Photos courtesy of Ennis CVB.
Celebrate 15 years ofbrSouthlake's premier arts festival this month
It's hard to believe that it's been a decade-and-a-halfbrsince Southlake's three-day juried fine arts festival first began to drawbrrenowned artists and entertainment to Northeast Tarrant County. What started asbra Southlake Women's Club community fundraiser whose first event attracted 40brartists has grown to receive hundreds of applications from across the countrybrand internationally. Additionally, since its inception, Art in the Square hasbrraised approximately $2 million for local charities that support women,brfamilies and children.
This year'sbrfun-filled festival, which will take place April 25-27, drew the largest numberbrof applicants to date — 723 artists. More than 150 from 26 different states andbrfive countries were selected to showcase their work, while nine featuredbrartists will also get to display their mixed media, drawings, paintings andbrmore in the rotundas of Southlake Town Hall as a preview to the big weekend.brThe lucky winners include Erin Hanson, Martin Lambuth, Janelle Lindley, AnnebrLondon, Michelle Mardis, Dean Russell Thompson, Preston Steed and DennisbrRhoades. TJ Thompson, this year’s featured T-shirt artist, will also have hisbrwork on display. Thompson is known for his ability to capture ordinary livesbrand routine moments on canvas, painting with oil and acrylic.
AlthoughbrArt in the Square is sticking with many of its traditions, new features alsobrabound this year. Destination Alley, a quaint area sponsored by CelebritybrCruises, will include a sidewalk chalk artist, beverage stand and BellatrinobrItalian food truck near Mi Cocina on Main St. As part of the student artbrcompetition, a new Lone Star Artist Award will be given to one NortheastbrTarrant County high school student artist whose winning artwork will bebrdisplayed in the rotunda of the state capitol.
Taking thebrstage for the weekend's musical entertainment will be various cover, countrybrand rock bands, including headliner The Cadillac Three — currently on tour withbrJake Owen — plus Kaela Sinclair and her band (flip to page 42 to learn morebrabout Kaela). Kids will especially love the return of The Zone, which featuresbra climbing wall, bungee jump, inflatables, face painting and snow cones.
Whether youbrplan to visit Art in the Square for the artwork, the music, the food and drinkbror all of the above, this year's festival is sure to be another successfulbrweekend full of fun for the whole family. Be sure to visit ArtInTheSquare.combrfor more information and stop by Southlake Town Hall to check out the featuredbrartists before the big event!
Shades of Blue
Just 30 miles south of downtown Dallas off of I.H. 45 sitsbrthe charming city of Ennis. Although famous for its railroad and cottonbrhistory, the town is most well known for its fields of bluebonnets. The beautifullybrblue state flower of Texas runs rampant across the small suburb, today known asbrthe Official Bluebonnet City of Texas. Every April, the city’s bluebonnetbrtrails open to the public for tours, as the flowers start blooming around thebrlast week in March.
This yearbrmarks 63 years of the bluebonnet trails, which span more than 40 picturesque miles.brTo commemorate the occasion, the Ennis Garden Club is hosting the EnnisbrBluebonnet Trails Festival from April 12-13. Enjoy arts and crafts exhibits, abrchildren's activity area, food and drink, bluebonnet souvenirs and excitingbrlive entertainment, plus a tour of the railroad and heritage museum. A Saturdaybrcar show will feature an exhibition of antique vehicles manufactured frombrextinct corporations like Packard, Hupmobile and Kaiser. Annually, thebrbluebonnet trails draw 100,000 eager visitors throughout the month of April,brwhile the festival draws 30,000.
According to Sandy Anderson,brchairman of the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Project, the garden club takesbrdonations from the festival and uses it to reseed areas in and around Ennis.brThey also visit schoolchildren to teach them about wildflowers and educatebrvisitors about the best time to plant and how to properly care for their bluebonnets.
Visit VisitEnnis.orgbrto learn more about the trails and the festival.