Beyond the orange “road closed” signs at the intersection of Race and Main streets, the sound of live R&B music mixed with children’s laughter could be heard from the second annual Fall Fusion Festival.
Taking place on Oct. 5 and hosted by Champaign County Arts Council and 40 North in conjunction with Urbana Arts and Culture, the event served as a way to bring together the local art community in a fun, fall-themed event.
40 North | 88 West started out as a community effort to facilitate collaboration between the community and local arts culture and entertainment. With funding from the Illinois Arts Council, the organization advocates, collaborates, and informs the public.
Elsie Hedgespeth, the director of operations and outreach at 40 North, said the event focuses on visual and performing arts along with providing live music.
“We’ve got a couple of goals; to invigorate downtown Urbana and bring arts to the forefront as well as to use arts as kind of an economic driver for some of the downtown business,” Hedgespeth said.
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Several of the nearby businesses partnered with 40 North, offering food specials and retail sales. The festival also consisted of vendors offering free caricatures, face painting, balloon animals and photo-op sets.
“We try to make sure that everything that’s offered down here is friendly for all ages,” Hedegspeth said. “We try to make sure that it is free or low-cost.”
Various tables were set up along Main and Race streets with short activities pertaining to the local arts community. These activities were provided by local organizations such as the Champaign Park District and the Urbana Free Library.
This year’s festival was set up alongside the CU Folks and Roots Festival, which hosted an “instrument petting zoo,” allowing kids to be informally introduced to various instruments.
Glenn Laneworthy, a volunteer for CU Folks and Roots Festival, said the petting zoo allows kids an opportunity to get familiar with the types of instruments that are out there.
“There’s lots of things they can make music with without fear of not being a professional,” Laneworthy said.
The instrument petting zoo allowed kids to touch and explore various instruments donated by University Laboratory High School and The Music Shoppe.
40 North also commissioned local artist Leslie Kimble to do a live painting of a “mobile mural.” Kimble creates these murals on a moveable wooden frame, so they can be transported and displayed at various locations.
People stopped by to chat with Kimble and admire her process while she painted the mural — a collage of orange, red and yellow leaves on a bright purple background.
“I paint with a lot of vibrant colors because it’s really important to me to be joyful and to share hope and creativity with people,” Kimble said. “Those vibrant colors are a really meaningful way to be encouraging to people and bring joy.”
Kimble said she enjoys interacting with people while painting the live murals.
“I like to just interact with people, and get to know people, show the accessibility of art in our lives,” Kimble said.
