Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NAPPANEE - Changing technology and changing times have brought a new category of competition to this year's Amish Acres Arts & Crafts Festival.
In recognition of a new avenue for artistic application, the festival has added a web page category to the two-dimensional class competition of the juried event. Entries will be visible and judged from a computer monitor in the competition tent.
The 35th anniversary edition of the festival in Nappanee starts Thursday and will celebrate the roots and evolution of the event and its thousands of past participants.
The annual festival opens at 9 a.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with closing time at 8 p.m. each day. On Sunday, the festival grounds will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Now in its fourth decade, visitors to the festival have watched tastes and techniques of the artists and craftsmen change to keep up with the times.
To honor the founding spirit of the festival, well-known Elkhart artist Ted Drake has been named honorary judge for the event.
Drake designed the "Sweet Pea" logo of the former Pletcher Furniture Village in 1963 - the same year the Pletcher family started the festival - and used the stylized "P" to promote the art event.
The next year, Drake designed the Notre Dame leprechaun that has become the world's most famous sports symbol, appearing on the cover of "Time" magazine. He worked on several projects for the NCAA and created the logo for the Chicago Bulls world champion basketball team.
Today, at age 87, Drake still paints every day at his Elkhart studio. His artistic influence has graced the area for more than five decades, with commissioned paintings for area businesses and institutions underlining the importance of art in the community's daily life.
Two past best of show winners from the festival, both members of the festival's Hall of Fame, have been selected to judge this year's event.
One judge will be Coy Jankowski, a South Bend artist whose water colors adorn the walls of many local institutions, from McDonald's to Doc Pierce's Restaurant. His "Model T Ford" watercolor won best of show in 1974. He now designs home pages for the World Wide Web and is a pioneer in bringing the discipline of art to the Internet - an inspiration for this year's newest competition category.
Also judging will be Robert Smoger, a three-time winner of the festival's best of three-dimensional class with silver and semi-precious stone jewelry. He was the winner in 1975, 1978 and 1979.
He has been museum registrar and business manager of the Snite Museum at the University of Notre Dame since 1982. Prior to that time, he owned a jewelry studio in Bloomington.
Attendees of the festival won't just have more than 350 arts and crafts booths to visit. There will also be food booths stocked with a variety of goodies; two stages of entertainment, including an assortment of musicians; strolling performers; the Steven's Puppets with their marionettes; Dan Barth's medicine show; and alternate performances of "Plain & Fancy" and "The Music Man."
Festival admission is $5 and parking is free. Children under 12 will be admitted free. Amish Acres is located on U.S. 6, one miles west of downtown Nappanee.
For more information, call 800-800-4942 or 773-4188.
