Sunday Celebration fills Farmin Park

By DAVID GUNTER

Feature correspondent

SANDPOINT – It’s a match made in heaven – the local arts community and the city’s network of parks.

The artists provide the creative juices and the parks department holds out a vessel that gathers them, just as has been happening every Sunday afternoon at Farmin Park for a new event called the Sunday Celebration.

The relaxed gathering premiered on May 1, after a few months of planning and working to implement a concept originated by Sandpoint musician Jesse Warburton, better known to regional audiences as bluesman, harp guitarist and Native American flute player Brother Music.

“Brother Music approached me and said, ‘I’ve got an idea – how can we pull this off?’” said Jason Wiley, recreation supervisor for Sandpoint Parks & Recreation. “He wanted to find a way for people to enjoy a Sunday in the park. He said he wanted it to be open to the community and that anybody could participate, which makes it easy to dovetail with Parks & Recreation and what we’re offering.”

Based on the name and the day on which the event is held, some people assumed the Sunday Celebration was a religious gathering. That not being the case, Warburton was asked to clarify just what is being celebrated on those afternoons.

“We live in North Idaho,” he said. “It’s Sunday; you’re in the park. It’s a celebration of life in North Idaho.”

Each week, he acts as host for a rotating cast of musical guests that play on the covered stage at Farmin Park. Last Sunday featured the bluegrass band Flatpick Earl. This afternoon will be filled with the pageantry of a regional Native American group called SUPS-Singers & Dancers of the Kalispel Tribe.

But music is only art of the fun, according to Warburton, who said Riley encouraged him to broaden the scope and welcome all sorts of artists to participate.

“We conceived of it as a music event,” the musician said. “But Jason said, ‘What if we had painters and sculptors and other artists there, too?’”

The idea so intrigued local creative types that a group of artists who take part in a monthly brainstorming session called The Conversation got behind Sunday celebration and helped it get its start. According to Mary Maio, who facilitates those meetings, the goal was to put the arts front and center in a very public setting, showing locals and visitors both that Sandpoint really is the arts town it professes itself to be.

In that light, the last month’s worth of Sundays has exhibited an increasingly more diverse mix of mediums, with musicians providing the soundtrack as chalk artists use the park’s sidewalk as a canvas, portrait artists such as Maio capture the faces of attendees and other visual artists do their thing in what is fast becoming a creative nexus.

“Bringing the music and the art together during an underutilized time made this easier to pull off,” said Wiley. “We’d love to bring in an even larger variety of art and artists – theatre groups, poets and writers.”

The combination, he added, might just introduce a music lover to the visual arts, or vice versa. For Warburton, any conversation of art means working with a broad brush. He’d love to see yoga demonstrations, as well as people who are adept at tying flies or tying knots to come and share their skills in the park.

“Anything that will attract a crowd,” he said. “We want people to get together and meet each other.

“Now that we’ve finished the month of May, it feels like summer has really started,” he added. “We’ll have more activities and more people will congregate.”

Such an outcome fits perfectly with Wiley’s idea of how a partnership between the parks and the arts can work. He pointed to existing programs as proof that the alliance already is working.

“Where do you find the arts?” he asked, before listing current partnerships that include everything from The Festival at Sandpoint to the Sandpoint Farmer’s Market and the art that now adorns public spaces downtown. “Our ultimate goal with the Sunday Celebration is to have a park full of people on a Sunday afternoon.

“I love seeing a full park – whether it’s a bunch of people listening to music or 180 kids running around screaming and chasing soccer balls,” he continued. “I love seeing a full park.”

About 100 people attended the first celebration, with an equal number on hand for last Sunday’s gathering, according to Warburton. He expects the combination of summer-like temperatures and performances by the Kalispel Tribe singers and dancers to take things up a notch this afternoon.

“The Sunday Celebration is gradually catching on and becoming a part of people’s weekend routine,” the musician said. “The bigger vision is that Sunday Celebration will be a name we can grow into and something that can develop a regional reputation. I can see people from all over the Northwest saying, ‘Let’s stay in Sandpoint an extra day and go to the Sunday Celebration.’

“More than anything, this is about oneness of heart,” he added. “The artists are right there beside the people who are listening to the people making music – we’re all together sharing and creating art.”

The Sunday Celebration is held each Sunday from 1-5 p.m. at Farmin Park, located at Third Ave. and Oak St. The event is free and open to the public. Those attending are advised to bring blankets and lawn chairs for enjoying the music in comfort. Anyone interested in performing on a volunteer basis or creating art in a public setting should contact Warburton at 208-265-9294.