The Batavia City Council has given an unofficial thumbs up to plans for a two-week-long city arts festival combining classes and exhibits.
“I think this is a neat idea,” Mayor Jeff Schielke told event organizing committee spokeswoman Becky Hoag. “It’s a step off the traditional festival format, but it offers a cultural and human aspect that other festivals don’t have.”
The first Batavia Arts Festival is slated for July 29 to Aug. 14, 2005. The first 15 days would feature hands-on art classes taught by professional artists and scattered in public buildings throughout the city, Hoag said. On the festival’s final weekend, students and teachers would display their work in a series of exhibits on the Riverwalk. Batavia Renaissance Project members formed a steering committee in November to plan the festival. That group will present its plans April 6 to the Government Services Committee.
On April 7, it will hold a community meeting at City Hall to recruit new members and set up planning committees, Hoag said.