Arts and Crafts Festival

May 27, 2008

I love festivals. And Oklahoma’s got hundreds of ‘em! The Czech Festival in Yukon in October, the Watermelon Festival in Rush Springs in August, Robber’s Cave Fall Festival, the Street Rod Nationals in April (OK, so that’s more Joe’s thing)…these are just a few.

I love to watch the people, young and old, and to listen to the sounds of the crowds. I love the aromas of the brisket sandwiches, the roast corn, and the deep-fried funnel cakes, wafting through the air. I love the music floating from the sound stages. There are always new sights to see, new foods to try, crafts of all sorts imaginable to browse or buy, and all of it against the backdrop of mixed tunes and tempos.

Joe and I tried out the Paseo Arts Festival for the first time (ever!) this past weekend. The day was a hot one, with the occasional breeze bringing relief down the fairway. Quite a different sight it was, from the downtown Arts Fest, which we never miss. The Paseo is smaller and less crowded. And concessions were served in trailers and booths, a la State Fair, rather than the massive International Food Row that typifies the downtown festival.

The Paseo Arts Festival has 2 sound stages, versus the 4 performing arts stages downtown. We stuck around to watch local celeb Edgar Cruz play his classical guitar tunes for a while. But there was so much to look at, we couldn’t stay still for long!

I was surprised how many art booths were there, in spite of how small the Paseo is. The Paseo, which has been around since 1929, is merely 2-3 city blocks long, a strip of Dewey Avenue flowing between NW 28th and NW 30th Streets. The street is lined with unique gift shops, art galleries, a few restaurants, boutiques, and a coffee house.

Here's a little history about the Paseo Arts District:

In the 1950s, Paseo was home to small businesses, student partying and jazz clubs. The 1960s brought the counter culture with its creativity, free spirit and problems. The Paseo began its transition into an arts district in the 1970s. The first annual Paseo Arts Festival was held Memorial Day weekend in 1977 and the Paseo Arts Association was formed in 1982 to organize and further energize its place as Oklahoma's arts district. Today a vibrant group of artists with substantial involvement and support from the larger community continues to build The Paseo Arts District into one of the most creative art venues in the country.

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Probably what I enjoy most about a festival (and this is when I quit talking about the Festival and start talking about myself), is looking at everyone’s wares. I am AMAZED by the creativity, all the ideas that people have. A few booths at the Paseo Arts Festival were what I call “wearable art” – colorful but loose-fitting and simply-designed blouses, pants, and skirts.

This certainly brings back memories, memories from BEFORE family and career took all my time and energy. Memories of a less-hurried and carefree time when I had hours on end to cut, stitch, glue, design, imagine, create…

I was sewing by hand at age 6, and making my own clothes at 16. Of course I learned my sewing skills from my mother. She made clothes and toys for us kids; I can still picture her embroidering on a square of white muslin, or cutting scraps for quilt tops. She showed me how to cut out quilt squares and make patchwork pillows by the time I was in first grade.

Then there was that school craft fair in fifth grade; a fundraiser, where some percent of the sales proceeds would go to the school. I’d made that green-floral purse with the matching changepurse, from fabric my mom had in her scrap-bag. The changepurse had a hand-embroidered design on it. It didn’t sell; in fact I still have it today.

But that didn’t quell my enthusiasm! Mom taught me how to use her Singer sewing machine, and in time I learned to make my own clothes. Most of my church dresses were my own creations. I was constantly getting compliments on my outfits. People just couldn’t BELIEVE… “You MADE that?!” Others who didn’t know me well would ask if my mother “made that dress.” I would be like, nnnnooo, I did.

I began experimenting with decorating t-shirts long before t-shirt decorating was cool. Taking an idea from one of Mom’s quilt-top patterns, I hand-appliqued a cutout of Sunbonnet Sue in a pink frock, onto a grey sweatshirt. Her frock was made of scraps of a pink calico I’d used in a dress for myself.

Ah, those were the days. What happened to them? Oh yeah, life happened. I became an adult with adult responsibilities. If I could have developed that side of my personality, I’d have my own booth at the Paseo Arts Festival. But, here I am, 40-something, wondering what it would be like to make a living doing something other than sitting at a desk all day.

Then again, as Joe pointed out, I’d have to deal with crowds, and he knows how claustrophobic I get in crowds. Not even to mention the 94° heat! So maybe it's all for the best. But attending festivals, I won't stop. And it's never too late -- one day when life slows down, you just might see me working my own booth, designing and cutting and stitching and gluing, peddling my own creations instead of admiring everyone else's!