10232024 Wetumpka Wildlife Arts Festival 011.jpg

Cliff Williams / TPI There was fun for all at the Wetumpka Wildlife Arts Festival. Artists from across the Southeast came to the Kelly Fitzpatrick Center for the Arts to celebrate art through wildlife. There were cooking demonstrations, artists demonstrations and more along the booths in downtown Wetumpka.

Mixing art and wildlife has become synonymous with the annual Art Gone Wild show of The Kelly Fitzpatrick Center for the Arts. 

The Wetumpka Wildlife Arts Festival is a one-day event born to bring to life a vision art and wildlife can go together.

Wetumpka native Thomas Harris was involved in the planning of the Art Gone Wild exhibit and brought the inspiration to plan the larger event.

PHOTOS: Wetumpka Wildlife Arts Festival

“He was inspired by the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, South Carolina and the wildlife arts festival in Thomasville,” The Kelly executive director Jennifer Eifert said. “He wants that for Wetumpka.”

Sign up for Newsletters from The Herald

Saturday was the third annual event and the second year The Kelly has partnered with the Alabama Wildlife Federation and LIV Development to sponsor an art contest for the festival featuring a $10,000 prize. Pat Jones’ painting of doves of utility lines was selected as the winner and will be put in the federation’s collection. It joins last year’s winner Jared Knox’s painting “Bobcat with Bobwhite” in the AWF art collection.

Knox was at The Kelly painting and speaking with those in attendance.

Outside The Kelly, thousands got to see and purchase fine art and other handmade crafts as well as witnessing cooking demonstrations by Iron Fire Cooking’s Ricky Albright featuring cooking with Cheese Curd — MasterChef Jr. winner Bryson McGlynn, Trace Barnett, Christiana Rousell and local chef Wil Lanum.

Â