The 41st Port Clinton Art Festival in downtown Highland Park presented by Amdur Productions opened on Saturday morning with a champagne toast and grand ribbon-cutting to mark the start of the event at the corner of Central Avenue and Second Street.
Amdur Productions President Amy Amdur was joined by community leaders in the ribbon-cutting under blue skies, with temperatures at 74 degrees.
“This is wonderful,” Amdur said of the photo opportunity memory-maker.
“Let’s look toward the healing nature of the arts as something that continues in Highland Park, and where the arts live and the arts thrive,” Amdur said.
Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering helped to use blue oversized scissors to cut the white ribbon to launch the festival.
“This is to me, the highlight of summer in Highland Park,” Rotering told the audience. “Thank you to Amy and to her entire team for putting on year after year what is one of the region’s, if not the nation’s, best art festivals.
“It’s a great chance for us to really show how we, as a community, support the arts,” the mayor said. “It’s sort of the heartbeat of who we are, and it’s always so much fun to run into friends and neighbors, and make new friends.”
Central Avenue and Second Street, along Port Clinton Square, was the scene of the July 4, 2022 Independence Day parade shooting.
“We are about resilience,” Rotering said. “We are about rebirth. This is a strong, supportive community and we are bringing life back to downtown Highland Park.”
Joel and Barisa Bruckman, the parents of Cameron, 2, and Brayden, 6, attended the festival as a family. Barisa Bruckman is a Highland Park council member.
“We absolutely love coming to this event,” Joel Bruckman said. “We think it’s such a great opportunity for the community to come together. We look forward to this event from a personal level after the tragedy that happened here.
“We’re just standing literally yards away from where my family was on that day,” he said. “This was actually the first event that brought us back to downtown Highland Park after that. So it’s a very special event for us personally, and I think for the entire community.”
Thousands of people attended the two-day event. Approximately 200 juried artists appeared this year. Three music stages were featured.
First Street is also renowned in the downtown as Steven L. Amdur Way. The late Steven L. Amdur, Amy Amdur’s father, was one of four developers, along with the late Paul Cocose and brothers Rick Strusiner of Highland Park and the late Monte Strusiner, who presented a concept more than four decades ago to the city to redevelop the downtown block of what became Port Clinton Square.
The Port Clinton Art Festival supports youth exhibitor artists and features artists from around the world.
Canadian artist Agnes Rathonyi of St. Catharines, Ontario, talked about a mixed-media-on-canvas work called “Sunset,” priced at $4,800. The artwork features a home.
“I’m a very, very serene person,” Rathonyi said. “So these (art pieces) are my home country, Hungary. I’ve lived here (in North America) for 30 years, but my heart is back in Hungary. That’s what I paint.”
Bill and Dana Barron of Vernon Hills were returning festival patrons.
“It’s amazing,” Dana Barron said. “It’s always been a highlight of our summer.”
Aaron Karlinsky of Deerfield attended and said, “It’s very important,” to make memories for his family.
Charles and Stacey Lucterhand of Highland Park, the parents of Jake, 10, Mia, 8, and Drew, 3, spent time with their children at Port Clinton Square, where youth artist tables and interactive activities were busy attractions.
“This is a great way to enjoy a beautiful day with your family,” Stacey Lucterhand said. “Color can make you feel good and make you happy.”
“This is the last hurrah,” of summer, Stacey Lucterhand said.
