Arts Alive: Where You Can Be Part of the Art

Arts Alive - May 2022

This weekend, artists from the Bay and beyond bring their creativity and brilliance to the Depot District for the area’s biggest art show.

- by Connie Voight 

Over 30 Gulf Coast artists will be displaying their work for sale at ArtsAlive! this weekend.

Click on the images below to see high resolution versions of the Arts Alive! schedule!  

---

---

---

The sun is shining, the rains have been gently nurturing our gardens, and spirits are high in anticipation of a glorious summer on the Bay! Kicking off the season this year will be the return of Hancock County’s largest arts festival, Arts Alive! on Saturday, May 21.
 ​

---

Presented by The Arts, Hancock County and festival sponsor Hollywood Casino, Arts Alive! returns after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

​To celebrate the new Hancock Arts building at 405 Blaize Avenue, Arts Alive! is making a permanent move from the commercial district of Old Town Bay St. Louis to the town’s burgeoning historic Depot-Arts District.
 ​

This Shoofly file photo from 2018 shows pottery demonstrations similar to the demonstrations that will be given in the ArtsAlive! MakerSpace this year.

 
The Arts, Hancock County joins the Bay St. Louis Little Theatre, the Mardi Gras and Alice Moseley Museums, the historic Depot and a host of new shops, rentals, and restaurants in transforming Blaize Avenue into the happening destination in the Bay. The move affords the festival an open and beautiful location under a lush canopy of live oaks, in the bucolic setting surrounding the historic depot.
 
The Arts Alive! fun and action begins Saturday, May 21 at 10 am. Blaize Avenue will be transformed into an Artist Trail featuring over 30 Gulf Coast artists showing and selling their work. After walking the Artist Trail, picnic on the lawn while listening and watching talented performers at one of the festival’s three performance venues.
​

 
In addition to shopping and grabbing lunch at one of the onsite food trucks, there will be over two dozen demonstrations and workshops in the MakerSpace Area in and around the Community Hall.
 
Ever wonder how a wooden bowl is made? Always wanted to try your hand at throwing pottery? Are the kids interested in making puppets or animal art? This is your chance to fully immerse yourself in an art day on the Bay!
 

 
How about judging a culinary competition? While you’re in the Community Hall, grab a sample from our dessert competition and cast a vote for your favorite!
 
While you’re there, don’t forget to enjoy the Student Art Exhibition showcasing almost 300 works of art by students in Hancock and Harrison Counties. In addition to the MakerSpace rooms in the west side of the Community Hall, there will be special MakerSpace events happening outside and in the Atrium, too. Make sure to check out these fascinating interactive arts experiences.
 ​

Artist Paulette Dove with one of her award-winning paintings from a previous Arts Alive event

 
On arrival, hit up the info booth (at the top of the Community Hall parking lot) and grab a festival schedule and the chance to buy a raffle ticket for a gorgeous, large palm tree donated by Brian Nettle Enterprises. The tree includes delivery and installation, and all proceeds go directly to support the festival and The Arts, Hancock County.
 
Arts Alive! is an interactive arts experience for the whole family. The fun begins at 10 am and ends at 5 pm. Free parking is available in several places around the festival site, and there is plenty of room to pull a wagon for the kids. 
​​

---

Enjoy this feature? ​

Enjoy the Shoofly Magazine? Reader donations help underwrite correspondents who write about and photograph our community. 
 
Use the button below to join our Readers’ Circle!  ​