Artists brought paintings, crafts, photographs, sculpture and jewelry to downtown Belleville for the annual Art on the Square, which continues Sunday with live entertainment, food and drinks.
Metro-east residents Stephen and Holly Thompson said they like the opportunity to see artists from across the country without traveling far. They first came to the region to work at Scott Air Force Base and have been attending the community event ever since.
On Saturday, the Thompsons brought relatives who were visiting from as far as California to Art on the Square. They were in town for graduations. “It’s a free distraction for family,” Holly Thompson said.
Artists have traveled just as far, coming from 33 states including California, Nevada, New York and Massachusetts. Local artists from the St. Louis region, including Millstadt, also have booths at this year’s event. And local high school students’ work is on display in the lobby of the Mathis, Marifian & Richter building.
Among the national artists’ works are photographs of live tree frogs, glass sculptures of miniature rock climbers and handwoven crafts, with one artist choosing sweetgrass and another aluminum as their medium.
Artist Janvier Ngamije, who came from Lewisville, Texas, makes handwoven baskets from sweetgrass, a skill he said he learned from his mother and grandmother. It takes 10-40 hours to weave the baskets, depending on their size. He keeps a basket-in-progress in his booth to show interested patrons.
“I can’t imagine,” one woman who stopped by his booth told him.
He said he passes the time by listening to podcasts.
It is Ngamije’s first year at Art on the Square.
Sunday is the final day of the event. Here’s what to know about the schedule, including information about a shuttle service and the entertainment you’ll find when you get there.
Hours Sunday are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Art on the Square is free and open to the public.
No pets are allowed.
A crowd of people attended Saturday’s Art on the Square show in downtown Belleville.
Sunday Entertainment at the Wine Court
Live entertainment is on the Wine Court stage on the corner of East Main Street and 23 Public Square.
Children’s Art Garden
The Children’s Art Garden is located on the northwest corner of North Illinois and West Main streets. Hours are noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Artist Demonstrations
Members of the Gateway East Artists Guild will provide free demonstrations featuring a variety of artistic skills in various media.
The booth for the demonstrations is near the corner of West Main and North First streets.
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sally Farrington, watercolor
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lendy Middendorf, glass flameworking
1-3 p.m. Lendy Middendorf, glass flameworking
1-3 p.m. RoseMary Steuer, pencil drawing
3-5 p.m. Jay Burgmann, gouache/watercolor
3-5 p.m. Betty Burgmann, acrylic
3-5 p.m. Lendy Middendorf, glass flameworking
Artist Ron Stinson, from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, explains his Metal Art Expressions work to Jon and Michelle Burgmann, of O’Fallon, during the Art on the Square show Saturday.
Art on the Square High School Exhibition
The Art on the Square High School Exhibition is open for viewing in the lobby of the Mathis, Marifian & Richter building at 23 Public Square in Belleville.
Viewing times are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
The awards ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday in front of the courthouse.
Shuttle service
A shuttle bus is scheduled to arrive at the Belleville Scheel Street MetroLink station 10 minutes before the Art on the Square start time. Round trips will be made every 15 minutes. The final trip in the evening will leave from Main Street 20 minutes after the day’s scheduled end. The shuttle ends at East Main and North Jackson streets.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
