Information for Applicants
Joyful Arts Festival, 2006
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We invite your participation in our 4th Annual Joyful Arts Festival. The “mission” of the festival is to support Fine Arts & Crafts and Performing Arts that express the qualities of universal Truth: love, beauty, harmony, light, peace, and joy.
Swami Kriyananda writes in his book Art as a Hidden Message, that art has the power to express the highest aspects of human experience and potential. As people become weary of dwelling on the difficulties and unhappiness in this world, they naturally yearn to return to their true inner feeling, inner peace, and the search for joy. “Art everywhere will become more deeply meaningful, and will play a role in bringing humanity back to sanity once again, as artists strive to reawaken faith in people’s hearts.” The Joyful Arts Festival is dedicated to support this awakening.
This three-day weekend includes morning inspirational lectures at the Expanding Light Amphitheatre on the theme of joy and meaning in the arts and a Fine Arts and Crafts Show on the Ananda Village Green, including a Gallery featuring the work of local artists. There will also be afternoon workshops on music, dance, theater, art, and gardening. Evening programs will be held under the stars in the Amphitheatre. These include the inspiring and humorous play, The Peace Treaty, by Swami Kriyananda, and The Festival Concert featuring choral, solo, orchestral, and dance pieces.
Admission to the Joyful Arts Festival grounds is free. There is a cost for lectures, and evening programs.
Workshops are on a donation basis.
A Little History
The Ananda Community has been at its present location since 1968 and put on fairs and events open to the public since the early 70’s. These included an annual India Faire for several years. More recently we have held a County Open House to encourage our closer neighbors to visit our community, Harvest Fairs, Christmas programs, and a very popular Halloween celebration. Our Expanding Light Meditation and Yoga Retreat has been open in its present location 365 days a year, since 1981. Here we offer programs year round to share the universal non-sectarian teachings of Raja Yoga, and how it is applicable and beneficial to daily life. If our existence is new to you and you would like to know more about us, feel free to call Ananda Village at 530-478-7500 or The Expanding Light Yoga Retreat at 800-346-5350.
Advertising the Event
We will be advertising in the calendar sections of VIA, The Union, The Sacramento Bee, The Reno Gazette, and on any of their on-line calendars. There will also be PSA’s on KNCO and KMVR, and we anticipate the same for a main Sacramento and Reno radio station. Last June we spoke with our neighbors up the road – Malakoff Diggins State Park – who have their largest event of the year on the same Saturday of our Festival, about doing a joint paid advertisement in the Nevada Union. They had about 700 visitors on this day last year, and some dropped in to our event due to signage. We are also advertising the event on our Main Ananda.org web-site which averages 30,000 hits per week. And, of course, we’ll have posters in Nevada City, Grass Valley to Sacramento, and some in Truckee and Reno. There is a direct mail and email campaign that goes out to our own Ananda mailing list consisting of over 6000 people, the largest percentage of this list being on the west coast.
This year The Festival will be very well attended because Swami Kriyananda, the founder of Ananda communities world-wide, will be visiting from his permanent residence in India. He will undoubtedly speak once or twice and will participate in the various events during this weekend. Due to his age and health restrictions, this may be his last visit to the States, so his presence will be an event in itself. The Festival is very dear to his heart for he feels that events such as this can help to change the consciousness of humanity for the better.
As the Festival continues to grow we will be moving toward more paid advertising in the years to come and hope that this festival will grow to inspire more joyful and uplifted consciousness into our world. Your presence will help to create a focal point of intention: that of increasing the light that the spirit of Joy be rekindled in hearts and minds.
Application Procedure for the Gallery and Arts and Crafts Show
We wish to preview all art work and crafts in order to keep the theme of Joyful Arts consistent. So first, decide whether you would like to participate in the Gallery, and/or the Arts & Crafts show. Complete the application(s) and include with it photos of the artwork you would like to exhibit and sell. You can send these to us by e-mail or snail mail. (See application for addresses) We will notify you as soon as possible as to whether your pieces will be accepted into the Festival.
If your work is accepted we will then ask you to send us a short bio and photograph of yourself. We are also asking participants to author a short statement on how your arts and/or crafts fit into the theme of the Joyful Arts Festival. We will be displaying these near your art, or on your booth as a statement of inspiration from you to your audience. Example (yours can be shorter or longer, as you wish):
“I paint the beauty that I feel within. In my work I try to express the feelings
of unconditional love, and the resultant bliss that wells up within me as I make heart
connections with friends, with nature, and with the life that flows through all of
creation. How can one express such things in a material world that seems to do
everything it can to force the heart to close in protective silence? Well . . . I try.
In doing so, I hope that all who witness this work will somehow feel the same love
that inspired these colors and these shapes, deep in their own hearts. Perhaps in
the sharing, we can find healing. In the healing, perhaps we can detect our soul.” Lisa Powers
For Art & Craft Show vendors: You may send your payment with the application or you can send it as soon as you are accepted. Your reservation for a space will be confirmed when payment is received.
Information Specific for the Gallery Exhibitors
The Joyful Arts Festival is open to all mediums of art that have appropriate subjects relating to the Festival’s theme. The Gallery will be the showcase in the center of the Village Green and in the middle of the Art & Craft Show in beautiful ‘downtown’ Ananda. The Gallery is a large Cathedral tent with clear windows and full sides.
You will be delivering your art to us carefully packed. Having your items packed in bubble-pack, and or padded paper, and a cardboard box would be ideal for everyone involved. When we sell a piece of your art we will use the original packaging to prepare it for the buyer to take home. Keeping this in mind, please mark the package with your name and the title(s) of the piece(s). If you ship several items in one box we will use whatever we can of your packing material to safely prepare your piece for the buyer. We cannot, however, provide any extra packing material. It is common for a buyer to merely carry the piece away, but some Festival enthusiasts do fly in to attend and having the ability to pack their purchases safely is important.
All Gallery exhibitors are responsible for delivering their items to us by Wednesday, June 7th at noon, and collecting any unsold art from us no later than June 16th (Friday).
There is a sales table in the gallery manned by Festival volunteers. They will use your bio information and your personal statement (mentioned above) about your art, to answer questions to prospective buyers. They will also be making sales. We are able to take payments by cash, check, Visa and MasterCard. The Joyful Arts Festival will retain 20% of all Gallery sales. This is payable to you within 30 days for cash and check sales, and within 45 days for sales made by credit card.
Please see the Gallery Application for our requirements about how your artwork needs to be ready to hang or display.
There will be a security presence (one or two young men spending the night in the Gallery and Show area.) This presence begins on Thursday at 6pm and continues until 8am the next morning. This schedule continues through the weekend, ending on Sunday morning at 8am.
For questions about the Gallery, call Mantradevi at 530-478-7500, or email: joyfularts@ananda.org.
Issues Related Specifically for the Arts and Crafts Vendors
You may come and claim a booth, or set up your own as early as Thursday, June 8th, at 3:00pm. Usually people come to set up on Friday morning, June 9th. You have the option, if you are uncomfortable with the level of security that we are providing, to unpack your booth at the end of the day, store it in your vehicle, and then set it up the next morning. If you have only a few boxes we can probably accommodate them in our locked office.
When you arrive, either on Thursday afternoon/evening, or on Friday morning, please come to the Ananda Reception office. We will be on site until at least 6pm on Thursday, and we will arrive at 7am on Friday. We’ll help you find your space and direct you to anything you may need.
As the show is outdoors, you may stay with your booth as long as you like, or begin as early as you like. It is not possible to drive a vehicle to your booth site because the show area will be set up, and if it’s damp the lawn could get damaged. So be prepared to carry your merchandise to your booth. It’s not a great distance from the parking area.
It is very sunny on the village green, and the sun will shine onto your merchandise later in the afternoon, even with the shade canopy. Our Festival weekends been very warm the past two years, so if you need to protect your things from the sun, and you are renting a booth from us with only one wall, make sure you are able to provide the shade you need by bringing a tarp or heavy cloth to add to the set-up.
In the evenings the temperature drops and there is a good possibility of increased moisture so you’ll want to be prepared to protect your merchandise from dew and the rare possibility of rain.
Let us know if you require electricity. We have a limited capacity available, and you will need to be positioned in a special area to get hooked up.
If you are selling music please have a playback device with headphones for people to listen with.
For questions about the Arts & Crafts Show, call Ananda Village Reception Center, 530-478-7500, or email joyfularts@ananda.org.
General Festival Information
In the unlikely event of inclement weather we will move the entire Festival to our Ananda Community Center. We won’t cancel the Festival due to weather.
There is a small market on the perimeter that is open from 8:30am – 8:30pm on Friday, 9:00 – 6:30 on Saturday, and 12:30 – 6:00 on Sunday. This market will serve hot lunches each day, and has grocery items such as fruit, vegetables, ice cream, chips, candy, hot and cold drinks, and cold deli items.
There are restroom & shower facilities behind the market that are open 24 hours all weekend.
Lodging
For anyone needing lodging we have the following options:
The Expanding Light Yoga Retreat may have space available. The prices are determined by the type of room you choose. The pricing is per person and includes your room and 3 meals per day. Standard Rooms have toilet and bath/shower facilities down the hall. Deluxe Rooms have a toilet and shower ensuite. If you book a shared room but are coming alone, we will match you up with a roommate of the same gender. The least expensive is a shared room of either category. You may also book a standard or deluxe room privately. For prices and other information, please contact The Expanding Light reservations at
1-800-346-5350, or write to info@expandinglight.org.
There’s another option if you have an RV or a tent. We will have a designated area for RV’s and tents in close walking distance to the village green. You will have use of the restroom and shower house, and access to the market. We do not have electrical hookups or sewage dumping facilities. You may cook in your RV, but you cannot do any outdoor cooking at a tent-site. We will be entering the fire season at this time. Call Ananda Village at 530-478-7500 for camping information and cost.
If you would prefer to stay in Nevada City there are many Bed & Breakfasts, a couple of hotel choices and a couple of motel choices. You can go to the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce website for more information, or call them at 530-265-2692.
If you choose to stay in Nevada City, or in your RV or tent in the Village Downtown area, but would like to eat here, you can purchase a discount meal ticket for $30 that entitles you to any five meals served at The Expanding Light retreat.
If you will be staying with us and have children who need to come with you, they will need to stay with you and be supervised. We may be able to offer child-care, so if you’re interested in this, contact the Ananda Village Reception Center at 530-478-7500.
Ananda Community Policies
The Joyful Arts Festival takes place at Ananda Village, an intentional spiritual community. We have a 38-year tradition of living a life of yogic practices, including meditation and harmonious living. This has created an environment that is very peaceful and harmonious. In the spirit of maintaining this atmosphere for all those who visit and live here, we have a few rules and ask that you abide by them.
Because of the deer that walk freely around the community, we have a ‘no dog’ policy at Ananda Village. But if you do have a dog who travels with you we will discuss it and make decisions on an individual basis. If a dog does visit he will need to be on a leash at all times. Please don’t bring a dog who will be locked up in a car all day, they will be too hot and probably very unhappy.
The community is considered a quiet area after 9:00 at night, and before 8:00 in the morning.
- No drinking alcoholic beverages or partaking in recreational drugs on the community property. In the same spirit we ask that people not arrive inebriated.
- Dogs must be on leashes.
- If you need to smoke cigarettes, there will be a designated smoking area, and we ask that you confine your smoking to that area only.
Other than respecting these rules we ask that you dress modestly, and act respectfully toward all whom you encounter.
We hope you will enjoy the uplifting and energy-filled environment of Ananda Village. We welcome you, and thank you for adding your gift of beauty and creativity to this uplifting Festival.
In Joyful Service,
Lisa, Uma and Mantradevi
