Arts Quest brings creativity to farmers market

MOSES LAKE — Arts Quest made its first appearance at the Moses Lake Farmers Market Saturday.

“There are a lot more people coming, a lot more kids especially,” said Columbia Basin Allied Arts Event and Communication Support Sarah Delacruz. “Chris (Haguewood) from the Farmers Market is really excited to be working with us.”

Arts Quest was set up under tents off to the side of the Farmers Market, with tables, chairs and an abundance of art supplies. Artists were available to help visitors learn painting, weaving, paper marbling, poetry and flower art. In addition, the casual visitor could create a notebook, decorate a kaleidoscope or make their mark on a community mural. Tables were set up for block printing, stamping, making bookmarks and other crafts.

Dollie Boyd, director of the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center and a member of the CBAA board of directors, was coiling pine needles into a basket.

“(I’m making) a big tray, like a shallow bowl,” Boyd said. “It’s very flexible; you can do all sorts of things with it. People make sculptures and masks.”

About two dozen people had stopped by to see her work, Boyd said. 

Not far away, Loryn Joseph was making crafts with one hand while corralling a toddler with the other.

“We are making bookmarks and bracelets out of tape and stickers, and then you can color your own stickers,” Joseph said. She was scheduled to lead a demonstration later in making bookmarks and bracelets out of dried flowers.

Arts Quest is the successor to Art on Third, the outdoor art festival that CBAA has held for the last two years alongside the Downtown Moses Lake Association’s Sip & Stroll wine walk. That arrangement wasn’t ideal, said CBAA Director Shawn Cardwell.

“This is an all-ages event, and we were at an alcohol event,” Cardwell said. “We wanted to make sure that families and kids felt welcome and it was somewhere they were naturally going to be.”

The Moses Lake Farmers Market was certainly a child-friendly environment. Children could get their hands messy creating and then run off and explore or climb trees at McCosh Park.

Arts Quest can double as a traveling art exhibit, having made an appearance at the Soap Lake Food and Folk Fest in June. 

“We’re talking about doing that again next year,” Cardwell said. “We’re talking with Quincy about doing it there eventually. (We’re) really open to having this be a mobile service that we can provide.”

    Attendees at Arts Quest make bead creations Saturday.
  

    Columbia Basin Allied Arts Board Member Dollie Boyd coils pine needles int a basket at Arts Quest Saturday.
  

    Seven-year-old Indi Kohl of Moses Lake takes a break from creating art to climb a tree at McCosh Park.