Plateau Magazine June-July 2023

festival
Painting the Town
The Summer Colors Fine Art Show connects people of all ages
By LIESEL SCHMIDT
AS ANYONE WHO HAS
ever tried to find success as an
artist knows, the payoff isn’t
always swift in coming—and
for some, it never comes. But
even for the most talented and passionate,
exposure is critical in making an artist
successful.
Over the years, art festivals and shows
have become an important way for artists
to gain the exposure they need to make a
name for themselves and reach a wider audience
than they would by simply displaying
their pieces in galleries. These events
are also often a great draw for visitors to
the local area, making them beneficial to
the larger community as well as its inner
community of artists—and celebrating
the way art makes us think and feel, both
in creating and viewing it.
An artist is not paid
for his labor but for
his vision.
James McNeill Whistler,
American painter
For more than 40 years, the Highlands-
Cashiers Plateau has hosted artists and
given them a stage on which to showcase
their talents during the annual Summer
Colors Fine Art Show. Created by the Art
League of Highlands-Cashiers (ALHC),
the event, along with its sister show, the
Fall Colors Fine Art Show, has been instrumental
in offering artists the opportunity
to sell their work to art lovers from
near and far. From that initial handful
Oil painting by
Sara Crook, 24 x 18.
Summer Colors Fine
Art Show 2022.
74 | ThePlateauMag.com