The Brandywine Festival of the Arts is back this weekend after missing a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s the Festival’s 60th anniversary at Josephine Gardens in Wilmington’s Brandywine Park
And in this week’s Enlighten Me - Delaware Public Media’s Kelli Steele chats with Festival producer Barry Schlecker and this year’s featured artist, Sandy Askey-Adams, about this year’s event.
Schlecker says the festival has a storied past.
“The Festival started in 1961 at Brandywine Park - right on the Brandywine River - and across from the Brandywine Zoo," said Schlecker. "It started out - I’m told - as a clothesline arts show and an ox roast. I’m not sure where they found the ox, but they had an ox roast.”
Schlecker says there’s no ox roast this year, but over 200 artists are bringing a wide array of paintings, pottery and sculpture to sell.
One of those artists is this year's featured artist - painter - Sandy Askey-Adams.
“One thing is - it means a lot to me. I guess they decided to select a different artist over the past several years to stand out among the others, or that they appreciate the continued support of the (selected) artist to their show," said Askey-Adams. "It’s one way I think of letting that artist know how much they’re appreciated.”
Askey-Adams has exhibited at the festival for more than 20 years and this year plans to showcase 80 to 100 paintings for patrons to see and buy.
The Brandywine Festival of the Arts runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is only $5 for both days and children under 12 get in for free.
Schlecker adds that the festival is pet-friendly, with leashed, well-behaved dogs welcome.
More information about the event, is available at the event's website.
Delaware Public Media' s arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
