Art Along the Trail, a free event hosted by Columbia Art Center and Columbia Parks and Recreation Department, will give attendees the opportunity to create art alongside local artists while enjoying nature on Saturday at 11 a.m. next to Riverfront Park Amphitheater.
Several local artists will be at stations along a trail by the river. Each station will feature different mediums of visual art, such as painting, drawing, charcoal drawing, pottery, tile painting, sweetgrass basket weaving and temporary tattoos.
Brenda Oliver, culture arts specialist at the Columbia Art Center, said the event will be a chance for people to "enjoy art with nature themes."
“This is a great opportunity for not only children, but adults, to be able to talk to artists and interact with them and get a feel for that kind of art,” Oliver said.
Oliver said Columbia has some "extremely talented artists in this town that very few people know about."
Angel Allen, an art teacher, ceramic artist and tile painter, is participating in the event. At her station, she will be demonstrating tile painting and will be accompanied by some of her art students.
Both Allen and her students’ work will be on sale, and all of the students get to keep the proceeds from their sales.
Another artist at the event will be Mary Graham-Grant, a sweetgrass basket weaver from the Lowcountry. Graham-Grant does not only make traditional sweetgrass baskets, but also creates what she described as more “artsy” baskets, necklaces and bracelets.
“I enjoy doing [basket weaving] because it’s a dying art, and I enjoy telling people the history,” she said.
Graham-Grant will be selling her art, too. In November, she will be leading a class on basket weaving at the Columbia Art Center.
One of the stations will allow visitors to make bowls on a pottery wheel, and guests can visit the Columbia Art Center and claim their work after it has been fired for free.
Along with the art stations, there will be food trucks and live performances including local bands, The Boomtown Waifs and Post-Timey String Band and flamenco dancers.
Oliver said Art Along the Trial is an opportunity to explore art and maybe even become inspired to take a class elsewhere.
“We would just love to have you here in classes,” Oliver said. "That's the fun of playing with art and discovering new avenues to go with."
The Columbia Art Center offers many classes for different types of art, some of which are three to four hour workshops.
“Art doesn’t have to be highbrow,” Allen said. “It can be something that you eat your sandwich off of. It can be something that you drink your morning coffee out of, and it’s something to be enjoyed.”