Many ISU students are happy to return home for summer break, but they may not realize they are missing out on one of Bloomington-Normal’s most exciting events.

The 27th annual Sugar Creek Arts Festival took place on Saturday and Sunday in Uptown Normal, with over 150 artists showing their work.

“This is my first time here,” ISU junior Nick Hutchins said, “It looks really well put-together.”

Artists mostly came from the Midwest, along with a few coming from as far as Kansas and Georgia. There were also many local artists at the festival, including Dominic Henkelman, an ISU graduate whose work is currently being displayed at the Coffeehouse in Normal.

Henkelman’s oil paintings are colorful and abstract, yet he was hesitant to label them.

“I don’t know if it’s an underwater creature or maybe a skull with teeth,” he said of one of his pieces. “You know, with art, you got to experiment. Inevitably, some of those experiments fail.”

If Henkelman’s paintings were not someone’s cup of tea, there was plenty of other media to choose from as well. Photography, jewelry, glass, silk, paper and metal, just to name a few.

Normal resident Becky Lockett’s booth was definitely one-of-a-kind at the festival: she carves designs into empty eggshells. Her “Egg”lectic Eggshells, which included goose, chicken and even robin eggs, had everything from initials to silhouettes drilled into them.

“I didn’t even know I could do this until I retired,” Lockett said.

Another one of the odder displays was hand-painted sand dollars, which either had a sea creature or manger scene painted on them.

This was the first year the festival has been in the new Uptown Normal. Last year, the festival was held on the Quad, which did not seem to go over well with festival regulars. Alyse Smith, an ISU junior who has been to the festival for years, was glad to have it back on Beaufort.

“It was so cramped last year on the Quad and it got rained out one of the days,” Smith said.

She purchased an earcuff, a bracelet and a baby blanket for a friend who is expecting. She also received an interesting metal bracelet from one of the vendors.

“I was asking him how much it costs and he said that he thought it was too thin anyway and he just gave it to me for free,” Smith said.

As always, the Heartland Jazz Orchestra played live music on WGLT’s bandstand. There were carnival-style food booths set up selling lemon shake-ups, funnel cakes and hot dogs.

There was also plenty of entertainment provided for children at the festival. Upper Limits had a rock-climbing wall and the Children’s Discovery Museum’s booth offered face-painting as well as arts and crafts.

The cooler weather on Sunday drew in a big crowd as restaurants and bars along the street were packed full with festival-goers and soccer fans that wanted to catch the World Cup final.  

Nathan Ferree of Elk Creek, Missouri, had a large sculpture of a cheeseburger on display. Looking closer, there were small, wheeled robots emerging from beneath the bun and climbing down the side of the burger. An onlooker interpreted the sculpture as a commentary on the U.S. food industry.

Needless to say, there really was something for everyone at this year’s Sugar Creek Arts Festival.