Art for all

The sound of Taylor Swift’s “Welcome To New York” echoed through Columbian Park, to the parking lot and down the winding roads. On the amphitheater stage, a young girl in an “I Heart NYC” T-shirt and sparkling red shorts performed her dance solo, while her friends, also dressed to dance, waited by the wings.

It was Art in the Park’s Dance Night, and Turning Pointe Academy was in the midst of its dance showcase.

They’re off to New York City soon, Alisha Kuckartz, owner and director, said. Some of the girls will have the opportunity to dance by the Statue of Liberty.

Two young girls, one dressed in pink, the other in green, performed a musical theater duet to “What is this Feeling?” from the musical Wicked.

“They lip-synched the entire song,” Kuckartz told the audience, “which is very hard for a young performer.”

A trio of girls in dark blue performed a routine titled, “I Was Here.”

“(This is a) song about making your way in the world and being proud of who you are,” Kuckartz said.

After Turning Pointe Academy’s performances, Studio B took the stage. Brooke Hardebeck, owner and dance instructor, introduced its adult dance class’ hip-hop routine.

“You can dance at any age,” she said. “If you’re sitting here thinking, ‘I can’t do that,’ we’d love to have you. We’ve got people here who are teachers, librarians, engineers by day, busting it out with us at night.”

Studio B later invited audience members of all ages on stage for a free line dancing class.

“This is what Art in the Park is all about,” Hardebeck said.

Beyond the stage, vendors lined the roads of Columbian Park, each selling unique pieces, from paintings to jewelry.

Toward the stage, Isaak Patterson Studio’s booth was run by his parents. His mother, Heather Patterson, showed off his pottery: smooth dishes, textured cups and the crowd-pleaser birds.

“These birds have been fired over an open flame pit fire and so the markings that you get on them are actually from the smoke, the oxidation of the materials Isaak puts around them,” Patterson said.

Despite living in the Lafayette area their whole lives, the Pattersons said this was their first year at Art in the Park. They had only recently found out about the event and applied to attend on behalf of their son.

“Isaak has autism, so for him to come and sit at a vendor fair like this would be a lot,” she said. “We are proud to come and show off his work.”

Isaak Patterson began working with pottery during the COVID pandemic.

He was a senior in high school taking pottery classes and left a lot of his projects unfinished during quarantine, his mother said.

“He had a hard time getting over the fact that he had a lot of unfinished things there,” Heather Patterson said. “So, we decided to buy him a wheel and a kiln and we converted part of our barn to a studio.”

Further into the park, Kelsey Bee Art set up a rack of prints clipped with clothes pins. Vines draped over the display.

Artist Kelsey Bowyer is a current graduate student at Purdue studying art education. She also received her undergraduate from Purdue.

There aren’t a lot of opportunities for small artists in the area, she said.

“For years I tried to kickstart a scene because I really want Lafayette to have that,” Bowyer said. “I feel like in recent years, the art scene in general is starting to grow. Businesses are actually taking it upon themselves to host markets and have events and do things around town.”

Along with her prints, Bowyer sold wood-burned ornaments and painted tote bags. She also makes magazines, but didn’t have them on hand at the event.

A lot of her art is influenced by her love of animals.

“I think when I was a kid, I read books like ‘Red Wall,’ which were about little mice…a very whimsical thing. Then, I just never stopped loving little animals in general,” Bowyer said.

Bowyer’s solo exhibition, “I am a Mirror,” opens July 5 at The Arts Federation.