Dates Of Event: June 1-3, 2018 (event usually takes place the first weekend in June)

Cost: Free

Parking: Street parking, which is limited during festivals, costs .75 an hour (4 hour limit) and there are several parking lots and garages.  You can find more information about parking in Salem here.

Handicapped Accessible: Yes

Dog Friendly: Yes

Location: Artist’s Row, Salem, MA

Fun Fact: Salem (in Hebrew) means “peace”

Related Post: Artists Row

The 10th Annual Salem Arts festivals was the place to bee last weekend.

As part of their Bee To Brick awareness campaign, the festival posted colorful bees along Artist Row and Front St.  The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness of these pollinators as they are crucial to our ecosystem, and, in some areas, in danger of being depleted.  So, the next time you see a black and yellow insect don’t swat it, just shoo it away!

The “bees” were made out of plastic bottles and other recyclable materials.

But, the bees were only one highlight of this event. The three day (I attended 2 of the days), was full of performers, arts and crafts and various family friendly events.  The weather was picture perfect with sunny skies for all to enjoy (and I had the burn to prove it).  In fact, there was so much to see and do, I am going to have to post about this festival in parts (probably 3 or 4 parts).  In part I I will focus on some of the events on Artist’s Row.

I arrived early Saturday before all of the events started.  In a matter of hours this path (Artist’s Row – a haven for the artistic and lovers of artistic expression) would be packed with performers, vendors and revelers.

Along Artist’s Row, there were lots of events for kids, adults and even dogs to enjoy.  Kids could get wings (part of “bee to brick” theme), give a high five to, by far, the tallest attendee of the festival, Jasper, “King Of The Rag Dolls.”  There were also tables were kids could make hats, draw in a Salem Coloring Book and even make a Happy Father’s day card.

There were also vendors set up along the row and on Front St.  One of the vendors I met was the talented and friendly Joey, owner of Salem Pet Photography.

This won’t be the last time you see a photo of Joey in my series of blog posts for this festival.

There is so much to see and do in Salem.  But, fear not, if you get lost on Artist’s Row there is a sign post to direct you in the correct direction.

The main attraction on Artist’s Row was the annual Mural Slam.

An artist or team of artists were given a photo to recreate as a mural.  Just seeing the progression of the murals is amazing.  It is incredible to see just how the recreations are just as good, if not better, than the original photographs.  The deadline for the murals was 8 p.m.on Sunday and I could not stay that long.  I took photos of the murals in their latest stages just before I left.  I will have to go back at some point to view all of the finished murals.  You can find more updated photos from the Mural Slam here.

Casey Stanberry, an architect from Cambridge (MA), was tasked with one of the hardest tasks; painting each street, intersection, building and other object from an overhead view of Salem.  The painstaking project took him two full days to complete.

“Caw-Caw” was painted by Madison Economides.

“Day Dream” was painted by Amanda Beard Garcia and Mariah Leah

Bruce Orr, who has worked as an art therapist, art teacher, painter and illustrator, painted this work.

Mike Grimaldi worked on this mural

Boston based artist Sophy Tuttle painted this beetiful mural.

This mural was painted by the Salem Academy Slammers (students from the Salem Academy Charter School in Salem, MA)

Kate Holloway painted this mural

Dan Belisle, a self taught artist from the North Shore of MA, painted this mural.

This “community abstract painting” (visitors could add their own efforts to this work before the actual artist finished it up) called “Geometry” was painted by James Eric Rogers (with help from the community of course)

Liz Sullivan, who considers herself an “artist turned graffiti writer”, painted this mural.

I also came across a four legged lover of the arts: Rosie, a 17 month old Terrier Hound mix.

Stay tuned for my Part II from the Salem Arts Festival which will include many of the performance artists on Front St. (and probably a few more dogs)!