Bayou City Art Festival – Art in the Heart of the City!
The excitement was palpable on a cool October morning in Downtown Houston, as beautiful Houston youth division members headed towards the Bayou City Art Festival (BCAF). What better way to spend the weekend than volunteering for one of the best the art festivals in the country?
BCAF is Houston’s award-winning one-of-a-kind outdoor art gallery is a juried fine art event that boasts 300 acclaimed artists in 19 media formats from throughout the U.S. and the world. Ranked the #3 Festival in the U.S. the event features fine art, multicultural music and dance on the Houston Arts Alliance stage, international food and wine cafes, and interactive art where children and families can discover the fun of making art together.
The crowds were wall to wall as the SGI volunteers entered the event. Volunteers were greeted with stage performances and continuous multi-cultural musical and dance shows with art demonstrations. There were incredible paintings, handmade jewelry, ceramic art, stained glass murals, sculptures, hand-woven scarves and a Creative Zone for kids’ crafts like rock painting, mask-making, face painting, wax hand souvenirs, beaded necklace and bracelets, and more.
Seventeen SGI-USA Houston members volunteered for the two-day festival. On Day 1, volunteers were assigned duties in the Creative Zone for children to experience the fun of making art projects. Houston’s East and West Area youth division rocked the bat mask-making station sponsored by Buffalo Bayou Partnership, a non-profit organization revitalizing and transforming Buffalo Bayou, Houston’s most significant natural resource. On Day 2, several Houston youth and adult division members were assigned Artist Relief duties where they looked after the artist booths while the artists took breaks for lunch or snacks.
Direct interaction with festival guests of all ages made volunteering all the more fun. So much fun, in fact, that the SGI members did not want to leave even after their shifts ended. It was an awesome day. Each and every one of the volunteers had some new-found appreciation for art and for what goes into organizing a very large public event. SGI Houston is proud to have supported BCAF, of which the proceeds of the festival fund 17 area arts and service nonprofit organizations. So, if you want to ‘experience art’ at its best with a good amount of southern hospitality thrown in, visit the BCAF in March 2010 at Memorial Park in Houston, Texas.
- Contributed by Ashwini Kulkarni
