Near perfect weather greeted thousands of visitors to the Carmel International Arts Festival this past weekend, which enjoyed another successful year of hosting more than 150 artists from across the country.
This year’s event marked the 21st annual International Arts Festival, an event that has grown over the years to claim the honor of being the second biggest festival in Carmel’s busy festival calendar, behind only CarmelFest. The Arts Festival – presented this year by Current Publishing – hosted more than 30,000 people during the two-day event.
The Festival awarded more than $6,000 in cash prizes to selected artists. That includes a Best of Show award, Mayor’s Choice award and prizes handed out in specific media categories. The list of media you will find includes 2D Art, 3D Functional Art, Ceramics, Fiber, Glass, Jewelry, Painting, Photography, Watercolor and Wood.
Photo provided
2018 Winners of the Show
- Best of Show – Anthony Slichenmyer
- 1st Place – Taylor Mazer
- 2nd Place – Kirk Miller
- 3rd Place – Joel Pinkerton
- Mayor’s Award – Taylor Mazer
Best in Media
- Cliff Matyszczyk
- JD Davison
- Sharon & Jessica Bussert
- Alan Sievers
- Joel Fremion
- Lisa Berry
- Deborah Link
- Neil Lemarly
Ceramics
- Judy DeGan
Honorable Mention
- Elaine Lanove
- Guiteau Lanove
- Lou Hii
- Brad Devlin
- Mark Waninger
- Dawn Middleton
High School Division Winners
- The Rosemary Waters Excellence in Arts Awards- Lynn Xiong “Alice” Color Pencil
- The Doreen Squire Ficara Carmel Arts Council Awad – Ananta Pant “Metamorphosis” ceramic
Best of Show Carmel High School
- Katie Phan “Ghost Acrylic”
- Zoe Horn “Vibrant Tranquility”
Best of Show University High School
- Siyu Zhong “Water color Portrait
- Zhining Ding “Oil Painting/Self Portrait”
“We have always taken seriously our role of selecting the best artists we can find because we know that it’s the beauty of the art that keeps people coming back to Carmel for this annual event,” said Dawn Fraley, chairman of the event.
Check out some of the new artists featured on the Carmel International Arts Festival’s Facebook page.
About the Carmel International Arts Festival
Now in its 21st year, this year’s free public festival took place on Saturday, Sept. 22 and Sunday, Sept. 23. Be sure to mark your calendar for next year’s festival, taking place Sept. 28-29, 2019. For more information and a schedule of events, visit carmelartsfestival.org.