Plateau Magazine June-July 2023

of artists, the event has grown to include
more than 30 oil painters, watercolorists,
mixed media artists, sculptors, photographers,
jewelers and potters, garnering
increasing attention for the quality fine
art on display and the uniquely local feel
of the show.
Last year brought the advent of a few
new features to the Summer Colors Fine
Art Show: live music and a children’s art
competition sponsored by Blick Art Supplies.
“The children’s competition was such
a special way of encouraging young people
to make a connection to the art,” says Show
Chair Colleen Kastner. “It was a simple
idea: Let the child go through the show
and pick the piece of art they like the best,
then write down what they liked about
it and draw their own sketch of it. I was
delighted to see a group of teenage girls
sketching one of my paintings, [featuring]
a voluptuous woman with an attitude and
the words, ‘I am not a toy for you to play
with. I am not a fragile flower wilting in
the sunlight. Don’t tell me who I am—who
or what I can be.’
“I asked the girls why they chose my
painting, and they said they liked the message,”
she says. “That was the highlight of
the show for me. The fact that the positive
and life affirming message in my work connected
with those young women meant the
world to me!”
Clearly, the art show isn’t something
that resonates only with adults—nor is the
art. As a means of expression, it connects
Visitor enjoying the 2022 Summer
Colors Fine Art Show.
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