Fourth Street Festival attracts art variety

Rick Canham traveled more than 2,000 miles from Portland, Ore.,  to show film prints of Tibetan people he had photographed in Nepal.

Canham’s travels were worth it, he said, as the show had been successful. Visitors cycled in and out of his tent, admiring the brightly colored images.

“I’m here for several art events, but I’m here at this one because it has a great reputation,” Canham said about the Fourth Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts, which has occurred annually since 1977.

While the temperatures hovered around 90 degrees, 120 artists from all over the country united in Bloomington this weekend to show off their art.

The show ran Saturday through Sunday, and vendors displayed everything from wooden furniture to handmade kaleidoscopes.

Along with the art for sale, attendees were able to purchase food from surrounding ethnic restaurant stands and learn about local organizations at their stands on South Grant Street. As visitors walked down the street, they could listen to the Bloomington Storytellers Guild at the Spoken Word Stage or the live music of the Hoosier Youth Philharmonic.

Although the show was orginally created as a way for Indiana artists to show off their work, vendors now come from across the country.

Miky and Steve Cunningham, self-taught potters from Iowa, displayed their work at the show .

“With the heat, I thought I did really well yesterday,” Miky said. “I would say I do about 40 shows a year, so I’d say it’s above the average show.”

The couple won the Barb Bihler Award for Functional Ceramics.

Nine vendors received various other awards, and Canham was also a winner.

“I’m always honored when somebody thinks that I’m worthy,” Canham said about his third place win for 2-D art. “Being singled out like that is really neat.”

Follow reporter Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14.