Shinnick and Third Streets surrounding Secrest Auditorium came to life for the 13th Annual Y-Bridge Arts Festival held on the first Friday and Saturday in August. A sprawling arrangement of white tents covered colorful artwork of all mediums and over 60 talented artists that attended. Musicians performed nearly non-stop throughout the entire festival providing the perfect soundtrack for a vibrant community event for all ages.
All five senses were engaged with a bountiful canvas of sights to take in and textures to touch among the artist’s displays and aromas and tastes to behold due to nearly a dozen food vendors that were set up on-site. The Muskingum County Library System and others also joined in with tables and tents to provide more to see and do during both days of the festival. Several children’s activities, sponsored by the Zanesville Museum of Art, added an extra way to engage with young artists.
Seeing so much talent in one place was inspiring. Stainless steel sculpture artist, David Griesmyer, explained the meaning behind one of his eye-catching pieces of a woman wearing a gown comprised completely of metal butterflies that he had on display during the festival, “A lady was talking to me and told me how she was overcoming abuse, we had this conversation about however I could make a sculpture to incorporate butterflies, and I said what if we had not just butterflies but surrounding as if they are holding her up, lifting her up. You know, change from what was the past to what is now.” Griesmyer had several sculptures each measuring approximately between four and five feet on display. Each of his creations are completely original and he never uses molds or castings during his process.
Awards were presented to artists whose work stood out among even the best from the area and beyond. Award money for this year’s festival totaled over $2,000. The 2023 Best of Show award was presented to Stephen Fisher, an acrylic painter from Marysville Ohio. Stephen specializes in abstract art but his portfolio holds a variety of styles. His work can be found at fisherartworks.com. The Best of Show award was in memory of Adolph J. Kazemekas, whose daughters, Janet Debray and Kristy Szemetylo sponsored the award. Other awards were sponsored by the Muskingum County Community Foundation and Ron & Erin Cole.
There couldn’t have been a better backdrop for the Y-Bridge Arts Festival’s 13th annual event than Zanesville’s historic buildings among the city’s art district. Be sure to bookmark the Y-Bridge Arts Festival website, ybridgeartsfestival.com, for information pertaining to next year’s event or follow them on Facebook. You can also stay in the loop on all things related to Zanesville’s art scene by visiting artcoz.org or following the Artist Colony of Zanesville on Facebook.
