On a Saturday afternoon in February, the parking lot of 610 Elm St. was full of cars.
Inside the corridors of the historic McKinney Cotton Mill, visitors stopped at artists’ stalls to view paintings, jewelry, fiber arts, ceramic arts and more.
It was all a part of the winter ArtFest hosted by MillHouse and the Cotton Mill on Feb. 25 and 26.MillHouse McKinney and the MillHouse Foundation operate from the McKinney Cotton Mill to support creative small business women in the local marketplace.
The organization’s ArtFest event happens twice per year in the winter and summer.Aimee Woolverton,Creative Services Director with MillHouse McKinney, said the event was first created by two local artists who wanted to provide an event for artists during the off season.
“There’s plenty of shows to do in March and April and May and June and that type of stuff, but in February, when it’s cold, there’s no shows, and in August, when it’s so hot, there’s no shows. So they wanted to create something to help artists make money in the off-season,” Woolverton said.
The idea from those two artists, Dana Brock and Gail Delger, resulted in the first ArtFest event in August 2019, just months after MillHouse’s inception.
Today, the event plays host to over 60 artists, including mixed media equine artist Olivia Hiller, who had her paintings on display during the weekend event.
“I do a lot of outdoor festivals, and especially this time of year, it’s really cold, people don’t want to come out, and so it’s nice to have an indoor festival where you can still be warm and cozy and come and look at art,” Hiller said.
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Audrey Henvey is the reporter for the Frisco Enterprise, McKinney Courier-Gazette and Celina Record. Email her with story suggestions at ahenvey@starlocalmedia.com.
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