Emerging Artist Program
The Downtown Festival & Arts Show’s Emerging Artist Program aims to create a pipeline for new talent to access and participate in the juried art show portion of the Downtown Festival & Art Show, Gainesville’s largest street festival and north central Florida’s largest celebration of fine art. Selected artists receive a shared booth space at the festival and a mentorship session with a seasoned festival artist. The cohort will also compete amongst themselves for a cash prize and automatic entry into next year's festival.
Meet the 2024 Cohort
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Bryan ZeigBryan Zeig uses the vibrancy of pastels to blend realism and abstraction. Some marks remain true to the observed forms and colors, grounding his pieces in reality. Others are bold and expressive, designed to spark the viewer's imagination and draw them deeper into the scene to share a connection to his experiences. He earned a Bachelor of Design in Architecture from the University of Florida and lives in Gainesville.
http://bryanzeig.com/ http://www.instagram.com/bryanzeig Verónica VillaseñorVeronica Villasenor is a ceramic artist with a background in biology from Kharkiv National University, Ukraine, and a postbaccalaureate degree in ceramics from the University of Florida. Drawing from her multicultural journey across Mexico, Ukraine, Bolivia, and the USA, her work delves into themes of migration, interconnectivity, and the intricate web of dependencies in nature. Through her meticulously sculpted ceramics, often depicting emblematic animals, she aims to raise awareness of the mutual dependence among species and the critical importance of freedom of movement.
In her art, Veronica applies various traditional techniques from the ceramics tradition of animal sculpture. By paying special attention to the gestures of the animals, she enhances their majestic traits with color, intricate patterns, and textures. https://www.vvillasenor.com/ https://www.instagram.com/verovi62 John BentonJohn Benton is a Gainesville, Florida artist. He started his artistic career later in life because of his color blindness. With encouragement from his wife, friends and an inspirational puppy, John decided to strike and start his artistic career. "I paint what I see and the colors I like in hopes that it will make people happy". John's goal is to make people smile by fusing bold colors and whimsy into his art.
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We owe a debt of thanks to the generous community sponsors who helped us launch this program in 2022: Gainesville Fine Arts Association (GFAA) & Gallery, Sequential Artist Workshop (SAW), a private donor, and the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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