Wildlife art, dock-diving dogs and a chance for children to try their hand at fishing will bring families to historic downtown Wetumpka on Saturday, Oct. 24, for the fifth annual Wetumpka Wildlife Arts Festival.
Known as WEWA, the free festival will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with live painting, outdoor demonstrations and an art competition that organizers say will award more than $30,000 in prizes.
Presented by The Kelly Fitzpatrick Center for the Arts, the one-day event brings together Alabama’s art and outdoor communities to celebrate the state’s wildlife, landscapes and field sport traditions through the visual arts.
“Wetumpka sits on the Coosa River in the middle of some of the best hunting and fishing country in the state, so a festival about wildlife art isn’t something that’s imported — it’s in the area’s DNA,” said Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association Director Pam Swanner, whose organization supports WEWA.
“What has changed in five years is the stage. More than $30,000 in prizes tells Alabama artists this work is worth taking seriously, and it fills downtown Wetumpka with people who agree.”
At the center of the festival is the juried Alabama Wildlife Fine Art Competition, which has statewide reach and includes a $12,000 grand prize. Organizers announced a total prize package of more than $30,000 in the festival’s press release.
Organizers say that the winners will be announced the morning of the festival. The accompanying “Art Gone Wild” exhibition features work by contemporary artists from across the Southeast.
Visitors will also be able to watch artists paint throughout the day and talk with them about their work.
“Most people only ever meet a painting after it is finished and framed,” said Jennifer Eifert, director of The Kelly Fitzpatrick Center for the Arts.
“Here you can stand a few feet away and watch a heron come out of a blank canvas, and you can ask the artist why she made that mark instead of another one. Children figure out fast that it is a skill somebody learned, not magic. That is the moment that turns a spectator into an artist.”
Beyond the artwork, the DockDogs competition will send canine athletes off a dock into water as they compete throughout the day in Big Air, Extreme Vertical and Speed Retrieve. Local and regional kennels, dog trainers and fly-fishing experts will also demonstrate their skills.
Young anglers can take casting lessons from the University of Montevallo’s four-time national championship bass fishing team, courtesy of the Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association.
The Alabama Wildlife Federation and Raptor’s Ridge Wildlife Education will offer animal encounters and interactive conservation programming. Guided birding tours will take small groups along the Coosa River.
For those who want to make something of their own, Andrew McCall, known as “The Vine Man,” will lead a basket-making workshop in which students can create their own vine pieces. The festival invited those interested to participate in the workshop from 1 to 3 p.m. Oct. 24 at a cost of $100 per person; festival admission is free.
Children’s programming, live music and a vendor marketplace will round out the day.
Held annually on the fourth Saturday of October, the festival’s proceeds support the mission of The Kelly Fitzpatrick Center for the Arts, located at 301 Hill St. in Wetumpka.
Announced sponsors include LIV Development, the Alabama Wildlife Federation, Smoot Harris, the Thomas & Cindy Harris Foundation, the City of Wetumpka, the Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association and Regions Bank.
Sponsorship, vendor, artist and volunteer opportunities remain available. More information is available at wewafest.org, by emailing [email protected] or calling 334-478-3366.
The Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association promotes outdoor recreation and tourism to provide economic and ecological benefits to the Black Belt and its residents. More information is available at AlabamaBlackBeltAdventures.org.
The association’s 23-county region includes Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Russell, Sumter, Tuscaloosa and Wilcox counties.
Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at [email protected].
