The 15th Annual Artisphere Festival returns to downtown Greenville this weekend! Artisphere is a three-day event that showcases everything from talented artists to award-winning restaurants.
A supportive, art-loving community, beautiful setting, and hundreds of volunteers make the Artisphere festival an enjoyable experience for exhibiting artists and the public alike. It is a great event for the whole family! And admission is absolutely free!
Visual Artists
In total, Artisphere will feature 135 visual artists, selected by a panel of five jurors from an applicant pool of 952. Of the 135 artists, 35 will exhibit at Artisphere for the first time, 20 of which had never before applied. 16 of the artists are locals, including Sunny McGowan (Printmaking), Kent Ambler (Printmaking), Marie Gruber (Photography), Glory Loflin (Painting), Joseph Bradley (Painting), Rey D’Alfonso (Painting), Keith Grace (Mixed Media-2D), Kiah Bellows (Mixed Media-2D), Kate Furman (Jewelry/Semi-Precious), Llyn Strong (Jewelry/Precious), Meredith Piper (Fiber), Darin Gehrke (Ceramics), Janina Ellis (Painting).
Festival Layout
Upon arriving to the festival, loyal patrons will quickly notice almost everything has a new home. Due to the ever-changing city scape that is Greenville, SC, organizers have rearranged many of the attractions and exhibits to better serve attendees. So, everything that’s old will feel brand new again! A festival map is available for download as a PDF at artisphere.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/map.pdf.
Culinary Arts and Craft Beer
Whether you crave Belgian frites, tacos, or shrimp and grits, you’ll find your happy medium at the Culinary Arts Café. This year features options from some of Greenville’s favorite restaurants, including Crepe du Jour, Cantina 76, Larkin’s on the River, Trappe Door, and Duke Sandwich Co. (Barley’s Pizzeria and Taproom will be available in Kidsphere.)
The Wine & Craft Beer Experience presented by Suntrust will now be open all festival hours at its new location next to the WYFF-4 Main Stage on Broad Street, offering a great pairing of music and libation sampling.
Live Music
This year, all musical acts will be on one stage—the WYFF-4 Main Stage, which is moving to Broad Street. This year’s music line-up hosts talented musicians from Rockford, IL to Chapel Hill, NC and Nashville, TN offering something for everyone from R&B to Jazz, Indie to Americana and Funk to Soul and Rock. Headlining acts include The New Respects, a Rock/Blues/Soul/Funk group from Nashville, TN and Indie/Folk artist Jill Andrews also from Nashville, TN. Artisphere will also present regional favorites Audrey Hamilton & The Vibes (Greenville, SC), Ellis Dyson and The Shambles (Chapel Hill, NC), The Apartment Club (Spartanburg, SC) and Jeff Sipe’s State Birds (Brevard,NC) among others. Check out the full music line-up on www.artisphere.org/performing-arts.
Since its inception in 2005, Artisphere has grown into an event that attracts acclaimed artists from across the country, draws tens of thousands of art enthusiasts, and it entertains visitors of all ages. Each year festival patrons are given the rare opportunity to meet artists, observe the creative process, and purchase original works of art.
The festival takes place May 10-12 throughout Greenville, SC. The full schedule of events is located at the event’s wonderfully informative website at artisphere.org.
Artisphere is attended by approximately 75,000 patrons annually and has an estimated economic impact of $5.5 million on the Upstate community. For additional information visit artisphere.org.