The Cherry Creek Arts Festival (CCAF) will “Bring Art to Life” on the streets of Cherry Creek North from Saturday, July 1st through Monday, July 3rd, 2017.
With hundreds of artists sharing their unique expressions at the Festival site, patrons benefit from engaging in cultural and arts education experiences. This year is no exception, with an exciting lineup of exhibiting artists and other features, as detailed below.
Exhibiting Artists
This year’s Arts Festival will feature 255 national and international artists in 13 media categories, offering something for everyone. Eighty-two artists are first-time CCAF exhibitors, and 30 exhibitors are from Colorado, providing an opportunity to highlight the local art community. The Arts Festival continues to support emerging artists, with five exhibitors in the emerging program this year; four of the emerging artists are Colorado based. A blind-jury process selects exhibiting artists from more than 2,100 artist applications, making CCAF one of the most competitive art shows in the nation.
2017 Commemorative Poster
For the first time, the Cherry Creek Arts Festival will be featuring two commemorative posters. Daryl Thetford, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the artist behind the 2017 Cherry Creek Arts Festival commemorative posters, “Denver Night Sky” and “Summer in Denver.”
Thetford develops his images from raw digital files, alters them to black-and-white, and then begins a process of digital cutting and pasting using multiple photographic images of close-ups of paint and details of signs, walls and sidewalks. One hundred or more images are cropped, overlapped and combined to create a single, multi-layered image.
The commemorative poster is available for purchase at CherryArtShop and at Festival stores throughout the event site. Patrons are encouraged to take home a commemorative piece of the 27th year.
Photo Credit: ©Liz Levy Figueroa
Opening Gala for Art Education
Hosted by the JW Marriott Denver Cherry Creek and presented by Colorado Business Bank, Colorado Homes & Lifestyles, John Atencio and MDC Foundation, the Cherry Creek Arts Festival Opening Gala on Friday, June 30 will begin at 5 p.m. with a private artist preview and purchase reception on Cherry Creek North’s Clayton Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. Guests will enjoy a private reception featuring hors d’oeuvres, spirited beverages, a pop-up performance by the Handsome Little Devils and an opportunity to preview and purchase art from 40 of the 255 juried artists who will be exhibiting at the 2017 Cherry Creek Arts Festival.
The gala dinner takes place at the JW Marriott at 7pm, following the preview, at which time distinguished patron Arrow Electronics will be honored. Patrons will also experience a one-of-a-kind interactive art experience at the event.
Psst.. For information about ticketing and the Opening Gala package benefits, please visit www.CherryArts.org/Gala. The Opening Gala benefits the CherryArts year-round nonprofit mission to provide art education and outreach programs in local area schools.
Janus Henderson Investors Student Art Buying Program
The Janus Henderson Investors Student Art Buying Program encourages students to explore art in school and provides them with a hands-on, art-buying experience at the Festival where they get the chance to purchase artwork for permanent installation at their schools. This year, 24 Colorado schools were selected to participate in the program, 46 schools applied.
Three schools have the opportunity to purchase art for Mobile Art Galleries I & II (MAG), collections of museum-quality art that travel to public schools, libraries and community centers throughout Colorado during the academic year. Janus Henderson provides $2,000 per school for the MAG selections.
The Janus Henderson Student Art Buying experience takes place at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival on Clayton St. between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in the Janus Henderson Investors Art Experience on Saturday, July 1 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with the Student Showcase open to the public from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Pieces from the Mobile Art Gallery will be on display at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center from June 23 through July 7.
Photo Credit: ©Liz Levy Figueroa
Arrow Five Years Out Art Challenge
The Cherry Creek Arts Festival is partnering with 2017 Festival presenting sponsor Arrow Electronics in the Arrow Five Years Out Art Challenge, an international challenge to inspire artists to take the concept of innovation and express what five years out looks like in the art world, translating ideas into their artistic medium. Through a competitive and collaborative selection process, a jury of national artists and art professionals chose seven finalists out of a competitive pool of 117 artists. Each finalist received a $5,000 commission to create a forward-thinking piece of art to be displayed at the Festival from July 1 to July 3.
The jury will select one winner, the week of June 19, to receive the Innovation Award, granting that winner a $10,000 prize and a jury-exempt invitation to exhibit at the 2018 Cherry Creek Arts Festival. The pieces will become part of the innovative collection of artwork at Arrow and may be featured in a global ad series and in locations around the world.
Toyota Ride & Drive Event
Experience the art of driving with Your Hometown Toyota Stores as they host a Ride & Drive July 1, 2 and 3 on Detroit Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. For every test drive of a Toyota vehicle, participants will receive a $10 gift card. Attendees can enter to win a Toyota Highlander at the booth throughout the Festival weekend.
Performing Arts: Music
Visit the Janus Henderson Investors Main Stage and Blue Moon Beer Garden on Detroit Street to enjoy music performances throughout the Cherry Creek Arts Festival weekend. Experience performances by Michael Hornbuckle Band, the Crystal Swing Band and more.
Dance to the tunes of Wendy Woo during Festival Night on Saturday, July 1 at the Janus Henderson Main Stage and Blue Moon Beer Garden on Detroit. Join the Cherry Creek Arts Festival for the first-ever ticketed concert to support arts education on Sunday, July 2 from 8pm to 10pm, where you can see the Grammy-Award Winning Rebirth Brass Band perform, enjoy food and drink vendors on Detroit and dance under the stars surrounded by art.
Psst… To purchase tickets, visit cherrycreekartsfestival.org/concert/.
Photo Credit: ©Frank Montanez
Additional Performing Arts and Demonstrations
This year, Arrow Electronics will partner with the Handsome Little Devils to provide surprise onsite activations throughout the Festival weekend. These spontaneous mobile performances will pop up all over the site to delight patrons and will disappear as quickly as they appear.
The Janus Henderson Investors Art Experience stage, located on the west side of Clayton between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, will feature interactive arts experiences throughout the weekend. Bring art to life, enjoy an afternoon of creating your own artwork in a variety of media with instructors available to teach techniques. The tent also will host the Janus Student Art Buying Showcase on Saturday, July 1 at 1:30pm.
Janus Henderson Investors presents a mural piece by artist Kelsey Montague. The 9ft by 8ft piece will be created onsite at the Janus Henderson Investors Art Experience tent during the Cherry Creek Arts Festival weekend. Guests are welcome to interact with the piece and post photos using #WhatLiftsYou. Kelsey’s finished piece will be added to the CherryArts Mobile Art Gallery. To see more of Kelsey’s work, visit kelseymontagueart.com.
Art Auction
Kick off your visit to the 27th Cherry Creek Arts Festival with a stop at the Art Auction at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Clayton. Here you’re able to view and bid on original works of art. You can bid in person at the Festival (July 1, 2 & 3) and online at www.cherryartshop.org/auction. The online bidding opens on Monday, June 26. The art is generously donated by exhibiting artists with proceeds going toward CherryArts’ year-round arts education programs.
Photo Credit: ©Liz Levy Figueroa
Green Up CherryArts
Green Up Cherry Arts is working toward a zero-waste model through education and involvement of the public in recycling. To reach this percentage, Green Up Cherry Arts implements a three-stream Zero Waste management system, which includes recycling, composting and proactively preventing unnecessary waste by working with vendors, community partners and Festival attendees to encourage sustainable approaches. The Cherry Creek Arts Festival received a Certificate of Environmental Excellence Award by the City of Denver.
In 2016, the fifth year of the program, Green Up Cherry Arts maintained a waste diversion percentage of 45 percent. The mission of “Greening Cherry Arts: Zero Waste Initiative” is to ensure an environmentally responsible year-round operation.
Artivity Avenue
Artivity Avenue, presented by King Soopers, offers a full block of family-friendly, interactive activities. Situated on Steele Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues, ART-ivities annually include an “Imagination Collaboration Mural,” painted by the community and the “Creation Station,” presented by Cruisin’ 1430 AM, with various activities for younger children.
This year, children can make buttons with Cruisin’ 1430 AM, play with food in the King Soopers area, create words on the street and “Poetrees” with Lighthouse Writers Workshop Write Denver, color with Firefly Autism, make Amazon Rain Sticks with Museo De Las Americas, create Velvet Art with Chabad Lubavitch of Colorado, explore Sensory Art with Anchor Center for Blind Children, make robot puppets, space helmets, alien headbands, monoprinting, and an open studio table presented by the Cherry Creek Arts Festival.
Photo Credit ©Frank Montanez.
Culinary Experiences
In addition to visual arts, the Cherry Creek Arts Festival will feature 21 culinary vendors and food trucks that offer a wide variety of cuisines and some healthier meal options. All vendors are supporters of Green Up Cherry Arts, a long-term program with a goal to work toward Zero Waste and educate the public about responsibly disposing of trash at the site of the Festival.
This year, the Festival welcomes three food trucks onsite: Little India, Mac ’N Noodles and Simply Pizza.
Festival patrons can cool off with drinks from Blue Moon Brewing Company, Glenfiddich Whisky, Hendrick’s Gin, Rodney Strong Vineyards & Applejack Wine & Spirits and Pepsi.
Cherry Creek Arts Festival will take place at Denver’s Cherry Creek North Shopping District, from 2nd to 3rd Avenues, on the six streets between Clayton and Steele Streets.
Free parking is available at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center all weekend (excluding Safeway) and there are $6 parking options at 11 garages throughout Cherry Creek North. Bike valet and B-Cycle are also available. Visit cherrycreekartsfestival.org/festival-info for more information.