ArtFest Fort Myers celebrates a decade of growth

ArtFest Fort Myers expects to draw 60,000 people Feb. 6 and 7. COURTESY PHOTO/HAPPENINGS MAGAZINE The artists who are awarded tent space at ArtFest Fort Myers are among an elite group. Only 200 of the 852 applicants this year, from around the country, were accepted by a panel of judges to display their work at the free outdoor festival. Planners estimate the event, held along Edwards Drive in the River District, will draw 60,000 people Feb. 6 and 7.

A 10th Anniversary celebration, on the evening before the festival begins, will underline the sense of success organizers feel in creating an event that a decade before wasn’t nearly as large or prestigious.

“The quality of the work has just skyrocketed,” said director Sharon McAllister.

Nothing like ArtFest existed in Fort Myers prior to 2001, when downtown had a yearly “sidewalk arts and crafts show” run by the city. A visitor then was as likely to find the charms of kitschy claptrap as they were a fully realized work by a professional artist.

MCALLISTER Ben Essenburg, 63, is an Englewood artist who has sold his paintings at yearly downtown Fort Myers art shows since the mid 1970s, and later at Art- Fest.

“One year I was set up next to personalized dog collars,” said Mr. Essenburg, who notes that his art has funded college educations for his four children, two who went to Princeton University. “For a while it got to be almost a flea market.”

That was before 2001, when the city’s community development leader Don Paight convinced retired executive Sharon McAllister to run the festival as a nonprofit organization. As festival director, she helped turn it into what Mr. Essenburg said is “a first-class act, one of the best shows in Florida, which means it’s one of the best in the country.”

One criticism of the festival has been its location on Edwards Drive, instead of a few blocks south, where the crowd would be at the heart of downtown restaurants and merchants. Even so, ArtFest generates business for merchants, sales tax receipts rise and hotels record about $75,000 in additional bookings during the event, according to Ms. McAllister. Edwards was chosen because it’s a wider street.

“It would be nice if it was more integrated with downtown, instead of being kind of separate,” said Andy Howl, owner of HOWL gallery/tattoo on Broadway Street. “It’s one of the best (art festivals) in the area.”

Running it is a nearly year-round job. Ms. McAllister intended to retire when she and her husband moved to Southwest Florida from Chicago in 1990, to escape the cold weather. She used to be a vice president of a 17-state area for H&R Block. She later volunteered at the Junior League of Fort Myers, where Mr. Paight convinced her to take the job.

“After I said ‘yes,’ I called a bunch of artists I knew who lived in the area and said, ‘come talk to me,’” Ms. McAllister said.

Among the most significant changes she instituted was the entry competition. A panel of judges screens works by each artist and picks their favorites to invite to the show. During ArtFest’s first year, virtually all the artists who wanted to show their work did. Each year it became tougher to get in, and that prestige attracted a greater number of buyers and collectors.

“It draws good customers, serious art buyers,” Mr. Essenburg said. “It’s museum quality work you see at the show. There are some shows where there’s a fair amount of prestige involved, but sales aren’t so good. But at the Fort Myers show, people buy at the show. They come there and spend money.”

A decade later

From 2001 to 2010, ArtFest grew along with major infrastructure changes taking place downtown. The River District streets got a complete working over, from the outdated utility lines underneath to new bricks, streetlamps and sidewalks on top. And High Point Place now fills the sky west of downtown, one of a handful of high-rise condominium towers built in the mid 2000s.

Former Fort Myers Mayor Jim Humphrey lent his support to ArtFest during his eight years in office, ending in 2009. He was integral to the success of the festival, as well as awarding grants to local artists and funding public art projects within the city.

“We kind of grew up with him,” Ms. McAllister said. “He was a huge supporter of the arts and did a tremendous amount to help us grow.”

Mayor Humphrey wrote in an e-mail, “ArtFest Fort Myers is on one of my favorite events and the best success story the city has for making the River District a destination for people and families of all ages. The art festival has been a tremendous benefit to the growth of downtown and (my wife) Nancy and I are looking forward to once again seeing the fabulous artists from all over the country.”

There were more than 30 volunteers at ArtFest Fort Myers 2001. This year, 300 will work. Attendance in 2001 reached around 10,000 people; last year was close to 60,000. Shelves at the ArtFest Fort Myers Inc. office on First Street are lined with dozens of black binders, filled with thousands of pages of tweaks to the operation, added as the event grew. Those include details such as water for the volunteers, lodging and meals for the artists, electricity for the food vendors and portable toilets.

“People hopefully never see there’s a whole other event going on in the background,” Ms. McAllister said.

Reaching into the community

The first ArtFest poster was created in 2002. Each year, funds from the poster sales have been used for

The News-Press Newspaper in Education program, bringing the daily paper to schoolchildren in Lee County. Last year, $34,000 worth of ArtFest posters were sold, the single-largest contribution to the program.

ArtFest’s high school competition, Art Under 20, has awarded $46,200 in awards and seven scholarships since it began in 2001.

“It’s become the largest high school art competition, I’m sure, in South Florida,” Ms. McAllister said.

In 2004, ArtFest began awarding art supply grants to local elementary school teachers, in all totaling $19,423 and impacting 34,000 students.

ArtFest pays visiting artists to talk about their work and careers at middle school classrooms for a day.

The first year, there was very little sponsorship, aside from the artists’ application fees. Now, the festival is funded by many local entities, including the Fort Myers Redevelopment Agency.

ArtFest Fort Myers is Feb. 6 and 7 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the downtown River District. There is a 10th Anniversary opening night party on the evening of Feb. 5 on Edwards Drive. 

if you go

>> What: ArtFest Fort Myers 10th Anniversary Party >> When: Friday, Feb. 5, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. >> Where: Edwards Drive in the River District >> What: 48 of the 200 artists will open their tents for an exclusive show, 10 restaurants will serve hor d’oeurves, dessert and wine; there will be live entertainment. >> Cost: $20 benefits art education in Lee County schools. >> Information: www.artfestfortmyers.com