FLORENCE-Every third weekend in May, Wilson Park in historic downtown Florence comes to life with the Southeast’s foremost fine, folk, and craft artists. Presented by the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts’ Volunteers, Arts Alive is a juried arts festival and exhibition that will take place May 20 and 21. First held in 1986, Arts Alive features selected artists who sell, demonstrate, and exhibit their works.
The Arts Alive Juried Exhibition takes place at Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts located directly across from 
Wilson Park. The selected works are on display for over a month and are judged for awards in technique, style, and expression. The exhibition opens May 10 and will hang until June 24.
Wilson Park transforms into one of the largest art markets in the Southeast on Arts Alive weekend. Over 110 chosen artists in various mediums and genres set up booths to sell their work. Art activities for children will be on the front lawn of the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library. A children’s art exhibition will take place in the breezeway of Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts. Food vendors will set up along Tuscaloosa Street and the Shoals Master Gardeners’ plant sale will be on the corner of Wood Ave. and Tombigbee Street.
Saturday night, May 21, Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts hosts a backyard garden party, Art Under the Stars, for artists and patrons to celebrate park and gallery winners with food and live music. Tickets are $25 each, and can be purchased at Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts or at alabamaartsalive.com.
This year, Arts Alive is a proud recipients of an Alabama State Council on the Arts grant of $4,000. This grant allowed the festival to open to a larger pool of national and regional applicants through an online application process. In 2017 Arts Alive will welcome more artists to the park than ever.
Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts is located at 217 E. Tuscaloosa St. and is open, free of charge, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Call 256-760-6379 for more information.
Media Release/Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts
217 E. Tuscaloosa St.
Florence, AL 35630
