immigrants and refugees. The WOW garden project will feature 20 wheelbarrows, each with a unique artistic design based on the theme of world foods and cultures. Afterward, the wheelbarrows will be planted with foods from the country associated with the wheelbarrows and put on display at Parkview Field until the International Blast festival, where they will be displayed and auctioned.

Dessert — The Taste of the Arts After Party, 6-10pm
What’s the best way to end a day of tasting the arts? Dessert, of course. It’s the Taste of the Arts Afterparty, featuring local bands and, yep, more food. Each year we host a few local bands, and we like to mix up the music — punk, alternative country, hip-hop and R&B, soul and good old fashioned Rock & Roll. It’s all local. All good. And all free.
Don’t miss it. There’s always room for Dessert.