ArtsGoggle began twenty years ago as an indoor gallery night limited to the Near Southside. Its main goal was to showcase the ongoing revitalization efforts within the district, facilitated by the partnership between newly established businesses and local artists through one-day open houses. Initially, the event primarily occurred indoors for the first decade before extending to the streets.
The festival is open to the public, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was temporarily put on hold. Fortunately, the long-awaited festival was back this year and better than ever.
On Saturday, October 21, 2023, the ArtsGoggle festival comprised over 60,000+ of Fort Worth’s finest. Local artists like Beth Hubbert and Paul Wolff were in attendance, as well as musicians like Modley and Jake Paleschic. Paschal Student Annie Tripple and Alumni Caya Crum also had booths set up.
Annie Tripple is a Paschal senior and 2023 ArtsGoggle vendor of small business Crystalized Finds. Her booth sold original crystal creations such as necklaces, bracelets, and keychain trinkets. “I run a small business selling handmade jewelry and ceramics and was lucky to get a booth at ArtsGoogle. The experience was amazing, getting to sell my products and network with so many other incredible artists!”
Caya Crum is a 23′ Paschal alumni, a TCU freshman majoring in Studio Art, and a treasured name in the Fort Worth art community. She features her Texas-inspired Pop Art pieces at art fairs across the city and sells her work online at crumart.com. ArtsGoogle was an opportunity to showcase her current projects.
“This past fall, I have been creating artwork to sell at several shows across Texas, including The Arbors at Roundtop, Christmas in Cowtown, and ArtsGoggle. For us [CrumArt], the show was so much fun! I enjoyed getting to see all of the people who came out to enjoy the art and live music! We will definitely be back next ArtsGoggle season!”
Paul Wolff is a long-time veteran of ArtGoggle and has been participating since 2014. Wolff’s inspiration stems from artists, authors, and movies considered “demonic” and even “uncanny.”
“The dark art,” as he describes, acknowledges artists from the past like Jim Morrison, Edgar Allen Poe, and even Steven King. As a child, Wolff was quite fond of the creepiness of the media and used those things objectively as his muses for his art.
Mediums that Wolff typically uses for his work are acrylic paint, pen, and ink on bristol board and print scan in drawing photography and print them. His advice to the other artists trying to sell their art and have it shown to the public is to “get involved with the local art community and participate in art shows.”
Contacts – 817-721-6562
Facebook- paulwolffartist
Beth Hubbert is a first-year ArtsGoggle participant and a retired elementary art teacher. Hubbert has always had her sense of color and style and projects that onto her captured landscape photographs.
What speaks to her “is the color and texture and the adding my twist to it, adding my own emotion to it.” Teaching children has motivated her to stay in the playfulness of art as these young children are more intuitive with the things they create and don’t feel the urge to perfect their craft.
