Suncoast Arts Fest to once again heat up January

Aging improves some of the finer things in life — artisan cheeses, good scotch, fine wine.

The Suncoast Arts Fest has matured in such a way. The annual event is anticipated both for its established reputation and nuances that develop with each new vintage.

More than 100,000 people are expected to partake when Wesley Chapel Nissan presents the seventh annual Suncoast Arts Fest from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Shops at Wiregrass, 28211 Paseo Drive, about 2½ miles east of Interstate 75 on State Road 56.

Organizers for Fine Arts of the Suncoast, the nonprofit organization behind the Suncoast Arts Fest, brought the event to the Shops at Wiregrass in 2009, and it has proven to be an ideal venue to stage such an event.

The upscale mall provides an atmosphere that is naturally compatible with a first-class arts festival. As visitors stroll along, the shops and restaurants blend with the artists' tents into a singular experience.

Since moving to the Shops at Wiregrass, the festival has established an identity as one of the premiere arts events in the Tampa bay region, one that draws a crowd that knows what to expect, along with a few new twists.

Positioned on the calendar to be the region's leadoff art event of the year, Arts Fest also has benefited from its ahead-of-season scheduling to draw some of the best artists and craftspeople in Florida — 135 of them this year — representing various media including ceramics, clay, drawing, glass, graphics, fiber, jewelry, leather, metal, mixed media, photography, printmaking, sculpture and wood.

Along with visual art, the festival has a sampling of performing arts.

Suncoast Arts Fest was founded in part to be a fundraiser for the Fine Arts of the Suncoast's Arts for Kids program, which provides financial support for arts education in Pasco County schools. That aspect of the festival is emphasized with two perennial features: the Emerging Artists juried exhibition for seventh- through 12th-grade artists, and the Kid's Art Garden, where children can create works of art.

Children and teens also will appear on stage this year, with emphasis on developing musical talent. The Hudson Middle School Jazz Band will perform at 11:15 Saturday, followed by the Hudson High School chorus at noon. On Sunday, the Land O'Lakes High School Orchestra and Band will take the stage at 11 a.m., followed by the Charles S. Rushe Middle School Chorus at noon.

The onstage entertainment will start with classic rock and blues by The Time Bandits at 10 a.m. Saturday. At 2 p.m. Josh Lamkin and Automatic Heat deliver high-energy original music. At 2 p.m. Sunday, Sol Caribe will bring a Latin flavor to the festival.

Adding to the musical atmosphere, Steve Shurdell of WJQB 106.3 FM will do a remote broadcast from the Arts Fest on Sunday.

At 12:30 both days, artist Tim Decker returns to Arts Fest, merging fine art and performance as he demonstrates speed painting, creating patriotic and celebrity portraits in four to seven minutes each.

A raffle will be held each day for one of Decker's paintings, to benefit Arts for Kids. Tickets will be $2 each or three for $5.

Another feature is chalk artists who will adorn pavement in the courtyard outside Dillard's throughout the weekend. Sponsored by Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture & the Arts, the exhibition is a preview for the annual Chalk Walk in Tampa's Hyde Park in March.

The biggest new feature at the Suncoast Arts Fest this year will be the Suncoast Run for the Arts, at 9 a.m. Sunday. The not-too-daunting, one-mile jaunt around the shopping center also is an Arts for Kids fundraising event, sponsored by Big Dawg Runnin', and will include a pancake breakfast at the finish line.

For more information on Suncoast Arts Fest 2012, including a directory of participating artists and related events in Pasco and Pinellas counties during Arts Fest weekend, visit www.suncoastartsfest.com.