Prairie Arts Festival inspires young artist

WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI)- The Prairie Arts Festival was in full swing Saturday in West Point.

The festival is an opportunity for vendors and craftsmen from all over to buy and sell goods.

As it turns out, it’s also a place where young, budding artists go to find inspiration.

Iralita Gibbs has been coordinator the 5k race at the Prairie Arts Festival for 7 years now.

She said hundreds of people come for the race alone, and preparation for an event of this magnitude takes months of planning.

“About March or so every year, and it really ramps up towards July, then it really crunches in August,” said Gibbs.

The festival has just about everything you could imagine.

“The Prairie Arts Festival has music, it has events, it has vendors, a lot of food vendors, you know, you got your funnel cakes and your chicken on a stick and all those good things,” said Gibbs.

Along with vendors come artists and artisans from all over the world, but some are from right here at home.

“We have prints, some small originals, we have a fest tapestries, we have ceramics,” said vendor Joe MacGown.

MacGown said he’s participated in the event off and on for the past 35 years.

He hopes his booth will be a beacon for other like-minded artists.

“I want people to see something different and think about it and know they can come out and sell art of their own if they’re an artist,” said MacGown.

15-year-old Skylar Pearson of West Point is one such artist.

“I think it’s really cool, and I’d like to post my art one day… I’m an artist myself, and I really, really like abstract art. I thought it was really cool, and I’ve already bought some pieces from them before. It was, like, flowers and stuff, but I really think that it’s a really good idea,” said Pearson.

MacGown said events like the Prairie Arts Festival are vital to the community.

“You know, for a local artists these events are everything. It builds up their reputation and then they can sell more and more art down the road,” said MacGown.

For more information on the Prairie Arts Festival, click here.