For three decades, Bronwen Weber’s primary medium was fondant, frosting and cake batter.
The accomplished baker’s intricate designs have been featured in over 35 Food Network competitions, but at Fort Worth’s MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival she will be showcasing her newest medium: clay.
“(My husband and I) went last year and we were just sitting there one night and he said, ‘Maybe you should just apply.’ I said, ‘Oh my gosh, no, I would never be able to do that.’ … That day, I filled it all out, sent it in and, lo and behold, I got in.”
Having carved sea turtles, seals and an incredible number of dogs as a baker, Weber has a penchant for making animals.
“Baking and sculpting, I think, gave me speed, so I’m probably faster than your average person because … I have 72 hours to make a cake,” she said. “I’m not used to the whole you can put it down and come back to it two weeks later. It’s kind of crazy.”
If you go
What: MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival
When: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. April 18-20
10 a.m.-6 p.m. April 21
Where: The festival, which includes food vendors and live music shows, stretches along Main Street from the Fort Worth Convention Center to the Tarrant County Courthouse.
Parking: Parking is limited downtown, but you can check for available spaces here. Before heading out be sure to also check street closures. For public transit options, click here.
Admission: Free. Food and beverage vendors are cash free.
Weber is one of the more than 200 artists whose artful wares fill downtown Main Street April 18-21.
The annual festival also includes a bevy of food vendors and hundreds of live musicians who will perform across two stages over the weekend.
Artists travel from all over the country to participate in the juried show, including Robert Varela, a metalsmith from Eugene, Oregon.
Animals feature prominently in his work.
“A lot of my work has animals doing various things. Most animals are carved out of wax, then cast using the lost wax method, and everything else in my piece is all fabricated on sheet metal,” he said. “I was originally a jeweler … and over time, it was really during COVID that I really pursued (other) metal works.”
Varela’s works are all one-of-a-kind, but he still tries to cull the best of his collection when deciding what to bring to Fort Worth, including one piece that he has already logged more than 1,200 hours on.
“I was a juror for one of the other top shows in the nation. It had 1,900 applicants, so to me, it just brought out the importance of … how hard it is to get into these shows,” he said. “To be a part of this show, it’s a great honor.”
Likewise, Kina Crow of Pittsburgh is excited to return to MAIN ST.
The artist describes her work as three-dimensional illustrated stories with a clay figure set in a scenic shadowbox, usually accompanied by a witty message. She first heard about the festival from a peer around 2012 and has participated several times since then.
This year, she designed the festival’s commemorative poster and included all of her favorite things about the event.
“What I made is a little artist, and she just kind of paints her own world. … I love the brick down there … everything I could think about Fort Worth, Texas, and art shows and … I drew cartoons of everything,” she said.
Her least favorite part? Having to stay in her booth rather than walking around the festival and seeing what all of the artists brought.
“It’s really tempting,” she said. “We all love art, all the artists. We love art and (are) collectors, but I kind of have to put my blinders on sometimes.”
Marcheta Fornoff covers arts and culture for the Fort Worth Report. Reach her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board. Read more about our editorial independence policyhere.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.