FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Susan Habas
Thalian Association Community Theatre
910-251-1788
CELEBRATE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND IN DOWNTOWN WILMINGTON
The 22ND Annual Orange Street ArtsFest
WILMINGTON, NC – The Orange Street ArtsFest (OSAF) will return Memorial Day weekend, Saturday May 27th from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and Sunday May 28th from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The celebrated street fair is held on Orange Street between Front and Second Streets, next to the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center, with some exhibitors inside the building and on 2nd Street.
The OSAF is one of the largest arts festivals in Downtown Wilmington with more than 80 artists exhibiting oil and watercolor paintings, pottery, jewelry, metal arts and paper creations. This year the OSAF will be juried by Owen Wexler and Miriam Oehrlein. Mr. Wexler is a long-time Wilmington resident and internationally known visual artist whose work has been featured on TV and film. Ms. Oehrlein, winner of the 2012 Best Designer Showcase, specializes in jewelry design and owns New Elements Gallery. Awards will be presented for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place with four Judges Awards and cash prizes totaling $550.00.
Live entertainment and great food will be a highlight of the quaint family friendly festival with culinary delights from Poor Piggy’s BBQ, Stevie Mack’s International Food, North Carolina Sweet Tea and Snowy of the Carolinas. Hourly music and dance performances are scheduled on the Orange Street Stage beside the HBHUSO/CAC featuring artists who perform or teach in the Community Arts Center. Anevay Dance Company, Susan Savia, and Terry Godwin’s Revolver Music are slated to perform. Thalian Association Community Theatre will present selections from the upcoming 2017 – 2018 Main Stage Thalian Hall and Youth Theatre productions
The festival will also celebrate young talent with the return of the High School Student’s Art Contest Exhibition presented by the Wilmington Art Association. The artwork will be displayed in the lobby museum of the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center with the wartime exhibits including memorials to Wilmington’s two Medal of Honor recipients. The public is invited to tour all the World War II exhibits while visiting the inside artists.
Other featured artists inside the Community Arts Center include students from DREAMS of Wilmington, the nationally award winning arts education program. Activities for young visitors will be provided by the Children’s Museum of Wilmington with an interactive play room inside the building. The CMOW staff will lead activities during the two-day festival featuring fun stations with science experiments, construction with foam building blocks and the famous arts and crafts station for entire families to enjoy.
“The Community Arts Center is filled with children every day and the Orange Street ArtsFest should not be an exception” said Susan Habas, Executive Director of Thalian Association Community Theatre. “We are thrilled that The Children’s Museum will provide special activities and playtime for our youngest visitors.”
Thalian Association Community Theatre launched the Orange Street ArtsFest in 1995 to promote the arts in Wilmington and the Community Arts Center (CAC), located in the Historic USO building. The community theatre association has managed the CAC for the City of Wilmington since 1994. The 75-year-old landmark building, long recognized as the local center of visual and performing arts, was completely renovated in 2008 and is now known as the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center. For more information about the building and its history please visit www. wilmingtoncommunityarts.org. The 22nd Annual Orange Street ArtsFest is sponsored in part by Block, Crouch, Keeter, Behm & Sayed, LLC, Bring It Downtown, CresCom Bank, Encore, Queensboro Shirt Company, WAAV, WGNI, WHQR, and WWAY.
Established in 1788, Thalian Association Community Theatre is a non-profit, membership organization dedicated to enhancing the Cape Fear region through live community theatre and arts education. Thalian Association Community Theatre produces five major productions annually on the Main Stage at historic Thalian Hall and professionally manages the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center for the City of Wilmington. The youth theatre program offers training and performance opportunities for children age seven through high school seniors. In 2007, Thalian Association Community Theatre was designated North Carolina’s Official Community Theater by the state legislature.