Arts United and presenting sponsor 3Rivers Credit Union host the 15th annual Taste of the Arts festival Saturday, August 26, 2023, from 11 am to 6 pm at Arts Campus Fort Wayne, The Landing, and Promenade Park. This free festival celebrates the rich diversity of arts and culture in Northeast Indiana. Proceeds from donations, sponsorships, and vendor registration fees help keep admission to the event free.

 

“The annual Taste of the Arts Festival showcases the breadth and depth of creativity in our region,” said Pam Holocher, co-chair of the festival. “In our 15th year, we are thrilled to have added to the number of activities at the festival without the barrier of cost to experience arts and culture.”

 

In 2023, several special events will be presented by community partners at Taste of the Arts. The following listing includes new and annual special events joining the festival this year.

 

Artlink Market at Taste of the Arts is a one-day outdoor, curated marketplace featuring the best in contemporary craft and handmade goods from 11 am to 6 pm on the 300 block of Main Street. Artlink Market at Taste of the Arts will feature 30-50 vendors for the in-person event. Applications for artist booths are accepted on a rolling basis through August 1, 2023. Learn how to apply.

 

Artlink Gallery also will be presenting two exhibitions during the festival: Moments: The Plein Air Movement, in partnership with the Fort Wayne Artists Guild, and Men of Mars by Mary Johnson. Admission is free.

 

Artlink’s Figure Drawing Club will have clothed figure drawing on the Rousseau Plaza. Artists and non-artists alike are encouraged to join in the drawing.

 

The History Center will be open for select hours. The History Center is home to the collection of the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society, which contains more than 32,000 artifacts, 20,000 photographs, and thousands of linear feet of archival materials. 

 

Human Library Fort Wayne offers the art of storytelling upstairs in the Jeanne Mirro Ballroom at the Arts United Center. People of diverse backgrounds are loaned as “books” to initiate a dialogue about challenging topics. This culture-sharing activity lets patrons have a conversation with the book.

 

Fort Wayne Artists Guild presents the Kekionga Plein Air Event in August, culminating at Taste of the Arts. On August 26, activities include the Paint Arts Campus Fort Wayne competition and wet-paint sale at the Arts United Center Plaza. Competition prizes and purchase awards at 5 pm during the Taste of the Arts Festival.

 

In partnership with Fort Wayne Sister Cities, the Taizhou Huangyan Jiufeng Landscape Painting Academy is bringing a select group of Chinese artists and their work to Fort Wayne Museum of Art to boost mutual understanding and cultural communication between Chinese and Western cultures through art. Taizhou Jiufeng Landscape Painting Academy, a nonprofit public culture and art group, is bringing six members from the group—Tao Ji, Chen Jiali Chen Rongjun, Chen Tianye, Dai Xuezhao, and Xin Yunying—to present a collection of stunning landscapes in their debut show in the United States. The artists will be at Fort Wayne Museum of Art during the Taste of the Arts Festival, and the exhibition Poetry in Painting: Scenes from Fort Wayne’s Sister City Taizhou, China is from July 22 to September 17, 2023. Fort Wayne Museum of Art will offer free admission during their regular gallery hours, 10 am to 6 pm

 

Alex Hall, who is the manager of Art This Way and is recognized as one of the top muralists in Northeast Indiana, will be conducting public art tours in Downtown Fort Wayne. The 1-mile walking tours will last approximately 1 hour and will be at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm, starting at the Helmholtz sculpture west of the Arts United Center. Dogs are welcome.

 

Cinema Center will be presenting A Taste of Hobnobben during the festival. The Hobnobben Film Festival is an annual film festival by Fort Wayne Cinema Center. A Taste of Hobnobben will feature select films as a preview to the upcoming October event.


Hosted by Julia Meek and Rob Martinez, WBOI’s Meet the Music concert brings the final activities of the festival to the Auer Lawn at Promenade Park. Watch the live recording of Meet the Music beginning at 5:30 pm, featuring performances by JJ & McRae, KelsiCote, and Los Galaxy.

 

The YLNI Farmers Market is an open-air outdoor market on Barr Street, offering fresh and unique local produce, plants, meats, baked goods, and homemade crafts. Shop local vendors from 9 am to 1 pm. 

 

A full performance schedule, food and drink vendors, and more activities will be announced closer to the festival. To sign up as a volunteer and for more updates about the 2023 festival, visit tastefw.org and follow Taste of the Arts Festival on Facebook and Instagram. Taste of the Arts is sponsored in 2023 by 3Rivers Credit Union, NIPSCO and the NiSource Charitable Foundation, AWS Foundation, Arcpoint Productions, The Landing, Arts Campus Fort Wayne, Riverfront Fort Wayne, Ambassador Enterprises, AEP Foundation, Parrish Leasing, Sweetwater, Current Mechanical, Do It Best Corp., Ash Brokerage, PHP, The James Foundation, 1st Source Bank, Ferguson, The Joint Chiropractic, Lincoln Financial Group, Strahm Building Solutions, and Rea Magnet Wire.

 

About Arts United

Arts United is a private, nonprofit local arts agency that serves Northeast Indiana through arts advocacy and promotion, fundraising and grantmaking, business services support, community and economic development, and Arts Campus Fort Wayne coordination. Arts United’s mission is to mobilize resources to develop, coordinate, and support arts and culture, enhancing the quality of life and the economic vitality of Northeast Indiana.

 

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