June Jubilee art festival brings inspiration downtown

(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The annual Colorado Springs art festival kicked off downtown on Saturday, June 22, uniting artists and craftsmen and showcasing their creations and talents. The art show attracted hundreds of people downtown where artists showed off some of their best work, including paintings, jewelry, photography, and more.

A unique blend of fine arts and specialty crafts was displayed in Acacia Park on Saturday for June Jubilee. The event featured everything from bells, photography, hand-crafted jewelry, leather, and extravagant art pieces.

“Growing up, I always did artwork. I always wanted to be an artist when I was in my teens, twenties,” says Dylan Montanio, owner of Montanio Art.

He was a chef for more of his adult life until he realized something was missing.

“I started painting again and then there was a point where I was just like, you know, why don’t I just do this,” he said.

Montanio said leaving the kitchen was one of the best things he has done. Now his work is showcased all over the country.

Montanio wasn’t the only artist at the festival getting creative with his materials. Robert Nathan uses different types of paper from around the world to create his work.

“I’m using all these natural fiber papers. Anything from a thin rice paper. So little bits of plant fiber that are pressed into the paper all the way through actual whole leaves that are pressed in,” said Roberts.

His images are inspired by his travels and adventures with nature.

“They’re very hard to work with,” Roberts added. “You have to make sure they’re all sticking down, and you can’t use too much glue or else it’ll glob up and if you don’t use enough, it won’t stick down. So, it’s kind of a very delicate process sometimes when you’re working with certain materials.”

It took him almost a year to complete this beautiful piece inspired by a trip he took to Hanging Lake. Roberts is a new artist in town and said he’s excited to be inspired by the beauty Colorado Springs has to offer.

“I finally stuck the landing, I said, I’m done, don’t do anymore, and I’m really happy with it now,” he said.

If you missed Saturday’s festival, there’s still time. The vendors will return to Acacia Park on Sunday, June 23.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.