Painting and exhibiting professionally since 1975, Ben Essenburg is proud that one of his four children is also a professional artist. His focus is to create realistic paintings of Florida landscapes and wildlife. People are often sure they recognize a scene, even though they all come from Ben’s imagination.
Ben is the only artist who has juried into our festival all twelve years and we think he deserves that honor! Get in touch with him at www.benwessenburg.com.
It’s not surprising that Scott Amrhein won an award in 2012 — the first time he participated with us! Our judges thought his marvelous translucent glass vessels were unique and exceptional and we’re sure you’ll agree. Check out his glass at www.highcliffstudio.com.
ArtFest sponsor Total Wine has a “create your own 6-pack” of beer … could be the perfect gift? Their beer wall has quite the selection!
Did you know that Lee County’s non-profit arts organizations create 2,038 full-time jobs and $68 million in economic activity? (That’s more than the Red Sox and Twins combined!)
Those are some of the eye-opening numbers in “Arts & Economic Prosperity IV,” just released by Americans for the Arts in partnership with Lee County Alliance for the Arts.
It’s true! “The arts mean business.”
The findings from Arts & Economic Prosperity IV send a clear and welcome message: leaders who care about community and economic vitality can feel good about choosing to invest in the arts.
~ Robert L. Lynch, President and CEO, American for the Arts
Press Release
Contact: Sharon McAllister
239-768-3602
email: info@ArtFestFortMyers.com
www.ArtFestFortMyers.com
WHAT: A juried fine arts festival featuring 215 national artists, high school art competition, interactive arts, children’s crafts, fine food and entertainment
WHEN: ArtFest Fort Myers Feb 4 & 5, 2012, Sat. & Sun., 10 am – 5 pm
WHERE: Downtown Fort Myers on Edwards Drive in the River District
COST: FREE admission
PARKING: Adjacent parking lots, street parking and City Garages are open. Look for our directional signs.
Every year, Fort Myers’ waterfront and green spaces are transformed into ArtFest Fort Myers, a beautiful, stress free, open air art gallery overflowing with exceptional artwork, great entertainment and fun children’s art activities. Bring the entire family to this fun free event and enjoy a day filled with inspiring art and so much more!
ArtFest Fort Myers, Southwest Florida’s premier fine art festival, takes place in beautiful downtown Fort Myers on February 4 & 5, 2012.More »
Contact: Sharon McAllister
239-768-3602
email: info@ArtFestFortMyers.com
www.ArtFestFortMyers.com
WHAT: A juried fine art festival featuring 200 national artists, a high school art competition, interactive arts, children’s crafts, fine food and entertainment
WHEN: February 5 & 6, 2011, Saturday and Sunday, from 10 am to 5 pm
Friday Night Party, February 4th from 5 – 10 PM (one block – free to public)
WHERE: Downtown Fort Myers on Edwards Drive between Heitman and Lee
COST: Free Admission
PARKING: Adjacent parking lots, street parking, and City Garages. Look for directional signs to convenient parking with free trolley service.
Over seven hundred and seventy artists, from across the U.S, and Canada sent in applications to be a part of ArtFest Fort Myers, Lee County’s premier fine art festival. In late September, a panel of five art professionals met at Edison State College to review all the applicants’ images and choose the top two hundred artists who will be exhibiting at ArtFest Fort Myers in February 2011. State of the art technology, generously made available by Edison State College, provided “larger than life” viewing of all the spectacular artwork images.
Representing 34 states and Canada, the highest scoring artists create work that reflects the excellence that had become a hallmark of this event.
“This February, fifty-nine percent of the exhibiting artists will be brand new to our festival,” Sharon McAllister, Festival Director, explains. “We are very excited to have such a diverse and exciting group of talented artists joining us at ArtFest Fort Myers 2011.”
Press Release: ArtFest + Art Clubs = Art FUN
Contact: Sharon McAllister
239-768-3602
email: info@ArtFestFortMyers.com
www.ArtFestFortMyers.com
Providing an art experience for after-school elementary students was a joint project of ArtFest Fort Myers, Edison State College and three pilot elementary schools.
ArtFest provided funding, Edison State College student teachers provided the artistic supervision and inspiration and Heights, Villas and Tropic Isles Elementary Schools were the proving ground for a very successful first year program. More »
Contact: Sharon McAllister, Festival Director
239-768-3602
email: info@artfestfortmyers.com
www.artfestfortmyers.com
ArtFest Fort Myers Presents $6,500 in Cash Awards to Lee County High School Students.
ArtFest Fort Myers presented $6,500 in awards to Lee County high school students at the Art Under 20 Award Reception on February 24th. These extremely talented student artists won the top awards in “Art Under 20”, the high school fine art competition, which took place at ArtFest Fort Myers on February 5th & 6th.
At this season’s Art Under 20, three hundred and ten local high school students, from 14 Lee County high schools, entered artwork in the competition. The student art was exhibited at the fine art festival and was previewed by thousands of festival patrons. Art Under 20 judges, Claudia Goode and David Acevedo had the difficult task of selecting the winners from among these talented students.More »
Contact: Sharon McAllister
239-768-3602
email: info@ArtFestFortMyers.com
www.ArtFestFortMyers.com
WHAT: A juried fine arts festival featuring 200 national artists, high school art competition, interactive arts, children’s crafts, fine food and entertainment
WHEN: ArtFest Fort Myers Feb 5 & 6, 2011, Sat. & Sun., 10 am – 5 pm
WHERE: Downtown Fort Myers on Edwards Drive between Heitman and Lee
COST: FREE admission
PARKING: Adjacent parking lots, street parking and City Garages are open. Look for our directional signs.
Bring the entire family to this fun free event and enjoy a day filled with inspiring art and so much more! ArtFest Fort Myers, Southwest Florida’s premier fine art festival, takes place in beautiful downtown Fort Myers on February 5 & 6, 2011. Every year, Fort Myers’ waterfront and green spaces are transformed into a beautiful, stress free, open air art gallery overflowing with exceptional artwork, great entertainment and fun children’s art activities.More »
WHAT: A juried fine arts festival featuring 200 national artists, high school art competition, interactive arts, children’s crafts, fine food and entertainment
WHEN: Feb 5 & 6, 2011, Sat. & Sun., 10 am – 5 pm
WHERE: Downtown Fort Myers on Edwards Drive between Heitman and Lee
COST: FREE admission
PARKING: Adjacent parking lots, street parking and City Garages are open. Look for our directional signs.
ArtFest Fort Myers is the recent recipient of the Visitor & Convention Bureau and the Greater Fort Myers Chamber Chrysalis Award for Sales and Marketing. Designed to foster a stronger alliance between the tourism industry and the county’s business community, this award program received a total of 60 nominations for six award categories.
“We are very proud to be recognized for our efforts in bringing residents, visitors and fabulous artists to our community,” said Sharon McAllister, ArtFest Fort Myers Executive Director. “Art and cultural experiences are an important and integral part of this area’s quality of life and our event clearly brings a diversity of people together in celebration of the arts.”
“We could not have won this honor without the support of our many media partners, headed up by The News-Press, WINK-TV, and Florida Weekly or the Tourist and Development Council, who has been a steadfast supporter our mission. Janine Giovinazzi Vitanza, dzine studio, is the talented designer who works with us each year to create the ArtFest Fort Myers marketing materials. The success of our efforts is the result of the teamwork of many dedicated community members!”
ArtFest Fort Myers is the annual juried fine art festival that takes place on Edwards Drive in downtown Fort Myers on February 5 & 6, 2011. This event brings 200 professional artists to downtown Fort Myers from across the county, hosts the largest high school art competition and exhibit in Lee County, and provides free interactive art experiences for children of all ages. For more information, contact us at info@ArtFestFortMyers.com
Supporting arts organizations, galleries and individual artists to create a community where companies and residents want to invest.
Did you know that Lee County’s non-profit arts organizations create 2,038 full-time jobs and $68 million in economic activity? More »
Saturday and Sunday, February 6th & 7th
Opening Night Friday, February 5th, 2027
On the waterfront in historic downtown Fort Myers
Phone: 239-768-3602
Email: info@artfestfortmyers.com
Boutique Show • 65 Fine Artists
Great Food & Beverages
Youth Art Activities
March 14-15, 2026
Saturday 10am to 5pm
Sunday 11am to 4pm
Babcock Ranch, FL
We're delighted to have helped Babcock Ranch launch this show with artists of the quality you enjoy every year at ArtFest Fort Myers.
