2019 Jerry Brown Arts Festival to Feature Art of the 1819 Era

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association

PHONE: 256.350.3500 / 800.648.5381

2019 Jerry Brown Arts Festival to Feature Art of the 1819 Era

Decatur, Ala. (February 19, 2019) – A must see for this spring is Hamilton’s highly acclaimed art festival where one-of-a-kind creations and masterpieces from juried artists from across the Southeast will be on display. Now in its seventeenth year and designated an official Alabama Bicentennial event, the Jerry Brown Arts Festival (JBAF) is set for March 2-3, 2019, and confirmed for this year’s event are over 60 artists from Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina and South Carolina who will be creating and demonstrating throughout the weekend.

Presented by the Northwest Alabama Arts Council, the JBAF offers two days of quality folk art exhibition, an art station for children and free admission and parking. This year’s event is an official Alabama Bicentennial event and artists will be demonstrating time-period art of the 1819 era. The JBAF is known for its emphasis on Southern folk art, but there are various mediums available at each year's festival to include: pottery, multiple forms of glass art, mixed media, jewelry making, wood art/carving, metal art, sculptures, gourd art, quilting, fabric art, paintings, basket weaving, wire art and photography. Festival attendees will have the opportunity to shop the work of the artists and a free kids’ art station will be provided where children can create their own works of art.

The featured artist for this year’s festival is Christine Bussler of Fayetteville, Tenn. Christine is returning to the JBAF for the fifth time. She is a self-taught artist and paints by emotion and instinct. She started painting in 2012 after retiring from the U.S. Navy as an aircraft maintenance officer and then as a licensed veterinary technician. It was a “Sip and Stroke” painting party that brought back the memories of her as a little child, drawing all the time and wanting to go to art school. Her parents’ plan was for her to graduate from college and have a professional career so she was discouraged from pursuing art. Now, in the last six years, she has built a successful business selling her work and teaching acrylic painting and graphite drawing.

The festival honors the late Jerry Brown, a ninth generation potter whose work can be found in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. Brown was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship in 1992, as well as receiving numerous merit awards, and in 2003, he was awarded the Alabama Heritage Award from the Alabama Arts Council. Brown, who passed away unexpectedly in 2016, was the only known potter in the United States who used a mule, Blue the Mule, to help him mill clay for his pottery. For more information on Brown and his mule, visit www.jerrybrownpottery.com.

Set to take place at the Tombigbee Electric Cooperative, located underneath the city’s water tower at 3196 County Highway 55 in Hamilton, the festival location offers easy access for travelers by taking exit 14 on Interstate 22 (formerly U.S. Highway 78). Festival hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free and parking is free. For more information, visit www.jbaf.org or call 205.921.9483 or follow the event on Facebook at Jerry Brown Arts Festival and on Twitter @JerryBrownFest.

About Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association (AMLA)

AMLA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion and development of the travel industry within the 16 northernmost counties of the state. It is supported by 500-plus members consisting of chambers of commerce, Convention & Visitors Bureaus, attractions, campgrounds, festivals, communities, counties, golf courses, restaurants, tour operators, accommodations, vendors, financial institutions and individuals. Counties included within the AMLA region are Blount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Morgan and Winston. Additional information on North Alabama destinations, accommodations and special events is available by calling 800.648.5381 or by visiting www.NorthAlabama.org. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @VisitNorthAL and like us at www.facebook.com/VisitNorthAL.

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