Art in the park

Moving an outdoor art festival that had just started gaining momentum might be seen as problematic.

But Marcia Hefti couldn't be more happy about the move.

She pulled out a topographic photo of a park and circled the area of the Fifth Annual Pikes Peak Arts Festival with her finger.

"All that," she said, referring to the America the Beautiful Park, which looks like a tan canvas from above.

The director of the festival has the park's 21 acres and the 40 acres that encompass it to work with. So forgive Hefti for the change of location after the festival spent four years at the Pikes Peak Center; you can hear the anticipation, expectation and excitement in her voice.

Hefti just wanted more, and now she has it.

Hefti understood that the free festival would move from the center after last year, after its renovations had made the usable space too small. So she didn't hesitate to move two miles north to the large park just south of Colorado Avenue alongside Interstate 25.

"America the Beautiful was my No. 1 choice because the park can grow," Hefti said.

The park will hold arts, crafts and live performances. Hefti hand-picked Independence Day weekend. The "high end" assortment of local and national arts and crafts will not change, she said. But there are nearly a dozen more booths for more than 80 artists to claim, because that was her vision.

"This is a gift to the artists," Hefti said. "This is one more venue other than a gallery or a museum where they can introduce themselves."

To attract a larger audience, the festival was moved from mid-June to today through Sunday. Hefti said she also believes that the cancellation of the Memorial Park's Fabulous Fourth concert and fireworks will attract more people to the festival.

"The attendance will double," she promised.

The scope also is expanding beyond arts and crafts.

There are "bigger" bands of quartets, indie and jazz - alternative names like Aria Tari, - who open the festival after noon. The larger space also allows a larger variety of food vendors, including the Bristol Brewing Co.'s Beer & Wine Garden. There will be separate attractions for children, including the park's huge Julie Penrose Fountain.

She thinks the fountain's shape, a loop that never connects, with water falling straight down from its apex, is a potent symbol for the arts festival.

"It looks like an omega," Hefti said. "There is no beginning or end. It just keeps going."

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Call the writer at 636-0372.

DETAILS

Pikes Peak Arts Fest
When: 4-8 p.m. today, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Where: America the Beautiful Park, the ramp off south Colorado Avenue