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YSU’s summer festival continues to win arts and minds
By ELISE McKEOWN SKOLNICK
YOUNGSTOWN
People packed the Youngs-town State University campus. But instead of heading to class, they stopped at art-filled tents, listened to music and sampled various foods.
It was all part of YSU’s annual Summer Festival of the Arts.
Sipping lemonade, people rested on benches Saturday in the shade-filled Kilcawley Fountain Amphitheater to listen to the Panyard Steel Drums. Many checked out the books for sale at the Friends of Maag Library’s book sale. Others took in the work of more than 75 artists.
“I like to see the local artists. We like to collect art, too,” Josh Danso of Warren said. “And it’s a nice place to go to support the community.”
This is his third year attending the event. Danso brought along his friend Jessica Barton, also of Warren.
“The last time I was here, it was smaller,” Barton said. “I haven’t been here in a while. I’m so excited how much it’s grown in this community. It’s amazing.”
There aren’t many events like it in the area, Barton noted.
“So I like it. It’s a good place to go,” she said.
Janice and Melody Castner of Hubbard have attended for the past six years for the kids’ activities.
“[Melody] gets to make all kinds of crafts and be very creative,” said Janice. “And she does it all by herself. I just kind of sit back and let her. I enjoy watching the people and seeing the sights while she’s busy making things.”
Melody, 10, carried a couple of bags full of the crafts she made, including a tissue-paper flower, a bracelet, a key chain, a bookmark and a yarn doll.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “I just like to do it.”
The crafts she makes at the festival give her ideas for things she can make at home.
Melody also picked up some free items, including a book from Students Motivated by the Arts (SMARTS).
There are new artists every year, Janice said.
“I enjoy looking at all the different arts and things that people have created,” she said. “There are very talented people in this area.”
The artists’ marketplace was full of many types of art, including ceramics, stained glass, woodworking, jewelry and photography.
Lisa Zitello, of Zitello Fine Art in Youngstown, has been creating art for 12 years. Her tent was full of her silk-screened clothes and original abstract paintings.
She participates in the festival as a way of showing her art to the community.
“This is an excellent opportunity,” she said.
The event continues today. Activities include the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Summerfest, the Festival of Nations at YSU, chalk drawing at the McDonough Museum, the YWCA Women’s Artists: A Celebration! art exhibit and more.