On Sept. 12-13, the 11th Annual Lakeview East Festival of the Arts, hosted and produced by the Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce, will take place along Broadway from Belmont Avenue to Hawthorne Place, with a special sneak-peek celebration on Friday, Sept. 11, beginning at 6 p.m.
It will also mark the ninth time that artist and business owner Todd Mack will have his own booth at the festival. Mack is the founder of Foursided Custom Framing Gallery, which has multiple locations in the Chicagoland area, and is one of more than 150 artists whose work will be on display.
In addition to the art, the festival will feature live demonstrations, entertainment stages, family activities and a garden oasis.
Windy City Times spoke with Mack about everything related to the festival and his involvement in it.
Windy City Times: Can you talk about how you first became involved in the festival?
Todd Mack: I was already a board member at the [Lakeview East] Chamber of Commerce, and it just came about that the chamber needed an event. Every chamber of commerce needs a thing to attach itself to—a big yearly hoopla, and so [current Executive Director] Maureen [Martino] came up with this idea about having the Lakeview East Festival, and that's basically how it was born.
I just happened to be there when the idea came about.
WCT: The Lakeview East Festival of the Arts is now its 11th year. What's been the biggest change you've seen since the beginning?
TM: [It's been] the addition of stages, and the continual evolution of the music portion of the festival, which has been absolutely wonderful and successful. That's been head up by Maureen Martino. She's the one who's organized the music, and I think she's been doing it consistently since it's induction. So that's been a huge, huge boom for the festival.
WCT: What makes you come back year after year?
TM: Well, when I'm gone I miss it. [Laughs] It's an amazing way to be present locally and to see people who live close to the festival.
It's really nice to revisit the faces. You see a lot of familiar faces every single time.
WCT: How many more of these festivals do you plan on attending?
TM: That's hard to say. As many as I can. [Laughs]
WCT: Specifically, what will be featured in your booth?
TM: This year, we are one of the larger sponsors at the festival, so we half a double-wide booth. We have a 10-by-20 [foot booth]; half of it will be my artwork, and the other half will be a representation of my stores on the Lake View. So we're bringing it all! We're brining like a miniature store to the booth. Inside that will be not only local art, like prints, but also jewelry, cards, and we are trying to focus as heavily as we can on local. So not 100 percent, but more than 50 percent of the things that we'll bring here will be locals' [art].
We'll also be doing some consultations as well. We're bringing frame samples, because everyone walks away with matted but un-framed art from the festival, so we are trying to show people what they can do, inexpensively and quickly. And, I mean, our store is only a couple blocks away.
WCT: What are you personally looking forward to for this year's event?
TM: I'm looking forward to seeing how the crowd receives [our booth]. It's almost a pop-up of our store in our sponsorship booth, so I'm looking for the response from people who've never seen us before and people who've never seen my stuff before.
WCT: How many people do you expect to visit the festival over the weekend?
TM: Anywhere from 45-60 thousand. It fluctuates, weather is of course crucial to that number, but they're expecting a good 55,000. That's a nice, happy number. That would be great.
While there's no attendance fee, the festival is asking for a $5 donation upon entrance, and those who donate will be entered to win round-trip tickets to any scheduled destination serviced by Southwest Airlines.
The festival hours are Saturday, Sept. 12, 10 a.m.- 6 p.m., with entertainment until 10 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 13, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. A kick-off party will be held Friday, Sept. 11 from 6-10 p.m. Visit www.lakevieweastfestivalofthearts.com/ for more information .
