Fayetteville library hosts first-ever art festival

VILLAGE OF FAYETTEVILLE – The Fayetteville Free Library hosted its first-ever art festival on Saturday, Aug. 3. The outdoor event lasted from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. that day and featured two rows of vendors in the parking lot next to the Orchard Street library’s greenspace.
Under the tents, creators hailing from different parts of Central New York were there to showcase their artistic specialties, whether their medium of choice was jewelry making, ceramics, fiber art or pyrography.
That included Amanda Rose, a Spanish teacher at Jamesville-DeWitt Middle School who photographs flowers of various colors she either grows herself or finds in nature during her travels for her side business Worthy’s Floral Arts. Rose started Worthy’s, its name coming from the fact that her name Amanda means “worthy of love,” only a few months ago on the first day of spring when she had 250 tulips blooming in her garden.
During the library’s art festival, which was the first festival Rose had taken part in representing Worthy’s Floral Arts, she gave out circular photos of a red zinnia with a drop of dew hanging off like a single tear.
In a neighboring booth, Fayetteville resident Christalle Bodiford sold the trio of books she authored: one a calming, positivity-centered adult coloring book specifically for people with chronic illnesses that contains blank pages for journaling, one a short story about navigating a career upon being diagnosed with epilepsy, and another book all about vulnerability, mindfulness and reflection with 52 intuitive expressions for personal meditation that can be practiced one week to the next year-round.
At the festival Bodiford was wearing lavender, the color for epilepsy awareness, and she was distributing educational materials to festival attendees on behalf of Empowering People’s Independence, an organization that offers support groups and activities for individuals with neurological disorders and disabilities.
Elsewhere, the entrepreneur behind East Syracuse-based home decor business Betsy’s Rehab, Elizabeth Keefe Osborn, was selling coffee cup carriers, cutting boards, rustic wreath hangers, and a three-section s’mores station that separately makes room for graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate.
The art festival also highlighted acrylic impressionist landscape paintings, handsewn necklaces, Shrinky Dinks and fabric bookmarks, as well as food trucks on the premises and mellow acoustic music courtesy of The Cadleys under the pavilion.
Laurie Heyboer, the reference librarian at the Fayetteville Free Library, said that despite the heat on Saturday she was grateful for the clear weather and the occasional cool breeze that rolled through. She said the inaugural festival was “a successful starting point” with a mix of eye-catching items for sale and a pleasing turnout of buyers, adding that she hopes for it to turn into an annual event at the library.
Several artists at the festival said they hope to participate again next time, calling it a more-than-worthwhile opportunity to network with other creative people and share their work with the public. One craftsperson from the Jordan-Elbridge area said she appreciated the event’s limited 25-mile radius for exhibitors as a “really great touch” that emphasized keeping the spotlight on local artists.