The Methow Arts Fest on July 4 will offer all of its usual attractions this year when it moves from Twisp Town park to the TwispWorks campus.
TwispWorks will host Fourth of July event
With the exception of two pandemic years, each Fourth of July since the late 1980s the Methow Valley community of residents and visitors has gathered at the annual Methow Arts Fest to celebrate the role art plays in our lives. The themes and venues have changed over the years, but the essential elements remain the same: creative opportunities to make art, live music, food and drink, and community camaraderie.
This spirit of imagination, creativity and cohesion has anchored Arts Fest for more than 35 years and will serve that role again at Arts Fest 2023, to be held at the TwispWorks campus on Tuesday, July 4, from 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. It all starts right after the traditional Independence Day parade, which this year will reverse its course on Glover Street, starting from Twisp Town Park.
For those who have only attended Arts Fest in the 2000s, the move away from the Town Park venue may seem unexpected. But those who have been at Arts Fest since the beginning understand the shift to be characteristically resourceful.
In its early days, Arts Fest was a two-day event held at Mack Lloyd Park in Winthrop. Later, Arts Fest moved to the Twisp Town Park and scaled back to a single day.
“Due to a recent transition in Methow Arts’ leadership and staffing, this year it makes sense logistically to host Arts Fest on the TwispWorks campus,” said Betsy Cushman, Consulting Director at Methow Arts. “TwispWorks has long been a partner and leader in promoting artistic processes and we are incredibly grateful for their enthusiastic collaboration in trying something new with this year’s Arts Fest.”
Cushman said that TwispWorks’ staff and partners “have been a dream to work with as they also undertake something new and different than anything they’ve done before, which is to close the campus in order to host a single event.”
With a constellations of artist studios and maker spaces encircling the campus, the amphitheater and stage in the center, and the onsite food and beverage opportunities such as Old Schoolhouse Brewery, Fork Food Truck, Twisp Eats, and the space to create a food court area to accommodate other food vendors, TwispWorks offers a logical venue for a large festival.
TwispWorks Executive Director Sarah Brown said of the collaboration, “We’re thrilled to host Arts Fest, and to celebrate art and community on campus. Arts Fest is a perfect way to showcase our incredible campus partners and the work TwispWorks is doing to increase vitality in the Methow Valley culture and economy. Partnering with Methow Arts means Arts Fest will be gaining from the strengths of both organizations — and the community benefits.”
“Methow Arts has a long history of identifying needs and opportunities, and leveraging them for the benefit of the community,” said Maddie James, Methow Arts Board President. “While change is sometimes daunting, we also know that it is both inevitable and exciting.”
The next frontier
“Arts Fest 2023 is boldly going where no Arts Fest has gone before — to TwispWorks,” said Margaret Kingston, Education Director for Methow Arts. At the Outer Space-themed festival, attendees can go boldly toward an array of offerings: hands-on booths for making arts, the opportunity to watch professional artists — silversmiths, fiber artists, printmakers, woodworkers, painters, potters, and others — at work in their studios, and the chance to procure high-quality handmade retail items created by local artists, artisans and makers.
“With all the studios and workshops, TwispWorks is a beautiful model of the relationship between art and industry. Enterprise? It’s all on the TwispWorks campus,” Kingston said, referencing the entrepreneurial spirit of TwispWorks, not the Federation starship captained by Kirk.
Kingston said that this year’s arts booths are still in the design process, but creative stations like Galaxy Slime, Alien Animals, and Space Rock Stringing will offer a range of projects with infinite possibilities for art-makers of all ages.
At the heart of the festival will be the stage lineup, with MC Will Menzies introducing bands like the Friday Feels and Outer Orbit as well as facilitating a space-themed costume contest and the ever-popular pie eating contest. A galaxy of pop-up tents will provide shade in the amphitheater as well as throughout the campus, and the Splash Pad will offer evaporative cooling opportunities.
Will Arts Fest eventually return to the grassy shaded atmosphere of the Twisp Town Park? That remains a decision that will be made by the Methow Arts staff and board next year, based on factors including the condition of the park’s bandshell and driving access to the interior of the park for loading and unloading sound equipment, as well as tables, chairs and tents.
But regardless of venue now or into the future, the common elements that make Arts Fest a universally-enjoyed event — stellar concerts, cuisine, community and creativity — will in 2023 offer another opportunity for imaginative exploration.
All about Arts Fest
• Arts Fest will be held on Tuesday, July 4, from 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at TwispWorks, 502 S. Glover St.
• The Fourth of July parade will be staged at the Twisp Town Park and will travel from north to south along Glover Street, starting at 11 a.m.
• No parking will be allowed onsite at TwispWorks. Attendees are encouraged to carpool, ride bikes, or park in Twisp.
• Admission: Kids 5 and younger free; ages 6-17 $5; 18 and older $20.
• For more information and ticket purchases, visit http://www.methowarts.org/methow-arts-fest.
Volunteers needed
All of this art-making happens only thanks to the dedication of a core of volunteers. Volunteering is a way to experience Arts Fest from the inside. Volunteers who help with all aspects of Arts Fest, including set-up, art booths, entry station, and clean-up, earn free admission to the festival and a limited-edition Arts Fest T-shirt.
Interested high school aged and older volunteers should contact Methow Arts Program Coordinator Patti Sommerville at coordinator.methowarts@gmail.com. No prior creative experience is necessary.
