RiverArtsFest turned 20 this October, out on the street by the river, with more than 160 juried artists set up along Riverside Drive in downtown Memphis. We spent the Sunday walking it from the gate to the water, and the full walk is now on our YouTube channel.
How we filmed it
We carried a 360 camera, an iPhone and a drone. The 360 camera took in each booth all at once, so you can see the whole tent and not just the table in front. When its battery died, the phone kept rolling. When the phone died, the drone took us home over the riverbank at sunset.
We asked the artists to tell their own stories, and many of them did, in their own words, with captions on screen.
Who we met
These are the artists as they appear in the film:
- Carolyn Lewis Designs, mixed media from St. Louis
- Brian Viamontes Fine Art Studio
- Naomi Hart, encaustic painting from St. Cloud, Minnesota
- Gabriel Berg, string art, with his story told by his mother
- Last Chance Jug Band, playing live on the street
- Royal Miree, Royal Arts Studio
- Emily Lavalier, High-Density Collage from Minneapolis
- Kenneth Kudulis, Along the Lines Art
- Jarvis Howard, painting live
- KO Lewis Fine Art
- Whiskey Oaks Handmade, Artifacts by Nomad, Rebecca Lowery Ceramics, Mitch Berg and Jen Florentine, filmed on the phone after the 360 camera gave out
Why it matters
An art fair is a lot of booths in a row until somebody explains why they make what they make. That is the part we wanted on camera. If you missed the weekend, the film is the closest thing to walking it, and if you were there, you will probably spot the booth where you lingered too long.
Where to go next
- The full walk on YouTube: RiverArtsFest 2026, the Full Walk
- The festival: riverartsmemphis.org
- What's on in Memphis this week: the 901 Culture calendar
En español
RiverArtsFest cumplió 20 años en Riverside Drive con más de 160 artistas. Lo recorrimos carpa por carpa con una cámara 360, un iPhone y un dron, y dejamos que los artistas contaran sus propias historias. El video completo está en nuestro canal de YouTube.
Sources
- RiverArtsFest 2026, filmed by BabaluShow on Riverside Drive, Oct 2026 (artist names and places as shown on screen)
- RiverArts Memphis, festival information on riverartsmemphis.org