From cityscapes to sound baths, the Charlottesville Arts Festival is all about variety

The Charlottesville Art Festival celebrates diversity and inclusiveness. We're trying to make it an immersive experience, organizer Ewa Harr told the Daily Progress. This eclectic, family-friendly festival, which returns to Ix Art Park for its fourth edition, gives people the chance to be a part of art.

Cityscapes of Cville, an abstract solo exhibition by Hungarian visual artist and graphic designer Zsu Szabo, can be seen in Ix Art Parks' immersive art space, Looking Glass. Szabo created a series of oil paintings, mixed media pieces and collages and other elements that capture the personality of the city as she experienced it.

Harr recommends exploring the wide range of offerings offered by the festival's 50 artists, vendors and community groups. Farm Fresh Fusion Foods, Sabor Latino, Tealicious Cafe and Time for Sweets will be on hand for hungry festival fans.

Performance art is an important part of the festival, and visitors can expect to see the Bad Hat Fire Troop along with Rusty Iris, Doll Entertainment and the Richmond Faery Federation.

Saturday's music lineup will include Swansong from 3 to 5 p.m. and Tie Dye Mafia from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The Sunday schedule features Ian Blackwood from 10 a.m. to noon, Robert Josp from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and Sweet Potatoes from 3 p.m. at 18 hours

Workshops will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis in the workshop tent located in the outdoor art room.

Alignedwire will host a workshop on creating crystal jewelry, where participants will learn about high-vibration crystals and try wire wrapping techniques to transform them into wearable works of art. A time of meditation will follow.

On Sunday at 1 p.m., visitors can learn about Kemetic Yoga, an ancient Egyptian yoga tradition, from Solomon Marley. The class, which will take place inside the Looking Glass space, will explore a practice officially known as Smai Tawi, or movement in the company of gods and goddesses.

Annabeth McNamara will lead the third workshop, Anmara: An Electronic Soundbath Submersion, at 7 p.m. Saturday at Looking Glass. McNamara told the Daily Progress that bringing the richness and versatility of layered electronic music to the relaxing sound bath experience creates a refreshing break from everyday stresses.

The participants will not be the only ones to enjoy the serenity. According to data from his fitness app, while I play, my body goes into this relaxed state, McNamara said.

McNamara said she rekindled her love for the piano, her childhood instrument, after battling repetitive motion injuries from years of playing the banjo, guitar and ukulele. From the piano, it was a natural leap to the next-generation keyboards and looping technology that helped him create a tapestry of sound, and it wasn't long before he noticed that audiences found his new direction peaceful and inspiring. to meditation.

I started making more of this ethereal music, she said. I was performing at yoga festivals and noticed people were in lotus positions.

The focus is on the participants and their individual experiences; people are invited to sit, stand, stretch or slip into yoga sequences while immersed in the music. And after years of playing in the spotlight, it's nice to make music where no one is looking, McNamara said.

For me, it's all about harmony, McNamara said. I'm obsessed with this idea of ​​harmony. For me, music is what gives it magic.

McNamara said the workshop would merge the traditional sound bath experience with the versatility of electronic music, while offering weary visitors a chance to reset and relax. It’s a destination she also finds inviting.

It's like I'm reaching another world that I want to live in all the time, she said. I feel bathed in sunshine in my soul.