Houston's Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park: Spring Art Awakening Slated for March 27-29, 2009

    HOUSTON, TX, February 15, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Houston's Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park is the city's spring art awakening the last weekend in March. Kicking off with "Legacy at Memorial First Look Friday" March 27, the three-day arts and entertainment festival continues through Sunday, March 29, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The award-winning juried fine art event is the only festival to take place in Memorial Park, Houston's premiere public park.

The March weekend's Bayou City Art Festival Memprial Park welcomes more than 300 visual and performing artists from around the U.S. and Canada, including featured artist Larry Stephenson, creator of the whimsical painting, "A Day at the Airport." (www.lstephenson.com) The artists, whose works represent 19 media formats, transform the park's tree-lined, 1.1-mile loop into a canopied outdoor art gallery, bursting with fine art and continuous multi-cultural music and dance, as well as international food, beer and wine cafes for refreshments.

Houston's own Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park, recently ranked the #3 art festival in the country by the readers of AmericanStyle Magazine (www.americanstyle.com) showcases clay, drawing/pastel, fiber/textiles, furniture, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, watercolor and wood creations. The Houston weekend Festival received two 2008 International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA) Gold Pinnacle Awards and was named "Best Festival in Houston" by the 2008 Houston Press "Best of Houston" magazine.

Admission to Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park is $10 for adults and free for children 12 and under. Children will enjoy the Capital One Bank Creative Zone, an interactive area designed for children and families to explore the fun of art. All proceeds of donations made in the Capital One Bank Creative Zone are divided equally among the Festival's participating Non-Profit Partners.

Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park's Emerging Artists program invites area high school students to create and exhibit their 3-D installation and 2-D art in the park.

The City of Houston, Budweiser Select, Houston Parks & Recreation Department, CapitalOne Bank, Legacy at Memorial and KTRK-TV are sponsors of Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park, funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.

Over the past 38 years, the Art Colony Association, the 501c(3) organization that produces the Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park and Bayou City Art Festival Downtown, has raised more than $2.5 million for local Non-Profit Partner organizations.

There is no public parking in Memorial Park. A free shuttle service runs 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. to and from Memorial Park on Friday from Northwest Mall on IH 610 North Loop at 18th St.; and Saturday and Sunday from Northwest Mall and Downtown: Memorial Drive at Rusk, Rusk at Smith and Smith at Capitol.

For Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park schedule, pre-sale discount purchases and further information, check www.bayoucityartfestival.com or call (713) 521-0133.

# # #