28th Annual Orange Street ArtsFest

Details:

Orange Street ArtsFest (OSAF) will return Memorial Day weekend, Saturday May 25th from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and Sunday May 26th from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The celebrated street fair is held on Orange Street between Front and Second Streets, continues Second Street from Orange to Dock Street, and inside the Hannah Block Historic USO/ Community Arts Center.

OSAF is one of the largest arts festivals in Downtown Wilmington with 94 artists exhibiting oil and watercolor paintings, photography, pottery, jewelry, metal arts, and cloth and paper creations. The 28th Annual Orange Street ArtsFest is sponsored by WDI and Bring It Downtown, WWAY, WHQR, Cumulus Media, WAAV, WGNI, WMNX, WWQQ, and WKXS.

“Orange Street Artsfest is one of our favorite events every year and marks the unofficial beginning of summer in downtown Wilmington,” said Susan Habas, Executive Director of Thalian Association Community Theatre. “This is the perfect time to celebrate our wonderful artists, visit the Historic USO Building and explore the city!”

The festival will be juried by award-winning artist Benjamin Billingsley. Benjamin holds an MFA from UNC-Greensboro and has exhibited work in the United States, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, and Japan. Ben has taught studio art and art history at Cape Fear Community College since 2001 and in 2006 received the Marilyn Goodman Anderson Endowed Award for Excellence in Teaching. Ben was the curator for a 2015 exhibition at the Cameron Art Museum, The Eye Learns: Modernist Prints from the Belden Collection and was the judge for the CAM’s 2016 Art of Illumination. He also served as a judge for the Wilmington Art Association’s Azalea Festival Spring Show and ARTfall at the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center.

Fabulous food will be a highlight of the quaint family friendly festival with culinary delights from Tasty Tees, Eatateastside, Hot Diggity Dog, Snowies Snow Cones, North Carolina Sweet Tea, and Brighter Days Coffee.

The festival will also celebrate young artists with the 2024 Laney High School Spring Ceramics Show & Sale. Ceramic creations of 15 9 -12 grade students from the clay club will be displayed inside the building in the Peggy Farrell Studio. This year the theme is Marine Life, and all items will be for sale. The students are under the instruction of ceramics teacher Kristen Morgan.

The public is invited to tour all the World War II exhibits while visiting the inside artists. Festival visitors can view the lobby museum of the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center with the wartime exhibits including memorials to Wilmington’s two Medal of Honor recipients.

Thalian Association Community Theatre launched Orange Street ArtsFest in 1995 to promote the arts in Wilmington and the Community Arts Center (CAC), located in the Historic USO building. The community theatre association has managed the CAC for the City of Wilmington since 1994. The 81-year-old landmark building, long recognized as the local center of visual and performing arts, was completely renovated in 2008 and is now known as the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center. For more information about the building and its history please visit www. wilmingtoncommunityarts.org.

Established in 1788, Thalian Association Community Theatre is a non-profit, membership organization dedicated to enhancing the Cape Fear region through live community theatre and arts education. Thalian Association Community Theatre produces five major productions annually on the Main Stage at historic Thalian Hall and professionally manages the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center for the City of Wilmington. The youth theatre program offers training and performance opportunities for children aged seven through high school seniors. In 2007, Thalian Association Community Theatre was designated North Carolina’s Official Community Theater by the state legislature. For more information, go to www.thalian.org.