Artapalooza 2024

Come create with us on April 20th from 10:00-4:00.

Susan Hogan, a special education teacher at Parry McCluer Middle School, introduced Artapalooza to the Buena Vista area well over a decade ago, as a children’s art festival focused on creating artistic opportunities for those with “special needs”. Hogan, transplanted from the west, brought this “all-access” art program with her to bless our community.

Years later, when Hogan moved to the Carolina’s, she passed the annual event to the Buena Vista Arts Council (BVAC). The activity-based event was held for several years in BVAC’s downtown rented space on Magnolia Avenue for all children, young and old.

Following the pandemic in 2021, since Ed Walker had bought and sold the BVAC’s rented space, the event organizers pushed it to the street. The downtown event, still focusing on free art activities for people of “all ages and abilities”, invites artists, performers, art organizations, and art businesses to come together in celebration of creative effort.

This year, Buena Vista certainly has special art to celebrate. Since the city purchased a center plot of green space on the corner of Magnolia Avenue and 21 st street, the “Town Square” project has been moving forward. Over the first weekend of April, local timber framers and VMI will create and install a timber frame pavilion in the green space.

The BVAC is planning an artistic dedication of the structure, led by local artist, Whitney John. The communal art activity will use repurposed recycled materials as its medium. Lexington, Buena Vista, and Rockbridge Tourism, along with CornerStone Bank and Asunder Coffee Roasters are sponsoring this event that invites everyone to celebrate the creativity that enriches our communities and enlivens our existence!