Isaac's Keep | Reformed Canton Church in Downtown Canton, GA

Art is the process of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It involves a range of human creations and expressions.  Art influences our lives whether we acknowledge it or not. Art can portray things of beauty. For the Christian, art can be a praise in itself.  I’m not really an artist, not a very good one, but I’m fascinated by art.  The sensibility, the wonder, the intent of the artist, these things challenge me.  That’s why I’m so excited that Canton is hosting an Arts Festival.

This weekend Canton gets it right! A juried show for fine arts and crafts called the Canton Festival of the Arts in Historic Canton’s coolest site, literally and stylistically, Brown Park (223 E. Marietta St.).    The festival is two days, Saturday May 16th and Sunday May 17th, from 10am to 5pm.  What’s going to be there?  Artists market, literary celebration, serenity gardens, Camp Imagine, live entertainment, family activities, beer and wine garden.  Cost is just right, FREE! Parking is scarce in Canton but there should be plenty of room to park at the Justice Center parking deck.

Historic downtown Canton is quickly becoming a refuge for artists as new galleries and artists are relocating to Canton’s tranquil little downtown.  Which makes the Festival of the Arts a perfect event to welcome them to our community and to invite friends and neighbors for a day of enjoying the more cultured side of Canton.  I’m personally excited that Canton is investing in the Arts and I hope to see a festival succeed that doesn’t include dropping a million Easter eggs and giving away free Wii’s and PS3’s or cost a family $50 to attend.  So come on out and support the arts and hopefully we can learn more about each other as we look at the creativity and wonder of art. Francis Bacon once stated, “Man by the Fall fell at the same time from his state of innocence and from his dominion over nature. Both of these losses, however, can even in this life be in some part repaired; the former by religion and faith, the latter by the arts and sciences.”  As Christians we should have interest in the arts, in fact we should use them in our worship for the glory of God.  As Francis Schaeffer once said, “our imaginations should fly beyond the stars.”

I’ll be volunteering and serving concessions at the Festival on Saturday at 1:30pm, come by, I’d love to meet you and serve you a Coke!