More than 1,000 artists will soon set up shop across 21 blocks of Magnolia Avenue in Fort Worth’s Near Southside.

ArtsGoggle, a family- and pet-friendly festival celebrating local art, is Oct. 21.

The one-day festival started 20 years ago, and typically sees more than 60,000 visitors strolling through the stalls and taking in the live music.

The stage is where a bass player who goes by the name Jackdaw Russell got his start at ArtsGoggle, but he also is a staple of the local visual art scene through his work as Jackdaw Folk Art.

“They do a great job of setting up a killer festival that is still really affordable to artists,” he said. “A lot of the bigger festivals might be 700 or 1,000 bucks to get in, and most people around here don’t have that kind of money to cough up.”

As this year’s featured artist, Russell designed a panther clinching a pencil between its teeth and donning a hat, scarf and — of course, goggles — to promote the event.

Fort Worth has a great museum and gallery scene, Russell said, but this like the culmination of all of the year’s pop-up events in one day.

The artists on site span a wide variety of genres from paintings, drawings, and woodwork to leatherwork, ceramics and fiber arts. Patrons might find crocheted fruits, animals and vegetables at one booth, while discovering upcycled robot figures at another.

Karla King, of King’s Whimsy, sells little robots that are made out of upcycled and repurposed materials.

“It is probably my favorite (event) to do … this is the best one for sales,” King said. “What I like about it is that you see such a variety of people. The fact that it’s free and draws a wide-variety crowd. We see a lot of repeat people year after year … they say, ‘Oh, I’m glad you’re still on the same corner because we were looking for you.’” 

Likewise, Red Milk Crone also known as Lady Di, enjoys the crowd ArtsGoggle draws.

“Customers, on this day, go to this event with the intention to purchase art. They know what the event is and they know what they are looking for. No gimmicks,” she said. “For myself, this is a great way to sell things that are experimental. It’s also a place where people (who) like my work can grab sketches and chit chat with me instead of in a gallery.”

Each year the multimedia artist has participated, she has appreciated the local focus and the event’s ability to help sustain independent artists throughout Fort Worth.

“This event alone helps all of us ‘starving artists’ that want to do art full time and can’t,” she said.

Marcheta Fornoff covers the arts for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.