The Art Colony Association, Inc. (ACA), the producer of Bayou City Art Festival, will host a four-day online art auction on October 5-8, 2020 leading up to the Bayou City Art Virtual Experience, which is replacing this year’s in-person festival, on October 9-11, 2020.
The online auction will open on Monday, October 5, 2020 at 9 a.m. and close on Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 11 p.m. Art lovers can bid and win one-of-a-kind art by Julio Garcia, Helene Bernard Little, Armik Malekian and other Bayou City Art Festival artists. The online auction will also include unique items and experience such a 20-person wine tasting event at Total Wine, beer tasting at Karbach Brewing Co. for eight guests, a stay at the Omni Hotel and more.
From the safety of their home, guests can continue supporting artists, the arts community, education outreach and local nonprofit partners by participating in the Bayou City Art Festival Experience. The virtual event will be held on Bayou City Art Festival’s website featuring something for everyone and include:
- Let There Be Art with 19 categories of art for patrons to purchase directly from 300 juried Bayou City Art Festival artists.
- Artist Chat featuring conversations with Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Director Gary Tinterow and Artist David McGee, Van Gogh Adventure: Vincent’s Ghosts and Me presented by well-known traveler and artist Phil Savernick; an interview with Houston artist Lauren Luna; and an interview with Houston artists Syd Moen.
- Riel Restaurant Mixologist Derek P. Brown demonstrating a series of artful cocktail creations including So Fresh, So Clean, A Good ‘Ol Texas Margarita, a Mezcal Cocktail and other behind the bar tricks of the trade.
- Art Talk Happy Hours with Gonzo247, Amanda Bennett, Jennifer Lashbrook and Tony Parana.
- Art Crawl, a behind the scenes look with David Mayhew Photography, Jeff Leedy, Julio C. Garcia, Joel Anderson, Lauren Luna, Carolina Garzon and others.
- Music on Demand provided by Traveling Pianist, Guillermo Serpas, Fred Lowry, Jan & Dehner Experience, New Vintage, Outspoken Bean, with performances by The Mighty Orq and Arthur Yoria curated by Splice Records.
- Culinary Arts featuring Chef Chelsea Sargent of Houston Grazing Table demonstrating grilled Caesar salad with butter beans and other dishes; Chef Edwin Henderson, Valerie Steen, James Watford and Essence White from Chef’s in the City; and renowned Houston Chef Hugo Ortega who will demonstrate how to cook Turkey Pozole Verde.
- Online Festival Marketplace for purchasing festival T-shirts, coffee mugs, tumblers, featured artist posters and more.
Bayou City Art Festival’s nonprofit partners and sponsors are providing art projects and interactive activities for kids of all ages. The Active Imagination will include the following art activities:
- Let’s Make some Noise with Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- Let’s Make Some Monsters with Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- Let’s Make a Tree with Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- Stamping with a potato to Make Pattern Art with Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- Let’s Make a Painting Inspired by Action with Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- Let’s Make Dots with Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- Be a Texture Explorer with Artists for Artists
- Coloring Book with Nuro
- Learn How to Make Puppy Marionettes with Houston SPCA
- Learn how the bubble lady Jennifer Lang creates bubble magic
- Bonnie Blues shows you how she rocks by painting faces on river rocks
Festival patrons can purchase a virtual ticket by making a donation to Bayou City Art Festival and also be entered to win a raffle prize. To make donation, visit www.bayoucityartfesitval.com or text “SAVEOURART” to 243725.
For almost five decades, the Bayou City Art Festival has supported exhibiting artists and celebrates performing, visual and culinary arts while promoting the powerful impact it has in the community. Dedicated to supporting arts education programs and inspiring young artists, the Middle School Art Competition program offers students 5th-8th grade the opportunity to participate in a 2-D juried art competition. With strong community engagement and successful events, Bayou City Art Festival shares the proceeds with local nonprofits that are making a critical impact on the lives of those they serve.
Sponsors of Bayou City Art Festival and the “Save Our Art” Campaign include: City of Houston, KPRC 2, Frost Bank, Stella Artois, Nuro, Riel, Green Mountain Energy, Renewal by Andersen and Randalls. In-kind media sponsors include: Art Houston, Bellaire Connect, Cypress Living Magazine , D-Mars, Glasstire, Hot in Houston Now, Houston Modern Luxury, Houston Press, Houstonia, Intown, JMG, Key Magazine, Macaroni Kid, River Oaks Living Magazine, Swoon Katy, Swoon Memorial, The Kid’s Directory and Unation.
For the most recent updates, follow the official event hashtags# SaveOurArt #HouArtFest and #BCAF, like the Facebook page, or follow on Twitter and Instagram. Also, subscribe to our newsletter here.
About Bayou City Art Festival:
In its 49th year since the founding of the Westheimer Art Festival, now known as Bayou City Art Festival, the Art Colony Association, Inc. has raised more than $3.6 million for local nonprofit programs from proceeds of its festivals. Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park in the spring and Bayou City Art Festival Downtown in the fall has provided a venue for more than 20,000 artists to showcase their work to thousands of art lovers from all over the world. The festivals are funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, corporate sponsorships, private contributions, in-kind support and volunteer assistance.
For more information, please visit www.artcolonyassociation.org.
