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Arts on the Square

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The construction crew works on putting together Wautopia together on Saturday, Aug. 11. Work began at 6:30 a.m. The project was completed at 2:30 p.m. the next day. Angie Landsverk Photo

Hands-on art, live bands, gater sandwiches, marionettes, belly dancing, fire spinning

By Angie Landsverk


Arts on the Square is expanding its footprint this year.

The 12th annual arts festival begins Friday, Aug. 17, with the annual street dance.

Hip Pocket is playing from 7-10 p.m. under the Main Stage tent, set up on North Main Street.

The dance is free and includes fire spinning during the band’s intermission, with food and beverages available.

Arts on the Square (AOTS) then takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, on North Main Street, part of Session Street and in Rotary Riverview Park.

The different location is due to the reconstruction of parking around the city square. where the event has been held in thre past.

The Waupaca Community Arts Board (WCAB) organizes the event, and remaining downtown was important to it.

“We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of support,” said WCAB President Marci Reynolds said. “One of the biggest is Community First Credit Union.”

The credit union is the title sponsor of AOTS, and the event also receives major sponsorships and financial support from Waupaca Foundry, Office Outfitters and the city of Waupaca.

The arts board receives Waupaca hotel/motel tax dollars to support the event.

The Paint Store, Torborg’s and Marvin’s Metals supported Wautopia, this year’s community art project, she said.

The approximately 30-feet high temporary wooden structure went up on Session Street Saturday, Aug. 11.

Arts on the Square (AOTS) includes art, music, workshops and food.

Music stages
This year’s festival has four music stages.

The Main Stage is on North Main Street and features music from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Among the performers are children’s musician Tom Pease and Jack and Kitty.

Jack and Kitty are a husband and wife duo who live in Minneapolis.

They are Emmy Award winning entertainers, singer-songwriters and modern day vaudevillians.

The Jazz Stage is located in 201 N. Main St. this year, in a vacant building at the corner of North Main and Session streets.

“It will be a jazz club,” Reynolds said. “All women are performing in this jazz club, next to Wautopia.”

Performances are set on that stage from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Wautopia Sculpture Stage, on Session Street, includes Suzuki students, belly dancers, an original skit to music and marionette shows.

Students from the Aber Suzuki Center at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and the Jensen Community Center in Amherst are performing from 10-11 a.m.

After their performances, people are able to talk to the Suzuki instructors and check out the instruments.

The River Valley Marionettes, from the Tomorrow River Charter School near Amherst, are performing on this stage at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

“This will be a really fun area,” Reynolds said.

The Underground Stage is in Rotary Riverview Park.

“There will be alternative rock and heavy metal, glass blowing demonstrating, Henna, dreadlocks and the Emerging Artists Tent,” Reynolds said.

The Emerging Artists Tent is for for those who may not have enough artwork for a booth, she said.

“We went to get them emerged and feel like part of the community – that next generation that is living and working here, raising children,” Reynolds said. “It’s going to be very vibrant down there.”

She is proud WCAB is engaging younger people in the festival.

“We feel like if it’s successful, we will expand it, make it more relevant. It’s a huge addition,” Reynolds said. “It came about because we had to move. We changed a lot in a positive way.”

Art, workshops
This year’s event features 41 juried artists.

“We filled up really early this year,” Reynolds said.

The artists are on North Main Street this year, in the area in front of Main Street Marketplace, she said.

See more artists in the Phantom Art Gallery, at 215 N. Main St., as well as in the Underground area.

Food and beverages are going to be available between the artists on North Main Street and the Main Stage.

The AOTS workshops are taking place behind Wautopia.

This year’s workshops include woodcarving, clay, silk screening, face painting and painting rocks.

Reynolds said board members are also surveying people who attend AOTS.

“It will be four simple questions,’ she said. “If you complete them, you get to throw a water balloon toward the Underground.”

2018 AOTS Schedule of Events

Friday, Aug. 17
• Noon to 9 p.m. – Phantom Art Gallery open at 215 N. Main St.
• 7-10 p.m. – Free street dance under the main tent on North Main Street, featuring the music of Hip Pocket. Fire spinning during the band’s break. Food and beverages will be available.

Saturday, Aug. 18
Wautopia Sculpture Stage: Session Street
• 10-11 a.m. – Aber Suzuki Strings.
• 10:50-11:15 a.m. – Suzuki Petting Zoo.
• 12-12:50 p.m. – Shuvani Tribal Belly dancers.
• 1-2 p.m. – River Valley Marionettes Koi and the Kola Nuts.
• 2-3 p.m. – Jump Up and Shout!
• 3-4 p.m. – River Valley Marionettes Koi and the Kola Nuts.

Jazz Stage: 201 N. Main St.
• 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Erin Krebs and Jeff Johnson.
• 12:45-2:15 p.m. – Sarah Rifleman Trio.
• 2:30-4 p.m. – Denise Sauter Band.

The Underground Stage: Rotary Riverview Park
• 1-2 p.m. – Simply Meggo.
• 2-3 p.m. – Of the Earth.
• 3-4 p.m. – All Kings Fall.

Main Stage: North Main Street
• 10-11 a.m. – BaCa.
• 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. – Tom Pease.
• 12:30-1:30 p.m. – Jack and Kitty.
• 1:45-2:45 p.m. – Eddie Biebel and the Green Bay Pickers.
• 3-4:30 p.m. – Blues Summit.

Workshops: near Wautopia
• All Day – Waupaca Area Wood Carvers. Local carving experts will help children learn to carve figurines. They will demonstrate their craft from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will help children carve from 10-11 a.m. and from 1-2 p.m.

• 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. – WILW 96.3/WAUP 99.1/ Waupaca Local Live tent. Wes Power and radio staff will interview local talent and chat.

• 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Wautopia in Clay with artist Terry Achten. Join this local ceramics artisan in creating a community landscape in clay, which will be on display in City Hall’s lobby after the festival.

• 12-2 p.m. – Silk Screen with Ben and Elissa. Waupaca sibling artists Ben Achten and Elissa Stults will help people create a simple silk screen design on a cotton dish towel they may then take home with them. Choose from among several designs.

• 1-3 p.m. – Children’s Art with the Tomorrow River Charter School. Children will be able to paint rocks and also make a weaving out of items from nature.

• 1-4 p.m. – Waupaca Citizen’s Climate Lobby. Members of this group will do face painting and help people of all ages create earth friendly posters that support a clean planet.

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