Mentor’s Wildwood Cultural Center hosted artists, musicians, wineries, food trucks and more on June 25 for the Wildwood Fine Arts and Wine Festival.
Timothy Martin, a copper artist from Southwest Ohio, has been coming to the Mentor’s Wildwood Fine Arts and Wine Festival “on and off again” for 20 years, with copper fountains being among his creations. He said that he keeps coming back because of positive experiences with the organizers, the Wildwood site and the amount of people willing to buy.
When Martin started, there were 13 artists. This year, according to Linda Wintersteller, the Recreation Coordinator at Wildwood, there were more than 91 vendors.
Among the new attendees was Painesville artist Shaun Troup, who came with a table of wooden decorations that highlighted drinks and local sports teams. He attended the festival this year for the first time to meet new customers.
“We’ve never done a show like this before,” Troup said. “Usually, we just do regular local craft shows.”
Nearby, Wickliffe artists Mike and Deanna Throckmorton’s Crafts by Mr. and Mrs. table showed off various wooden flags, sculptures and other artworks. They came for the opportunity to interact with customers face-to-face.
“We sell at a couple of stores, where we take it and put it up and leave,” said Mike Throckmorton. “Here, we can talk to people.”
Artists spanned the gamut of what Wintersteller described as “art, fine craft and specialty foods.” Jewelers, painters, a quilt guild and more tried to catch attendees’ eyes. Food trucks and wine tastings appealed to the senses of smell and taste. The sound of live music resonated in the main vendor area.
The event ran from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. The cultural center’s parking lot was packed by noon, and Wintersteller noted that satellite parking and shuttle services had been set up nearby. Vendors came from Ohio and the neighboring states of Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Jerry and Tracy Radovanic were riding by on motorcycles when they noticed all of the tents set up for the event.
“When we just got off, we thought we’d have a nice little walk, just look at a few things, maybe a couple of Christmas gifts already,” Tracy Radovanic said.
Wintersteller said that this juried art show, supported by the Mentor Community Arts Commission, is more than four decades old.
“Wildwood Cultural Center is the hub of Cultural Arts and the Recreation Department for Mentor,” she said.
Marilyn Repasky has been a member of the commission since it started 40 years ago.
“We tried to do events at Wildwood when it first was purchased because nobody knew where it was, so we wanted to do events to get people to come up here,” she said.
Jean Reilly, a member and secretary for the commission, said that in addition to the festival, the commission supports other initiatives to promote the arts in Mentor. From now until July 22, the commission is accepting submissions for decorated wooden fairy houses, which will be placed behind the manor house from August until the end of October.
