2016 POSTER
2016 Festival Poster Commemorates 5 Years
The Bogalusa Blues and Heritage Festival is proud to present the poster for its fifth anniversary celebration on Sept. 23-24. For this milestone event, Summer Stewart has captured the essence and spirit of the festival that has put her home town on the map for Blues Music lovers from around the world. The artwork exudes and radiates the blues, soul, and the untamed wild earthiness that is Louisiana.
Stewart, an art teacher for nearly two decades as well as an artist herself, said the work was inspired by the BBHF venue, Cassidy Park, and by the Bogue Lusa Creek that normally gently flows through the shady green expanse. In March, the creek flooded and raged through the park, wreaking such widespread devastation that people questioned whether or not it could be rehabilitated in time for the last weekend in September. Organizers rolled up their sleeves and called in assistance...and the team succeeded.
Stewart said she immediately thought of the flood when she was asked to do the BBHF V poster.
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“I knew I wanted the subject to be a blues artist playing the guitar on the pier of the small cabin in the park, surrounded by the flooding waters of the creek,” she said. “I felt this would evoke emotions of blues and the sadness of the devastation of our park. When I actually began the painting I had a background sky full of rain, but reworked the sky to gradually clear with a crescent shaped glowing moon, representing that all storms pass.
“The moon glows upon the pine trees that nestle the park. As an artist I tried to portray the correlation of the water and music, both demonstrating movement and rhythm throughout the painting. The storm of raindrops transform to music notes, and piano keys become part of the rapids of the water overflowing the format to the edge of the painting. In the middle ground
the narrowing, muddy waters of the creek ripple around the Cassidy Park sign and the totem pole.
“I included the totem pole to represent the historical items of the Native American Museum that were lost during the flood. I used overall blue tones to represent the blues music, but also to set sad blue emotions of the flood. As the rain
clears, the waters reside and the music continues to be played.”
The poster will be available for purchase for $21 (tax included) at the Sept. 23-24 festival and will be available after the festival here at BogalusaBlues.com. Tickets, sponsorships, camping spaces, and additional information are now available here.