Tenth Arts Festival in the Forest is this weekend

The enchanted Mary S. Young Park will come alive this weekend with fanciful artists, exhibits and artisans at the 10th annual Arts Festival in the Forest. The volunteer-run event was founded in 2002 on the 30th anniversary of when Mary S. Young donated the 128-acre old-growth forest to the state of Oregon.

Merely 23 artists exhibited at the first event, drawing in a crowd of 500 people. This year, festival organizes said the family-friendly event, which is partnered with the West Linn Parks and Recreation Department, will feature more than 90 artists and upwards of 5,000 attendees. Local food vendors will be the West Linn Lions Club, Old Tyme Kettle Corn, Ollie’s ‘ono Hele and La Fiesta Mexican Kitchen.

West Linn resident David J. Froode said himself, his wife, Dianne, and Steve Hopkins founded the event to celebrate and cultivate the local arts scene. Froode said over the years the festival has become a premier metro event.

“One of the things that we try to incorporate into the arts festival every year is the unique and whimsical,” Froode said. “We may not always have the latest and greatest art in the world, but I guarantee you will see stuff at Arts Festival in the Forest that you won’t see in other shows.

“We refer to ourselves as the un-snooty art event.”

Since its inception, the festival has not only grown in size but it has increased its community impact. In 2005, Arts Festival in the Forest became a nonprofit. The organization raises money through vendor booth sales and silent auctions. Froode said the event donates approximately $1,500 to $2,000 each year.

This year, money will be donated to the West Linn Boy Scouts, West Linn Lions Club, Deaf Dogs of Oregon, Masters Schools of Art and the Youth Music Project.

“I wanted the art festival to be the mother ship, the vessel that other smaller nonprofit organizations could plug into and raise money for their cause,” Froode said. “We didn’t know what we were doing 10 years ago. It all started as a tiny little bean and now it’s just grown.”

The juried art show hand-selected its vendors. A small group of organizers and artists reviewed four pieces of work from each of the 120 applicants. Ninety artists were chosen based off their uniqueness and quality of work.

“We wanted to have a good mix of artists representing all different mediums,” said Shannah Garofalo, committee chair. “We were definitely looking for something interesting from our applicants.

“It wasn’t purely about looking at the artistic pedigree, it was about finding art that represents the community and feel of the city.”

Approximately half of the artists are returning from last year. Many are from West Linn, Lake Oswego, Oregon City and across Washington and Oregon. Festivalgoers will find a variety of garden art, painters, photographers, jewelry, glass artists, metal artists, ceramics and fiber creations. This year, the committee emphasized recycled art.

“Recycled art isn’t necessarily the theme of the festival but the committee especially liked recycled things,” Garofalo said. “We thought that recycled art is a good fit for being in the forest and in an environmentally conscious community. I’m looking forward to what these artists bring.”

Metal artist Terry Powers, 56, is one of many artists showcasing pieces made from salvaged materials at Arts Festival in the Forest. Powers and his family own Three Sisters Nursery — named after his three daughters — in Sandy.

The automotive man by trade never thought of himself as an artist — he identified as a laborer. Powers spent years welding and repairing trucks and trailers until one day in 2002 he designed a bed of flowers made from recycled materials for his wife’s bedding plants.

“I made a couple of pieces for my wife and she said, ‘You ought to take those to the garden show,’” Powers said. “I had no idea I even had this sort of talent, and then it just exploded.”

Powers was born and raised in the Portland area. He and his wife, Sue, opened the nursery in 1990. Then three years ago, Sue lost her job and the nursery industry went wayward with the economy.

“We had to reinvent ourselves and we turned to the art,” Powers said. “It’s become a second business, so much so that we are moving trees to make room for the scrap metal.”

Powers makes metal kites, flowers, dogs, turtles, musical instruments and more from recycled materials like old car doors, rebar, steel wheels, sheet metal and brake rotor stands from estate sales and the Les Schwab in West Linn. He makes lightening bugs out of industrial glass light bulbs and decorative trumpets and tubas from discarded instruments.

“I see different things in different pieces of metal,” Powers said. “My goal is to create something out of whatever we can find or have donated. We like to buy broken pieces and things that are going to be discarded to keep the carbon foot print down.

“Instead of melting down pieces and sending it to China, we can stop some of that process by reusing materials right here.”

Last year, Powers’ art and ingenuity was featured in the Emmy Award-winning television special, “Go Green! KATU Family Matters Earth Day Special.” Today, Powers is working in his shop, bending sheet metal and re-imagining the potential in salvaged goods.

For the Arts Festival in the Forest, he plans to bring a selection of garden décor, flowers and musical instruments. Despite his success, Powers still thinks of himself as an unlikely artist.

“If you were to ask me 10 years ago if I would be working as an artist I would have laughed,” he said. “Even today when someone says, ‘I like your art,’ I look over my shoulder. I think they’re talking about someone else.”

The Arts Festival in the Forest runs Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mary S. Young Park is located at 19900 Willamette Drive in West Linn. For more information, visit >artsfestivalintheforest.com.