19th Annual Kaneland Community Fine Arts Festival

From 19th Annual Kaneland Community Fine Arts Festival Website:

Thank you to all who attended the 19th Annual Kaneland Community Fine Arts Festival!

PLEASE SAVE THE DATE FOR NEXT YEAR'S FESTIVAL

Sunday, April 8, 2018

The Story of the
Kaneland Community Fine Arts Festival

Once upon a time, a little girl grew up on a farm in rural Illinois. She loved the Arts but was never given the opportunity to go to an art museum or to meet a "real" artist in person. When the little girl grew up, she became an art teacher in the Kaneland School District. Realizing that Kaneland was similar to the rural setting in which she grew up, the teacher began envisioning an event where students, family, and community, far removed from the art culture scene of Chicago, could experience the Arts. She dreamed of the Kaneland Community experiencing the Arts in an interactive setting, absolutely free and the Kaneland Community Fine Arts Festival was born.

Bonnie Whildin, the little girl turned art teacher, began teaching at Kaneland full time in 1985 with her idea of a Fine Arts Festival fresh in her mind. However, it was not until May of 1998, with the collaborative help of another art teacher, that the first Festival actually became reality. The first annual Kaneland Fine Arts Festival was a two hour event at Kaneland South Elementary School (now, Kaneland John Shields Elementary School). Attendance was approximately 200 people and the presenters were made up of local artists and musicians. No more than ten presenters gave workshops to their audiences in the classrooms spreading the Festival around the elementary building. In order to make the Festival free to the public, the operating budget was minimal. Money was donated from the Parent Teacher Associations. It was a small event, but the start of something special.