City of Newton recently issued the following announcement.
NEWTON, NC—The Downtown Newton Development Association (DNDA) and Hickory Museum of Art announce the postponement of the Foothills Folk Art Festival until May 14, 2022.
The decision to postpone the festival’s return to Downtown Newton was made in accordance with the event’s longstanding reputation of providing the best possible experience for exhibiting artists, volunteers, community partners, sponsors, and guests. With Catawba County’s new weekly cases of COVID-19 rising steadily since July and local hospitals announcing unprecedented patient volumes in emergency departments largely due to the spike in COVID-19 cases, DNDA and Hickory Museum of Art leadership agreed the most effective way to maintain the festival’s commitment to folk artists and their work is to protect the health and safety of all parties involved.Both presenting organizations look forward to reviving one of the nation’s finest celebrations of contemporary American folk art in the spring.
“Our team is so grateful for our collaboration with Downtown Newton Development Association, which has us very well-positioned for a successful event in the spring. We love the artists, visitors, and volunteers who come together to celebrate creativity each year and are committed to keeping everyone healthy and safe.,” said Jon Carfagno, Hickory Museum of Art Executive Director."
“Downtown Newton is fortunate to have maintained the strong partnerships fostering the Foothills Folk Art Festival’s development into such a renowned celebration of folk art, and we look forward to seeing artists, volunteers, and guests return to Downtown Newton spring of 2022. We owe Hickory Museum of Art many thanks as it remains invested in forwarding our mission of cultivating entrepreneurship and development while embracing the arts as an essential component of Downtown Newton’s progress,” said Mary Yount, Newton Main Street Director.
There is still plenty of folk art to see at Hickory Museum of Art with its upcoming “Fall into Folk” take-over of all three floors of the museum starting Oct. 2! Exhibitions include The Improvisational Quilts of Susana Allen Hunter; collectHMA: Recent Gifts from Albert Keiser, Jr. which includes Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Minnie Evans, Thornton Dial and more; collectHMA: Collection Doppelgängers featuring Linda Anderson, Reverend McKendree Long, Gerald Lee Nees and more; and Minnie Reinhardt paintings from the Satterwhite collection.
For the latest news about the Foothills Folk Art Festival, like its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/foothillsfolkartfestival or go to the festival website at www.foothillsfolkartfestival.com.
Original source can be found here.