Hundreds of artists, art lovers, visitors and car enthusiasts flock to The Waters Point Retreat to celebrate the 14th annual Wimberley Arts Fest.
Coming back after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arts Fest was back in full force as artists lined up in their tents to showcase their artwork to visitors and potential buyers.
For Jan Fitzhugh, she was glad that Arts Fest returned and noted the crowd was much bigger than expected.
“We are thrilled to be back in action,” Fitzhugh said. “I’m super thrilled with having a huge crowd today. It’s more than I actually expected so I’m very happy.”
Not only was Fitzhugh happy for the big crowds, but for the artists as well who reap the benefits of having a large crowd to showcase their work.
“They are happy to be back out here with their fans,” Fitzhugh said. “We have customers who come back here year after year to look at someone’s art so the artists are really happy about that.”
For Elizabeth Adkisson, a local Wimberley artist who specializes in pottery, having people not only be back but also walking through her tent to look or buy her art was a great time.
“It’s awesome to be back,” Elizabeth Adkisson said. “We’ve missed two in a row, and it’s a really great turnout… It’s wonderful, and I get to meet a lot of people just looking and wanting to buy things. There is so much stuff out here it’s incredible. You can find anything you want.”
Stan Allen, owner of Bent Tree Art Studio and the one who created Arts Fest with just a few artists gathering on the Wimberley Square in 2009, says it’s a joy to see how the festival has grown since its small beginnings.
“It’s grown leaps and bounds,” Allen said. “Now we usually get 100 artists from all over the country, sometimes from Canada…this is by far the best place (Waters Point) to host Arts Fest. We started here three years ago and it’s an excellent place to show.”
