A palette of blue sky and sun painted the perfect picture for Arts in the Park Sunday.
The 23rd annual show at Gregory Park in Brainerd broke records for attendance and exhibits. It also broke ground in recognizing youth.
Best of Show winner Erin Garey of Staples is 19.
Dasha Lukina of Brainerd, 11, is the first recipient of the Junior Award.
The latter award category was created by the art show's judge for the second straight year, Laurie Gmyrek of Browerville. Gmyrek conceived the new category for youthful entrants while evaluating more than 100 booths.
Organizers Nancy Cross and Christena Fox of Brainerd Community Action believe attendance for the 6 1/2-hour event surpassed 12,000.
A couple of other regional arts fairs planned for the same weekend had been cancelled, said Fox. More than a dozen latecomers were allowed to purchase space. Each artist and crafter pays $75 for the right.
"We'd like to fill the park (with booths)," said Fox, who for six months has devoted time to securing entertainment, concession vendors and artisans.
Best of Show winner Garey was surprised by her award, which included a $200 check, a plaque and a medal. She automatically returns in 1997 as Featured Artist.
First-place winners in two- and three-dimensional and functional categories each received $100. The Junior Award winner received $50.
She bought the Garey original for $50. Prices ranged from $35 to $70 for the artist's16 displayed works in her first Brainerd appearance. Two of her best works had been committed to the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center, where they remain on display.
Erin Garey of Staples won Best of Show at Arts in the Park Sunday in Brainerd. Her untitled charcoal portrait (bottom center) earned the honor, $200 and was purchased for $50 by show judge Laurie Gmyrek of Browerville.
(Photo for The Dispatch by Nancy Cross)
Garey's winning piece is an untitled charcoal portrait of a man conveying the fairy-filled fantasy world she has chosen for most of her portfolio. Judge Gmyrek said, "The expression is really wonderful. It stood out."
She will attend Central Lakes College in Brainerd, where a small gallery showcases student and guest artworks.
The artists's father Don, a commercial art instructor at the Staples campus of CLC, said he was gratified to see
his daughter's interest in his art books. One commercial illustrator book is devoted to the imaginative fairy images. It spurred his daughter.
"I like to use my imagination," said Erin Garey. She transforms a photograph or model, introducing mystical qualities. This, she said, may lead her to a career as an illustrator. A children's book, she said, might be a suitable format.
She uses watercolors and colored pencils and has developed some abstracts. Encouraging her use of color and abstract concepts is artist Sara Hanlon, her mentor during a 1995 grant period authorized by the Five Wings Regional Arts Council.
"I paint when I can, but I have less time this summer," Garey said. She is earning college money from a job at Two Rivers Market in Motley.
Tom Casey, (left) dressed in a gorilla suit and playing the accordion, strolls with bagpiper John Hughes during Arts in the Park Sunday in Brainerd's Gregory Park. With the ideal weather, hundreds of central Minnesota residents and visitors enjoyed the open-air art experience.
(Dispatch Photo by Steve Kohls)
Other Arts in the Park winners:
