Altadena Arts, a new nonprofit arts organization dedicated to celebrating artists, especially those of color, women artists, and artists with disabilities, will be holding the first-ever Altadena Arts Festival on Saturday at Charles White Park in Altadena.
Eugene Hutchins, executive director of Altadena Arts, said that the festival will be a special thanks to the visual artists from Pasadena and Altadena, and will feature poetry reading sessions and an eclectic array of professional bands performing from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
“Numerous community nonprofits, including Side Street Projects, Foothill Family, Altadena Town Council Safe Streets, and Altadena Libraries will be on hand to let people know about the amazing work they are doing in the community,” Hutchins said.
The new festival is a reiteration of the Charles White Memorial Art Festival that has been held at White Park annually from 1980 through the early 1990s. The festival not only honored the life and works of the world-renowned African-American artist, but also celebrated local artists and brought the community together.
Charles White lived in Altadena and has been heralded as one of the great American artists of the 20th century. He was a socially conscious artist who conveyed the emotions and struggles of his race and generation through his figurative drawings and paintings.
“At its core, his art was about human dignity, the spirit of hopeful human determination, and the collective strength to carry on in the effort to make the world a better place,” Edmund W. Gordon, White’s friend and author of the book “Charles White, Foremost an Artist,” wrote.
White died in Altadena in 1979.
“What distinguishes this festival is that all the amazing visual artists who are showing their work are local to Altadena and Pasadena,” Hutchins said of the upcoming Altadena Arts Festival.
The program for the festival shows there are five diverse bands playing: Kimera, a Latin Flamenco band; Flogging Seagulls, a band that performs ’80s New Wave with an Irish-Celtic twist; Upstream, Southern California’s premiere reggae, soca, Caribbean band; Just Us, with their vocal jazz stylings; and a local favorite, Rhythms of the Village.
Drinks and food trucks will be available on site.
“Storytelling, West African traditional songs, dance and drumming come together in a wonderful fusion to spread the joy, culture, light, and love to our community,” Hutchins added.
For more details about the Altadena Arts Festival, visit www.altadenaarts.org/edarts-
Charles White Park is at 77 Mountain View St. in Altadena.
