Artists Gather For Annual Festival Of The Arts In Oklahoma City

Artists from near and far are here in Oklahoma City for the annual Festival of the Arts. 

Susie White with the festival said they're ready to take on any weather Oklahoma throws at them.

“In Oklahoma City, there is sunshine, there's heat, there's rain. We've had some years where there's been snow,” White said.

It’s something Oklahoma native Dean Wilhite knows too well. He said he had been coming to the Festival of the Arts for decades.

“I had artists that I would come see every year that were always in the same place and I looked forward to seeing those people and I wanted to be that guy,” Wilhite said.

That dream came true for Wilhite four years ago. Wilhite said he knew he was destined to be an artist in kindergarten.

“I watched a kid paint or do a drawing on the table across from me and that kind of started me off,” Wilhite said.

Since then, he's painted many acrylic paint pieces.

“Almost everything I do it's about the way light hits it,” Wilhite said.

Wilhite is one of more than 100 vendors at the Festival of the Arts event. A percentage of the money raised goes towards art programs in the city. 

For more than 50 years, this event has drawn people from all over the world.

“We have Oklahoma City performers, we have food vendors, but we also have folks from the region, across the United States, as well as some international artists,” White said.

He said he comes back every year to show off his art and meet others that share the same passion for art like he does.

“It's a thing I have to do. I can't not be creating things,” Wilhite said.

Festival of the Arts will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday until Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.