A giant purple hand, student sketches, miniature creations and a snake made out of painted rocks were just a few of the artworks on display at this year’s Spring Art Fling.
The third annual Best of Blawnox artistic celebration took place June 15.
About 200 people visited the borough that afternoon.
There were multiple booths and tents lined up along several blocks of Freeport Road in the town’s business district.
Blue Rose Custom Frame Parlor and the Black Canary coffee shop exhibited art from Fox Chapel Area High School students.
Vendors and artisans were stationed at the parking lot of Hoboken Presbyterian Church on North Avenue.
Basket raffles were added to the event this year to help raise money for future Best of Blawnox activities. They were inside the church.
Diane Casile, president of Best of Blawnox, said the new layout created more space for folks to maneuver and enjoy the activities.
“There were more vendors, so we thought we’d give them their own safe space,” Casile said. “Everyone’s been positive that’s come to our table. We’re hoping that it’s received well. We’ve had a nice crowd, too, come through here. We like to attract people from all over. This is a small town compared to Aspinwall and Sharpsburg.
“A big goal of ours is to bring people into Blawnox and let them see what’s here. This is kind of like a flyover (town). You’re using Freeport Road to get from here to there. This hopefully gets them to stop and appreciate things that are here. It’s absolutely a win. My other big goal is to make sure children can come and participate and be exposed to different things. It makes us happy.”
Sharpsburg Community Library offered a watercolor postcard craft and created Rockey, the Blawnox boa constrictor made out of painted rocks.
Meaghan Dodge of Blawnox watched as her sons, Bruce, 5, and Braden, 3, took turns adding their painted rocks to the artistic snake.
“This is so fun,” Dodge said. “It’s just nice that we were able to get outside and meet some more of our neighbors and have some fun with the different art activities that are going on.”
Bruce said his favorite part of the day was painting the rocks and seeing people from the library.
Squonk Opera brought its giant purple hands for people to maneuver and play with.
American Bloom, the duo of guitarist and Blawnox Councilwoman Christine Carnevali and Pittsburgh singer Melissa Knauer, reunited at the event after a 10-year hiatus.
They also had performed with the group Fuzzy Comets.
Carnevali has been involved with music for at least 30 years. She said it was great reconnecting with Knauer and performing for her community.
“I think, more than anything else, it’s fun,” she said. “I like my community and like the chance I had to play again. We’ve played a ton of places. We’ve gotten to play Lilith (Fair) and tour and make CDs. This is a bit of a departure from that. Hopefully, we can springboard from it.”
The band Pittsburgh Old Time Jammers also performed at the event. They can be found playing Sunday evenings at the Starlite Lounge in Blawnox.
The art fling was sponsored by Dollar Bank. More information about Best of Blawnox events is available at bestofblawnox.com.
Michael DiVittorio is a TribLive reporter covering general news in Western Pennsylvania, with a penchant for festivals and food. He can be reached at mdivittorio@triblive.com.
