Artapalooza brings forth vibrant artistic community

Katherine Mayhew/Staff Writer

The sixth annual Artapalooza was held on main street last Saturday, Sept. 10. Executive director of Cedar Falls Community Main Street Carol Lilly said, “[Artapalooza] is a great way to showcase regional artists to our community.” Some of the artists featured have CFHS ties.

Former CFHS choir teacher Kendra Wohlert and former CFHS student Honor Heindl had pieces accepted. Hiendl said, ”Artapalooza is such a cool festival, because it really brings the community together and celebrates the creativity and unique expressions of artists from all walks of life.”

This is the fifth year Heindl’s photography has been shown in Artapalooza. “Photography has been a huge passion of mine since the beginning of high school, and it’s so humbling and exciting to be able to share the beauty I encounter with others,” Heindl said.

Wohlert’s paintings was being shown in the festival for the first time this year. “I’ve gone to Artapalooza almost every year, and I love the event. I always wanted to see if I could do something with my paintings, so this year I submitted an application which included four examples of my work. To my great surprise, joy and horror, I was chosen to participate.”

Heindl draws her inspiration from the beauty in the world. “Photography has been a huge passion of mine since the beginning of high school, and it’s so humbling and exciting to be able to share the beauty I encounter with others. I love being able to evoke emotions in people with the people and places and things I’ve seen.” She uses her experiences to better her artwork: “I’ve been blessed in being able to travel quite a bit throughout my life, and being able to bring the magic of the different cultures and corners of the world to Cedar Falls is such a neat thing. There is so much beauty and joy and wonder to be found out there, not to mention in our own backyards.” Heindl has high hopes for what her artwork can achieve.

“Most of our lives, we’re nearly constantly dealing with pains and trials of some sort, and sometimes it’s tough to focus on the light when we’re surrounded by so much darkness. If I
can accomplish anything in my lifetime, I want to be able to restore a bit of hope in humanity. I want to remind people of just how beautiful and intricately designed they are. The most rewarding thing in the world is having the ability to speak life and worth into another human. I just like reminding people with my words and pictures that there is still good in the world,” Heindl said.

Wohlert’s paints abstract water colors and oil pastels that are symbolic in her life. She also showed some drawings from her time in southern Africa.

Lilly was very satisfied with the array of artists involved this year. Artists working in ceramics, painting, jewelry, photography, fiber, glass, wood, printmaking, sculpting and weaving showed their work.

Artapalooza is a volunteer-driven event. They can always use more volunteers to help put it together. Potential contributing artists can also apply to have their work shown in Artapalooza next year.