By Catherine Ellerton

Moapa Valley Progress

Local artist, Jana Ward demonstrates the making of Christmas Gourds at the M.V. Pomegranate Arts Festival last weekend. Photo by Catherine Ellerton.

Sweet sixteen and still going strong! The Pomegranate Arts Festival sponsored by the Moapa Valley Art Guild opened its doors to artisans and craftsmen on November 4 and 5.

The annual festival has been held at various locations in the community throughout the years. Originally the Festival was held in the parking lot of Home Hardware before it found a new home at the Old Logandale School. Local artist Zona Tobler was at the helm of the festival for 8 years during the early years.

After her, Jo Tame took over and the Festival and kept growing and building its reputation. Finally it had to be moved to the Clark County Fairgrounds to accommodate all of the attendees.

Currently, Guild President, Jackie Worthen, is the coordinator of the many committees that make up the winning team of this endeavor.

Last weekend’s festival held a bit of wind, a nip in the air, and some black clouds that rumbled in on Friday. But these were offset by the autumn sun on Saturday and the enthusiasm of the participants.

This two day celebration provided five separate venues in which to participate – the Vendors, Food Court, Entertainment Area, Kids Art Contest and the Art Demonstration Booth.

There were over 75 vendors coming from Southern Nevada, Utah, Canada and all points in between. They displayed sewing crafts, jewelry, art, lotions, soaps, wood crafts, Holiday items, dolls, toys and, of course, pomegranate jelly.

Attendees visit the various vendor booths at the 16th annual Pomegranate Art Festival at the Logandale Fairgrounds. Photo by Catherine Ellerton.

As participants wandered through the many vendors, they were able to stop in the Food Court to replenish their energy. The American Legion All American Menu, Lupita’s Mexican Food, Grumpy Goat Pizza (Organic Wood Fired Pizza), Korn King and The Funnel Cake Booth.

Throughout the day at the Entertainment area, festival-goers were able to rest a spell and witness some incredible talent. From the opening lines of “The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Music,” Rachel Garcia proved she was a talent worth watching. Ben Muhlestein inspired with the power of words in a rendition of Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!”

There were dancers (Middle School Dance Team and the Vegas Valley Cloggers), youthful singers as heard in the patriotic tribute by the Moapa Valley Children’s Choir, an introduction to the interesting talent displayed by the Desert Song Studio Singers, and the Lyon Middle School Orchestra performed on the lawn for two days.

Reminding us of our colorful heritage were Ever Wednesday (A Western Bluegrass Band), the Aspen Ridge Blue Grass Band (both from Nevada) and local Cowboy Poet Ken Marshall. The Nelson Family Band rounded out the program demonstrating that a ‘family that plays together stays together.’

Opportunities were available for the wanna-be artist to improve his/her skills. Many demonstrations were given during the two days: Barbara Rowley – Pen and Ink; Lynn Rigoni – Watercolor; Diana Coonradt – colored pencil; Jana Ward – Christmas Gourds; Edith Ann Luce – Rope Baskets; Marie Williams – Watercolors and Stacie Cameron – Acrylics.

In addition, using coffee filters as their canvas, young artists used washable ‘Crayola’ markers to draw designs which were then sprayed with a little water. The creation was quickly dried with a hair dryer and lastly fastened to a matte board.

The winners of the Youth Art Contest were: 4 to 6 year olds: 1 – Gwenyth Foster and 2 – Abigail Leavitt; 7 to 10 year olds: 1 – Alayna Edwards and 2 – Emily (last name unknown); 11 to 13 year olds: 1 – Alexis Sawyer and 2 – Telsey Carmain.

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