By Emma Rausch
emma@thepaperofwabash.com
WABASH, Ind. – China returned to Wabash on Saturday, April 22, for the 11th annual Wabash FAME (Foundation of Art and Music in Education) Festival.
Thirty years ago, the FAME Festival was founded in Fort Wayne on the idea of giving students “a chance to perform their music, to display their artwork in a noncompetitive atmosphere away from school,” according to Judy Ward, local festival planning committee head.
In 2006, Ward assisted with bringing the festival to Wabash County.
This year, the local festival focused on China. The event first spotlighted the Chinese culture in 2015 and introduced local youth to its customs, writing and arts. At Saturday’s event, youth continued their exploration of the country’s heritage and had the opportunity to try more of its traditional artworks firsthand.
Throughout the past school year, Wabash County schools’ art teachers also worked with students to produce artwork for the festival to display while also teaching the children about Chinese culture through various projects, according to Ward.
Wabash resident Amber Bretzman told The Paper of Wabash County that art is an important value that she and her husband, Kevin, encourage in their three daughters.
“(The FAME Festival) is kind of big for us because we have three daughters and they are kind of crafty, artistic and they love to create things,” she said. “So encouraging it outside of the home and having other people’s voices inside their heads telling them great directions and how to do things, it just encourages and fosters creativity.”
The day provided an opportunity of fun and learning with the whole family while also promoting art and music within local youth, according to Bretzman.
“I like that we were able to have some hands on experiences with artwork and be able to see all the things that my kids have made and put on display,” she said. “It’s been kind of a nice day to celebrate art and all the things that come with it.”
Bretzman’s daughter Kiana, 8, participated in several of the festival’s crafts and shared interesting facts she’s learned about the culture with her family. Kiana told The Paper her favorite part of the festival was partaking in the Chinese brush paintings session.
“We made bamboo trees and I really enjoyed using my own technique by sort of being able to use a big brush and being able to just stamp down my own way,” Kiana said, “because in our art classes I would not be able to do that with all these skinny brushes. I just couldn’t use my own technique like I wanted to.
“I liked to learn so much how (bamboo) is actually a grass and Chinese people can actually make their own ink, and I actually really enjoyed using real ink (during the session) because I just felt like I was doing the real Chinese tradition painting.”
Looking to next year, Ward said the festival will spotlight Oceana countries, including New Zealand, Australia, Samoa and other islands.
At each year’s festival, no matter if the youth learned an interesting fact or simply created an item for display, every attendee has the opportunity to take home artistic and educational values, and the community should rally around continually encouraging those values in our youth, according to Ward.
“I want (the community) to support what the kids do, the fine work that our art and music teachers do in our schools, how important art is for everybody,” Ward told The Paper following the festival’s last main event, the Composition Project. “The arts are so important, special part of us to let our emotions come into play and just to become a real person. So they’re definitely important and I will keep promoting (this festival) as long as I can.”