Walking Arts Tour Kickoff Slated for Blue Point Center for Visual Arts

Though August 2010 marks the third Patchogue Arts Council Walking Arts Tour, it is the first year that the tour is curated and will span beyond Patchogue.

The Walking Arts Tour kickoff party is scheduled for Aug. 28 at 6 p.m. at The Center for the Visual Arts in Blue Point. Festivities will include an outdoor screening of video works, refreshments, and of course, art. This party will also serve as a mixer and membership drive for Patchogue Arts Council members new and old.

"It is a night where Patchogue Arts Council members and artists will get together and have fun," said the first curator ever for the Walking Arts Tour, Maria-Sophia Macedonio, regarding the first-ever kickoff party for the event.

Macedonia, who is an art teacher at Connetquot Central School District, founded The Blue Point Center for the Visual Arts in 1998. Her role are curator was to hand-pick all the artwork that will appear on the tour.

It was not mandatory for artists to be members of Patchogue Arts Council to apply, and artists from as far away as Thailand attempted to join the tour (that artist ended up pulling out because of shipping costs). "We put out a call to artists both locally and nationally," said the event's co-chair, Beth Giacummo. She is also Patchogue Arts Council's First Vice President, a founding member of Patchogue Arts Council and a teacher at the Blue Point Center.

This is not your average art show, however, since, starting Aug. 28, the tour will be active for two months. Another thing that makes this event unique is that art will be displayed in locations such as business storefronts and other places throughout Patchogue, Blue Point, Bayport and Sayville. Locations and artists are not all secured as of yet. Last year there was 45 artists in 25 spaces.

The tour runs through Oct. 24, when the Third Annual Patchogue Arts Festival is set to take place at the Patchogue Arts Council.

 With the Walking Arts Tour spanning a village and three hamlets, it is clear that news of the tour has sparked the interest of many artists and local businesses. "We call it the beast, because it keeps growing beyond our belief!" said Giacummo, "We are so excited to bring art to multiple communities and hope we can inspire other towns."

The tour is funded in part by the Suffolk County Cultural Arts Advisory Board under the auspices of Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy. Walking Arts Tour is also funded by The Patchogue Arts Council, Pulse Long Island Magazine, Blackbirds Grille, The Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts, Blum's, Arthur and Concetta Fuccillo &Family, Paradiddle Records, The Village of Patchogue and of course the Center for Visual Arts! The organization just received word of even more funding, totaling to more than $10,000.

Walking Arts Co-Chair and Patchogue Arts Council founding member Jessica McAvoy is looking forward to the ever-expanding tour, and is happy other areas were eager to participate. "It's so exciting to be part of a community that embraces the arts." McAvoy said.