The 11th annual Boneyard Arts Festival, which begins Thursday, will feature juggling, glass blowing, pottery, other artworks and performances by multiple artists hosted by a variety of venues.

Boneyard is an annual spring four-day exhibition of different art media that takes place throughout Champaign County, including campus.

The festival is the signature event of 40 North, the Champaign County Arts Council. Several organizations are sponsoring the event, such as The News-Gazette and the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, this year’s title sponsors.

“The Boneyard is an opportunity for artists to be able to hang their work and display it for the community to see,” said Kelly White, executive director of 40 North. “Its goal is to bring all the artwork to the surface in this community so that everyone can come out and experience it.”

Sculptors, photographers, painters, musicians, dancers and performers will be showcased both inside and outside by a variety of venues, such as Courtyard Cafe and Krannert Art Museum.

White said the Boneyard benefits not only the participating artists but also the venues that host the artists. 

“It’s a way for venues to be able to get people into their space that might not normally go in,” she said. 

Jessica Rojas, a junior in FAA, will be one of three artists featured in an exhibit at the YMCA. Rojas will present a series of 27 mixed media paintings.

“I believe that the Boneyard Arts Festival will benefit my work as an artist since every year the festival draws in so many people,” Rojas said in an email. “I am grateful to the YMCA for giving me the opportunity to show my work to such a large, enthusiastic audience.”

At another venue, the Gable Home, graduate students Mateusz Nosek and his partner Wiktor Czechura will present their model of the Axis Park Tower, a mid-rise hotel in downtown Chicago.

This will be the first year Nosek has participated in the festival, but he believes it is a way to give exposure to students and artists in the Champaign area.

“I believe it will give precedent to the notion that architecture is an art form,” Nosek said in an email. “I would like for others to appreciate the time and dedication involved.”

This year, 40 North will be asking people to vote for their favorite venues via text. The winning venue will receive free 2014 registration for the Boneyard Arts Festival, while it normally costs a venue $50 to register.

The Boneyard Arts Festival was created in 2002 and named after the Boneyard Creek that runs through Champaign, the campus and into Urbana.

“It was a link that brought all the different areas together,” White said. “The festival is represented in all those areas as well as the outlying areas of Champaign County.”

Jacqueline can be reached at  [email protected].