As 25-year milestone approaches, ArtSplash manager looks to the future

In the moments before the two-day festival kicks off, the Sioux City Art Center's development coordinator takes a deep breath and hopes the event exceeds expectations.

ArtSplash, which will celebrate its 25th year Sept. 1-2 at Riverside Park, features the works of around 100 artists from across the country, as well as entertainment, food and activities for the entire family. Webber-Dreeszen said it's the festival's family friendly atmosphere that is the key to its longevity.

"I think it just appeals to so many aspects of peoples' lives," she said. "There are a lot of people who come to ArtSplash who never come to the Art Center, so if we can give them an experience with the visual arts in a park-like setting, we want to give them the highest quality experience that we possibly can."

ArtSplash, which raises funds for the Art Center's education and exhibition programs, has become so refined over the years Webber-Dreeszen said it can literally be held wherever festival organizers wish to move it. A steering committee, Art Center staff and a crew of 250-to-300 volunteers work hard to make ArtSplash a reality. Webber-Dreeszen said she's always bouncing ideas around with steering committee members and Art Center staff.

The festival had to relocate in 2011 from the Anderson Dance Pavilion, its usual home on the city's riverfront, due to Missouri River flooding. In 2013, the festival moved again to Riverside Park, where it has been held ever since.

"Do we miss the riverfront? In a lot of ways, yes. A lot of people really thought that was the heart and soul of ArtSplash," Webber-Dreeszen said. "When we have something like a flood happen, we have to adjust. There's just no way around it."

Webber-Dreeszen said she learned a lot during the two years that ArtSplash was held at Grandview Park. She said she listened to feedback from festival guests and realized the location just wasn't the right place for ArtSplash.

"Moving out to Riverside was really a good option. We've found a really comfortable home out there," she said.

Webber-Dreeszen said the festival has offered a variety of things to see and do in its 25 years, from giant sand sculptures, to large stage acts, to storytelling from local celebrities. While trends have come and gone with the times, she said the festival's focus on the artists has not.

At ArtSplash, artists, some of whom have been coming to the festival for years, sell their crafts, from paintings to photography, carvings, metalwork, pottery and more.

"I look forward to seeing the artists come back and looking at how their artwork is evolving and how their process is changing," Webber-Dreeszen said. "That's the beauty of the arts, you see how differently they're thinking about things or how they're doing things differently in their paintings or their ceramics."

Webber-Dreeszen said volunteers are ready to meet any artist need, whether that be providing a snack, ensuring a comfortable load-in to the park or helping to preserve artwork in the event of bad weather.

During her seven years managing ArtSplash, Webber-Dreeszen said she has only encountered bad weather once -- in 2014 when a line of thunderstorms moved through the area near the end of the festival. That year, she said, artists were instructed to remove their artwork and take down their tents early.

"We didn't want them in danger. We didn't want our volunteers in danger. We got the festival down as fast as possible and we looked like drowned rats at the end of it," Webber-Dreeszen, who welcomes a challenge, said with a chuckle. "Most of the time, we have everything down and we're out of there by 10 o'clock that evening that Sunday. It's a huge team of people."

In early July, Webber-Dreeszen and the steering committee walked around Riverside Park, envisioning the areas of the festival that they will be managing. She asked them to not only think about how to make ArtSplash 2018 "top notch," but the next 25 festivals to come.

"How do we make it the best it could possibly be this year so that we can go into the next 25 running?" she said. "They kind of giggle at me, but that's what I'm thinking. I want to make sure that we're constantly looking forward."