Events for the 36th annual
festival of art are taking shape

By Don Ward
Editor

MADISON, Ind. (June 2006) – Plans for the 36th annual Madison Chautauqua Festival of Art are on schedule for another big year, according to festival coordinator Georgie Kelly. The two-day event, Madison's largest festival at an estimated 50,000 people, is scheduled for Sept 23-24, 2006. Booths are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT-fast time both days and includes a riverfront food court, children's activity tent, live entertainment, roving entertainters and a Saturday night classical music concert.

Don't forget to pick up the 2006 RoundAbout Madison Chautauqua Guide during Chautauqua Weekend!

All 278 exhibitor booths will be filled by June, Kelly told the Madison Area Convention and Visitors Bureau board at its April board meeting. She said a waiting list is kept in the event of cancellations, which always occurs.
Many exhibitors return each year, but Kelly said she likes to have some new exhibitors "to keep the show fresh."
She reported a 75 percent return rate among exhibitors from last year, compared to the national average of 65 percent. Last year's Chautauqua exhibitors were offered a $25 discount if they re-signed at the termination of last year's festival.
"It's good to have returning exhibitors because many people like to collect items from certain artists or to see their favorite exhibitors each year," she said.
Kelly, who is paid $24,500 to organize and run the festival, is working toward a goal of raising $9,000 in local business sponsorships.
A new expenditure this year will be renting the Brown Gym along Broadway Street from the city of Madison. The Chautauqua committee, which operates under the supervision of the Madison Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, has used the gym for free in past years for exhibitor hospitality services. This year, the committee must pay a $405 to use the gym.
Kelly said the T-shirt logo designer is Di Somers, an artist from Fort Wayne who recently moved to Madison. Local artist Kevin Carlson was selected to create the poster for the second consecutive year. He has done one on the Lanier Mansion as a companion piece to last year's Broadway Fountain painting. Only 250 limited edition posters are produced each year, selling for $40 each.
The committee also has hired local deisigner Derek Black to re-design the Chautauqua's Internet website.

This year's classical concert is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday at Christ Episcopal Church on Mulberry St. The concert is free, but donations are accepted. The committee is working with Alva Tripp of the Madison Performing Arts Foundation to involve its children's choir in this year's performances.
The Chautauqua scholarship program, which provides money from an endowment fund to high school seniors studying the arts, provides two scholarships of $650 and $500 each. The committee established its endowment fund several years ago with only $1,000. Today, the endowment is valued at more than $18,000, Kelly reported.
The committee earns about $10,000 in profit on the sale of T-shirts, posters and related products each year. The committee also raises around $9,000 each year in business sponsorships, plus the $225 each exhibitor pays to participate. The committee operates the festival on a $85,000 budget. It earned a net profit of $9,846 last year.
In April, Kelly reported to the Madison CVB board that the Chautauqua committee has more than $56,000 invested in several certificate of deposit savings.
Kelly has said in the past that the committee has suggested having "$15,000 to $20,000" of its nest egg money to some day be used toward the creation of a community cultural center that has been discussed. So far, no concrete plans for such a center have been proposed by city officials.
This past winter, the committee donated $1,000 to the city to help pay for gray water disposal necessary for vendors setting up at the riverfront. The committee also provided $325 to the city to help fund underground electrical utility upgrades and donated $2,500 to it sponsoring organization, the Madison CVB, to help pay for new computers.

Photo by Don Ward People fill Broadway during last year's Madison Chautauqua.

Each year, the Madison Chautauqua coincides with the annual Old Court Days, a flea market and arts and crafts fair organized by the nonprofit Pilot Club of Madison. That event takes place around the Jefferson County Courthouse and extends to the city parking lot on Second and Jefferson streets. Old Court Days is from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
The annual Book Sale at the Madison-Jefferson County Public Library also takes place that weekend at 420 W. Main St. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library group, the event is a fund raiser for library projects and features books, magazines, videotapes, CDs and other literature for sale, some new and some used.
A fourth event held that weekend in downtown Madison is Lanthier Winery's Harvest Celebration, held on the grounds of the winery at 123 Mill St.

• For more information about the Madison Chautauqua, call the Madison Area Convention and Tourism Bureau at (812) 265-2956 or 1-800-559-2956. Or visit: www.MadisonChautauqua.com or the tourism website at: www.VisitMadison.org. You can also visit RoundAbout Madison’s Chautauqua page online to view information and photos of past year’s events at: www.RoundAboutMadison.com. Pick up RoundAbout’s Madison each month throughout the area or RoundAbout's Madison Chautauqua Guide in mid-September at area stores, restaurants, hotels and state parks in Madison and Carrollton, Ky.