The Arts Explosion Festival is back for round two this year with an extended event schedule and new features. The event will take place at the Performing Arts and Event Center in late May.

The deadline for artists who are interested in including their work has been extended from March 20 to April 20. Almost 100 pieces have been submitted already with a total of 96 as of March 6.

This juried art contest is free to the public for enjoyment and potential purchase of art.

“The festival will feature the diversity that is Federal Way,” and “celebrate artistic development and community engagement,” according to a press release from the Federal Way Arts Commission.

This year, the art submissions will be juried by returning jurors Barry Johnson and Gerardo Peña with the addition of Dan Hershman, a photographer who is also a former Arts Commission member.

“We are happy to include youth artists this year, and present their stylized self-portrait artwork free of charge,” the commission shared. Youth art submissions will be from area high school students and be judged by local artist Bob Franklin.

The event kicks off with a vernissage or “first viewing” for sponsors on May 30, an experience complete with charcuterie and a live saxophone performance. Adult and youth artist winners will be recognized by renowned judges on May 31 at an evening invitation-only awards ceremony.

During the public viewing hours on May 31 through June 2, guests will have the opportunity to vote on who should receive the “People’s Choice” award.

Saturday’s events that weekend will include a special children’s art station and food. Friday and Sunday will be open for judging, reflection, purchasing of artwork, and repose. All artwork, including purchased, will be collected on June 3, 2024.

Last year’s event featured musical and poetry performers including everything from the Marine Hills Folk Jam to the Federal Youth Symphony to Singing in Seattle. This year will include a similar lineup of entertainment.

One addition this year is the first piece of art that is also alive. A bonsai will be on loan from the nearby Pacific Bonsai Museum.

“It’s like taking care of a child, you have to feed it three times a day!” said Karen Brugato, vice chair of the Federal Way Arts Commission.

The bonsai display represents a benefit of the festival: tourism. While the Arts Explosion Festival takes place in Federal Way, artists are not necessarily from the city. The focus is on the Pacific Northwest overall, Brugato said.

“When [the artists] would give me a call and ask, ‘what else is in Federal Way,’ I’ll say there’s the the Pacific Bonsai Museum and the Rhododendron Garden, or the famous Wild Waves if you have kids … and we have hotels to stay at,” Brugato said. Laughing she added, “suddenly I’ve turned into a tourism person?”

The Arts Explosion Festival is the product of the City of Federal Way Arts Commission member’s Iveta Felzenberg vision and the combined effort of the commission as a whole as well as the Kiwanis Foundation.

The goal of the event is for “Federal Way to have something different,” Brugato said. “We all deserve to have something special. Everywhere around us, cities have art festivals, art walks, galleries.”

In Federal Way there is one art gallery, Gallery K, but overall, the city layout makes it impossible to follow the art walk template that nearby cities use to create public engagement with visual art and artists. Brugato said the arts festival is one avenue to show that Federal Way has the same potential to put this type of event on in a different way.

Last year the public engaged with over 700 guests enjoying the Arts Explosion Festival last year, according to Brugato. The event was half as long last year with only one and a half public days.

For more information, visit www.cityoffederalway.com/content/Arts-Commission.

Visitors peruse the displays at the Arts Explosion event last year while a harpist performs in the background. Mirror file photo

Two acrylic and marker pieces by artist Rodney King on display at last year’s Arts Explosion event. Mirror file photo

Photographer Robert Chism explains his work “Space Needle Reflection” to fellow photographer Bruce Honda at last year’s Arts Explosion event. Mirror file photo

Mischellie Oh stands next to her painting “Father and Daughter,” which was inspired by a scene she came across during a hike in the Mt. Rainier area. Mirror file photo