GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas—Strums from guitars echoed across the room, filling it with cozy folk-rock music. Pastel balloons filled corners, painting the room with a fun vibrance. Artists stood upright next to their work, and vendors sat behind their goods.
Meanwhile, locals and customers all over the sunlit room conversed with each other, walking around the room and stopping at each table where displays of vibrant artwork, jewelry and art prints were on display.
Create Epic Vibe Fest hosted its second festival. The event was held inside the Epic Recreational Center on Feb. 21, dedicating the space to many up-and-coming artists and vendors. Food trucks parked right outside the entrance, and organizations such as Dallas College and Reliant promoted their establishments.
Vibe Fest paved a path for artists to showcase their work and get their name out to locals, giving small businesses the chance to blossom. Free admission and free parking made the event accessible to the public.
Elsa Tarango, a 59-year-old painter originally from West Texas, came to Grand Prairie to teach art because she loves it and confidently said anyone can learn to paint. She now sells a coloring book called “Famous Artists Coloring Book” on Amazon and art kits she sold at her exhibition. The art kits contain a canvas with line art, brushes, paints and many pre-drawn pieces to follow step by step.
Tarango comes from a Mexican family, and she said the culture influences most of her pieces. One of her most popular works is of Vicente Fernadez, a legendary Mexican singer and actor. She sold the original but continues to sell prints. Tarango intends to retire this year. She loves traveling and will soon go to Spain, continuing her new hobby—photography.
“We all belong, we all belong together,” she said, explaining what kinds of stories she wanted to tell through her art.
Kelly Gessner, 53, comes from an artistic family. Her father was a draftsman, and her grandmother was an oil painter. Her aunt is a photographer and a bookmaker. Gessner has been a teacher for 18 years, teaching grades one through eight. She said her students encourage her to be confident and she carries that with her proudly.
“If I’m going to tell my kids, ‘You can do that. you can draw this or you can create this and sculpt this.’ If I’m telling them and encouraging them, then I should be able to do it, too, and walk the walk if I can talk the talk,” Gessner said.
She said just last year she joined the Epic Artist Collective and started attending its meetings. The meetings consisted of artists from across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, collaborating and learning how to run an art business, making it possible for artists to cultivate their brand and learn the ins and outs of selling art.
“Be expressive,” Gessner said. “It doesn’t have to be perfect. Sometimes we have to park our perfectionism and just allow yourself to make a few mistakes and then embrace them and move on.”
