Organizers for Art on the Square (AOTS) are reminding the community of a road closure the day of the event.
This Saturday — at 105 N. Main St. — artists from the community will spend the day showcasing their artistic abilities painting mural-sized canvases. These canvases will then be displayed in historic downtown Washington Court House with the art from last year’s event, which is currently hanging.
Registration was recommended before Aug. 4 — since the number of registrations is limited — but walk-ins the day of the show are encouraged and may be limited by availability of supplies. The fee for walk-ins will be $15. Supplies provided include a four-by-four foot primed board, basic painting supplies, and an AOTS t-shirt.
“Right now we are shooting for about 20 artists, but we are also taking applications (Saturday) morning, and it is first come first serve,” Chelsie Baker, economic development director for the City of Washington Court House, said on Friday. “The most that we can host is 40 artists so we have roughly 20 boards left. We are going to have a few food trucks there and we have encouraged artisans to come set up a table. Those are still available if someone wants to call me or just show up tomorrow, we will be there all day.”
Check-in begins at 8 a.m. and painting begins immediately following on Main Street between Court and Market streets until 5 p.m. The road will be closed during this time for the artists to safely paint. Artists under the age of 15 must paint with an adult.
“It will just be a fun day, and hopefully we won’t have the pop up showers, but in case we get rain we have some tents ready to set up,” Baker said. “We received a one to one match from Ohio Arts Council this year. So we are definitely much more prepared this year than we were last year, but we still had a great year so we are hoping for an even better year. We will have activities for the kids, painting activities, so we are letting them get their hands dirty and paint as well. Everyone is welcome and we hope they can all make it out.”
The AOTS event is supported by grants, businesses and individual donations, and is still in need of sponsorships. In addition, AOTS is accepting applications for food and craft vendors.
For more information about the event contact Chelsie Baker at 740-505-0216 or [email protected].
Reach Martin Graham at (740) 313-0351 or on Twitter @MartiTheNewsGuy.
