For over a decade, the Downtown Bryan Street & Art Fair has hosted local and statewide artists and vendors during Texas A&M Family Weekend. This Saturday, April 15, the fair hosts its greatest number of artists yet in the heart of downtown.
The state of Texas formally recognizes Bryan as a Texas Cultural District because of the community’s effort to foster the arts. This will be the fifteenth time that Downtown Bryan hosts the art fair. Destination Bryan PR & Communications Manager Abigail Noel said the city has spent nearly half a year planning for the one-day event.
“Applications for artists opened up in October … it’s typical that we start planning up to six months in advance because not only do we get in touch with artists, but also vendors and restaurants in Downtown Bryan,” Noel said. “We have 35 artists from the local community, as well as across the state of Texas, who applied and will be present this year. This is the largest number of artists attending ever.”
The fair will have more tents compared to last year that are not only art demonstrations, but also activities for the community to participate in. Family and friends of current A&M students will have the opportunity to create artwork of different mediums, Noel said.
“This year, there will be a sculpting tent, a seminar on canvas wrapping and bookmark making,” Noel said. “There are a lot of ways for the community to interact with the artists, and learn from their techniques.”
In addition to the workshops, the city will also partner with the Historic Queen Theatre for the first time to showcase short films created by A&M students from the School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts. While Destination Bryan offers new events such as the workshops and short film screenings, favorite events from previous years will also return, namely artist Anet Ronen’s live 3D mural demonstration and the popular steamroll printing demonstration, Noel said.
“Anet Ronen will return this year and create 3D chalk art … it’s popular art, an optical illusion often found on social media where it looks like you might fall into a hole in the sidewalk, or you’re hopping rock-to-rock across a river,” Noel said. “Another demonstration people love to see are the lino prints. A huge steamroller runs over the linoleum stamps to press ink into the artists’ print. The printmaking occurs by the Village Cafe and final prints will be for sale later in the day.”
The event will take place on North Main Street in Bryan from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is free to the general public. Local restaurants on the main strip and adjoining streets will be open. The local farmer’s market will also take place the same morning. The fair offers something for everyone to enjoy this A&M family weekend.
To learn more about the Downtown Bryan Street & Arts Fair, visit destinationbryan.com.
