Jul. 27—HAZLETON — Art and commerce had a mutual home base on Saturday afternoon, as City View Park served as the host site of the third annual ArtFest event. There, the community was invited to learn more about local artists and the opportunities available to them.
ArtFest was organized by ArtLife Studio, which Gigi Perez and Ambar Veras operate.
Peter Huff, who spent the afternoon working behind the Fruit of Life Juice Company stand, knew of the organizers before the event, which is how the business got involved with ArtFest in the first place. He described Fruit of Life’s offerings as especially natural.
“It’s pretty simple,” Huff said of the Fruit of Life’s processes. “We have our recipes, and everything is made fresh. No additives, no added sugars, no syrups — nothing like that.”
Fruit of Life specializes in cold-pressed juices and smoothies.
Though the juice company has a storefront in Terrace Plaza on Poplar Street, access to its offerings may be expanding soon.
“We’re working on getting a trailer or a food truck or something like that,” said Huff.
The life of the ArtFest party was certainly the dancing Zumba troupe led by Angela Bello, who was happy to share some exciting new developments for her dance classes.
“We’re promoting the clothes — the Zumba wear — for our students and the community, and we have plenty of events,” Bello said. In addition to local events and classes, Bello has gone far and wide to expose more and more people to Zumba. In the recent past, she’s gone to Florida, New York, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic, and is planning a trip to Mexico.
Zumba is a Latin-inspired fitness program — with locations in 186 countries — that combines common cardio practices with dance.
Before her next trip occurs, Bello will be bringing Zumba to various locations around Hazleton.
“We have the classes in the park, in the gym, and we have them in the wellness center — AmeriHealth Caritas [at 20 W. Broad St.],” Bello said.
Jude Fahley came from Pittston to promote his own artistic venture. A former architecture student, Fahley wanted a way to expand his talent and give back to the community. With animal shelters on his mind, Fahley developed a nonprofit, Posters 4Paws, that asks the community to exchange $30 worth of dog or cat supplies for a custom poster that accompanies the event where their donation was made.
“What I’m trying to do here is use art to supplement some of that,” Fahley said of the financial struggles many animal shelters face.
Fahley officially went public with Posters 4Paws on July 8, but ArtFest represented the first time he attended a community event with his charitable concept in tow.
“I saw this event was a local event,” Fahley explained, “And I wanted the first launch event to be in a local place.”