Melrose Arts Festival to Include Community Collage

For the sixth consecutive year, Melrose Arts (formerly the Melrose Arts and Cultural Association) will host its annual Melrose Arts Festival April 8-10 at . Along with 48 local and regional artists, this year’s event will include a collaborative, public arts project—“Make Your Mark”—and food, entertainment and raffle items provided by a number of community partners.

The participatory art project, “Make Your Mark,” is the brainchild of Deb Corbett, Melrose Arts Steering Committee member and one of the festival's organizers. Corbett, a visual artist herself, has exhibited in past years, but this year decided to try something new.

“What it is, is a collaborative collage,” Corbett said of the project. “On Saturday and Sunday, the public is invited to come up on stage to participate, and we’re going to try to get the exhibitors to participate.”

The collages, which will be made of colored paper, recycled maps of Melrose and recycled Melrose newspapers, will then find a second life within the Melrose community.

Corbett explains: “After we do the collage, which will be in large shapes, they’re going to be cut up and made into bookmarks and distributed at the public library and some of the school libraries. The idea is to create the art, and then we share it.”

The project is meant to be accessible to everyone, regardless of age or artistic inclination. Corbett says that collage, as an art form, lends itself to collaboration.

“You experience success whether you’re six years old or sixty-eight years old. It’s fun.”

The “Make Your Mark” collages will hang clothesline-style on the stage at Memorial Hall. Festival co-organizer Jennifer Leclerc thinks the visual impact of the project will be impressive.

“It’ll create sort of a backdrop to the whole event,” she said, noting that the collage will hang behind the Melrose High School String Quartet during their performance on Saturday evening.

Not a passive viewing experience, but an engaging festival

The community arts project will be one of many festival features that reflect a broader emphasis on community engagement. Responding to helpful feedback from past attendees, the organizers of the year’s festival invested time over the past year recruiting more local partners. As a result of their efforts, this year’s event boasts entertainment, catering and raffle items provided by Melrose groups and businesses.

The Bruce Gertz Trio will play at Friday’s Preview Party, and the party’s cash bar will spotlight wines from Beacon Hill. The String Quartet will perform on Saturday (5 – 7pm), and Bobby C’s and Bohemian Coffeehouse will offer food and beverages for purchase on both Saturday and Sunday. Items donated by artists and local businesses will also run throughout the weekend.

The Melrose Chamber of Commerce and Melrose Cultural Council also supported this year’s festival. The Chamber of Commerce donated the maps for “Make Your Mark,” and the Cultural Council funded a grant that purchased new lighting for the exhibitors.

As in past years, the festival is sponsored by Comcast.

Over 80 artists sought spots in festival

Melrose Arts is a volunteer organization, and Corbett and Leclerc credit “a core group of about 20 people” with getting the event off the ground.

“After six years, we’ve attracted people from other communities,” Corbett says. “We try to keep it about 40 percent Melrose artists, but the rest are from all over the region.”

This year’s exhibitors include artists from Rhode Island and New Hampshire.

The organizers say that the quality of the art is high and the selection process is competitive. This year, over 80 artists vied for 48 spots. It’s a juried show and, to insure fairness, the group brought in a judge from outside of the area to select the exhibitors and balance the show. The result will be eclectic—fine arts and fine crafts in a variety of media.

Melrose Arts aims to keep the festival as accessible as possible. Except for the Preview Party on Friday night (which costs $10 per person, offers a sneak peak at the artists’ work and a “cocktail party” atmosphere) admission is free.

The festival runs noon-7 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday, April 10. The Preview Party on Friday, April 8 is slated for 7-9 p.m. More information about the weekend’s events can be found on the Melrose Arts website, www.melrosearts.com.