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Downtown Folkfest draws in a crowd

By William R. Levesque, Times staff writer
In print: Sunday, September 28, 2008

Nyla Pollack, 2, of St. Petersburg gets wrapped up in mom’s skirt while looking at the colorful art at Folkfest St. Pete.
	[LARA CERRI | Times]

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ST. PETERSBURG — Mary Proctor started painting years ago when God told her "the door is the way." So what else would be the canvas for her first painting?

A door, of course.

On Saturday, Proctor sat near a sidewalk gallery of her work, smiling at the mention of a cut-out rooster adorning a piece of tin (she's expanded her repertoire beyond doors) upon which she painted the words: "Tough rooster keep on keeping on."

"The joy of the rooster," the Tallahassee artist said somewhat elliptically, "is in everything I do."

The joy of the rooster joined an eclectic gathering of up to 60 artists and musicians at the second annual Folkfest St. Pete, a two-day street festival on Central Avenue between 11th and 13th Streets.

Organizers said crowds for the free festival (which continues from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today) were strong and they hope to double attendance. Last year, 5,000 people were attracted to the festival.

"Our advertising and PR campaign really paid off," said Grace Alfiero, founder of Creative Clay, a nonprofit running the festival to benefit a professional arts training program for adults with developmental disabilities.

The festival is dominated by folk artists selling their work along both sides of Central, an unusual and sometimes eccentric blend of work that can be difficult to categorize.

Walk over to Jack Beverland's collection of paintings. Wearing a shirt that says, "World's Most-Awesome Folk Artist," he reminds people they can go ahead and touch his work, dirty fingers and all.

That's because the Pasco artist paints using acrylic, some of which glows in the dark.

Beverland said folk art is defined as being generated by those untrained or unschooled in art, something he sees as no handicap.

"I call it heart art," he said, "because it comes more from the heart."

Martha and Randy Scott drove in from Tampa to take in the festival. They said they found the music and art an offbeat outing.

"This is down to earth and relaxing," Martha Scott said. "It draws you in."

Perhaps the joy of the rooster helped.