Feature
August
26
South Louisana Starving Artist Festival Needs You!
Compiled by Mary Downer
The 2010 South Louisiana Starving Artist Festival was created by Ken and Karen McGowan, along with Holiday Inn and Cajun Lodging, LLC, as a way to bring the talented artists of Terrebonne Parish and the surrounding areas out into the spotlight while helping to raise awareness of the fragile wetland environment. The festival will attract a sophisticated buying public and a talented group of artists and fine craftsmen. With the wetlands currently in distress, it is important, now more than ever, to bring awareness to the public of how delicate our coastlines are. By fusing local arts and the wetlands, the festival hopes to further preserve and bolster our most valued assets.
“As a local artist myself, I was trying to find a different way to sell my art,” says Karen McGowan, festival founder. “My husband and I decided to start a festival in order to assist artists by featuring and selling their work. This community really supports the arts and this festival is a great way to give other local artists the chance to get out there and showcase what they do.”
A portion of the proceeds from this show will go to the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center. The S.L.W.D.C. offers educational opportunities about this region’s very fragile unique wetland environment and offers ways locals and tourists can help to conserve and preserve the wetlands. The educational opportunities materialize in the unique pairing of two educational models, an interpretive program component for grades K-12 and a science-focused educational component or “research laboratory” for grades 4-12, each focusing on the South Louisiana coastal environment while serving different audiences. While each operates somewhat independently of the other, the pairing of the two entities under one roof contribute to a critical synergy that helps achieve the larger educational goals of the center. It is a family-oriented facility offering something for everyone from children to adults.
South Louisiana Starving Artist Festival is currently seeking local artists to participate in the September 2010 launch show. The festival will showcase some of the finest art from Terrebonne Parish and the surrounding areas. Selected artists will be showcasing their work beside some of the South’s finest artists. A juried show will be held with a cash prize and exhibition space in the lobby of the Holiday Inn of Houma. Artists are also welcome to donate a piece of their work to the silent auction, where 100 percent of the proceeds will benefit S.L.W.D.C.
Please contact Karen McGowan at www.starvingartistfestival.com or contact the Holiday Inn at (985) 601-4500 for more information about the show.
