Art Melt offers more at the core – Annual juried art competition and exhibition happens this week

Forum 35’s festival-like juried exhibit, Art Melt, is returning for its ninth year, taking over the Shaw Center and surrounding blocks. Happening July 14, the event is billed as the largest juried multi-media art exhibit in the state. Residents flock to see stellar local artwork, shop an arts and crafts marketplace on Third Street and listen to great music on a hot summer night at North Boulevard’s Town Square.

Emily Adams, co-chair of the event, says to expect a bigger variety of musical performances this year. Art Melt teamed up with Tipitina’s Music Co-Op to book acts such as headlining local band Twin Killers. The marketplace on Third Street is scheduled to pack in more booths, and local food trucks will be dishing out cuisine for the sweaty masses.

“We’re really trying to create the sort of city festival feeling that’s always been at the core of Art Melt,” Adams says.

Adams says the jurors have been floored by the diversity of works submitted in recent years, specifically installation and mixed-media pieces. Last year’s first-place winner (pictured) was Maggie McConnell’s striking mixed-media work “Little Fixes.”

Also on the schedule are a panel of artists discussing the creative scene in Louisiana and free art classes for children during the day of the event. Once the winners are announced and Art Melt is over, the public will be able to see all accepted works hanging in the Shaw Center for four weeks. artmelt.org