50 years of fine arts

For 50 years, Round the Fountain Art Fair has brought artists from all over the country to share their work with the Lafayette community.

Jim Bodenmiller, Round the Fountain committee member and art curator, said to celebrate five decades, they will have a special booth featuring previous pieces.

“I think it’s really a tribute to the artists and the role they played in making this event successful for all 50 years,” he said.

Tippecanoe Arts Federation is hosting an exhibition of select pieces from the Round the Fountain permanent collection. The other pieces reside in the Tippecanoe County Courthouse.

Bodenmiller said the event began in1974 with around 30 artists and has developed from there.

“The goal of the founders was to present a fine art fair on an annual basis for the community to enjoy. I think that resulted in drawing accomplished artists to the community to participate,” Bodenmiller said.

Round the Fountain hosts artists from all over the country, and some local artists. All are reviewed and selected by judges related to the art community, according to the event application page.

“Then because they (the city) were working on the restoration of the courthouse (at the same time), it could generate some revenue to be used for the restoration,” he said.

Along with the courthouse, funds have helped restore the Marquis de Lafayette Fountain and add outside lighting and seating, public art projects and installations to Lafayette.

“When the courthouse was finished, then I think in 1999, we decided to focus our revenue generated from the event to support the visual arts programs of our local high schools,” he said. “We’ve also given money to the Tippecanoe County Arts Federation, now its after-school program.”

Tetia Lee, chief executive officer of TAF, said their program, After School Arts Program, teaches both traditional and nontraditional classes for free.

Classes range from drawing, painting, ukulele, banjo, digital printing and cooking. Options change each semester.

“We try to provide the opportunities for young people who would otherwise not have a chance to take that one on one or small setting classroom for specialized arts education,” Lee said.

Many ASAP students end up pursuing either fine arts or applying what they learned to their careers, even those that aren’t considered artistic, she said.

“We have some mobile DJs that teach our students how to match beats and so forth,” Lee said. “And from that, I know that one of the students, who exhibited a lot of talent, was asked to join the staff of a local promoter and DJ.”

Another ASAP student held a solo exhibition in one of the TAF galleries and later attended art school, she said.

Carol Burklow, an artist liaison and communicator with the art department for Round the Fountain, aids in distributing funds to the schools.

Some of the students volunteer on the day of the show, Burklow said. She enjoys talking to them about their personal or school-related art projects.

“We always ask the department chairs if there’s a special project that they’re working on that the funds will help support,” she said, “or if there’s a need that they’re seeing.”

Burklow said the funds usually help pay for equipment or entrance fees for art shows.

“Many times it’s fees to get into shows so the kids can have that true experience of applying to a show and getting chosen, then seeing their art in an art show,” she said. “That’s really lovely when those kinds of things happen.”

In the beginning, much of the art at Round the Fountain was watercolors. Slowly, the fair began to feature new mediums like photography, glass and mixed media, Bodenmiller said.

“It does change the complexion of the art fair over time,” he said. “In the future, there could be other mediums that are used or developed.”

In recent years, they’ve seen art created digitally, Bodenmiller said.

Lee said the jury and national reach have made Round the Fountain consistently an outstanding festival.

“The pillars of the event have always remained the same high quality art,” Lee said. “They set a high bar for their artwork and also the delivery of the management and organization.”

She also credited Bodenmiller’s hard work over 50 years.

“I am always excited to see so many people from our community purchasing art as collectors and as investors,” Lee said. “I think it really demonstrates the dedication of volunteerism in our community.”

Round the Fountain will be Saturday at the Courthouse Square, at 301 Main St., Lafayette, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.