Barefoot and Warren to Judge Arts Festival at Rose Lawn

Media release: Shana Barefoot and Sherry Warren have been selected to judge the 35^th Annual Arts Festival at Rose Lawn. The Juried Artists Awards will be presented at 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 18. The festival honors First, Second and Third Place winners in both Fine Arts and Heritage Crafts, with a final award presented to Best in Show. A total $1,000 will be awarded.

Shana Barefoot, artist and administrator, serves as the Collections and Exhibitions Coordinator for the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia in Atlanta. Barefoot has just completed her thesis for her Masters in Art Administration from Savannah College of Art & Design and was just recently part of a group exhibition titled "Beneath the Surface." In addition to her most recent degree, Barefoot holds a Bachelors of Arts in Geography/Art History minor and graduated from Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts with a visual arts concentration. She is most proud of her accomplishments with Unveiled Art Outreach, which she organized in Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta in 2008. The artist's paintings have been chosen for many public and private collections.

Sherry Warren is employed by the Bartow County School System as an Art Teacher at Adairsville Elementary. Warren received her Bachelor of Visual Arts from Georgia State University with a minor in Art History in 1985. Upon realizing that her heart yearned to teach, she returned to college five years later at Kennesaw University to earn a teaching certificate. She taught upper elementary grades for 15 years before becoming GACE certified to teach art in grades K-12. In addition, Warren holds a Masters Degree in middle grades mathematics. In 2006, she was honored with a large grant to attend an Earthwatch expedition. As part of the team based in New Mexico, Warren was responsible for recovering artifacts and pottery samples from ancient Puebloan tribes. She has applied her vast knowledge from this expedition in her art classes for the past four years and enjoys attending teacher institutes at the High Museum of Art, as well as classes integrating the arts through the Booth Western Art Museum.

More than 85 artists have been selected for the 35^th Annual Arts Festival at Rose Lawn to be held in Cartersville on September 18-19. The festival is open Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday Noon-5 p.m. on the spacious lawn of historic Rose Lawn, the home of evangelist Sam Jones, located at 224 West Cherokee Avenue. Admission is free.

In addition to fine arts and crafts, visitors may enjoy Victorian House Museum Tours ($4 per person), a variety of southern foods and treats, the Master Gardener's Plant Sale and annual AAUW Book Sale.

As is tradition, the festival is an opportunity for local performing arts groups to showcase their talent on the Cartersville Medical Center stage. Performing this year will be rock band 3B&C, Tammy Cox & David Traeger from Atlanta, Kerry's School of Dance, Steps of Faith Dance Studio, Cartersville Twisters Gymnastics, vocalist Ahmad Hall, Cartersville City Ballet, the Dixie Hot Shots Band, Stephanie Culver & Praise Team, Spirit of the Dance Company, and the East Calhoun Church of God.

Don't miss the prestigious People's Choice Awards for Best Restaurant, Best Shoppe, and Best Attraction, presented at 1 p.m. on Saturday by the Cartersville-Bartow County Convention & Visitors Bureau, following the Rose Lawn Juried Artists Awards.

The Arts Festival at Rose Lawn is sponsored by Bartow County Government and Cartersville Medical Center. For more information call 770-387-1357.