CdA’s Art on the Green features work from all over

Art on the Green has been a cultural institution in Coeur d’Alene for four decades – and for good reason.

Here’s what you (and an estimated 45,000 others) can do at this year’s annual arts festival, Friday through Sunday at North Idaho College:

• Roam through the 150 artist’s booths (more than ever this year) and pick up new pieces for your wall.

• Choose your favorite at the Juried Art Show, underneath the big tent, while the real judges are busy doling out more than $5,000 to the winners.

• Wander through the Clothesline booth, which might have been more aptly named the Shoestring. You can buy art on a shoestring, from $5 to $50.

• Listen to one of dozens of musical acts on two stages, the North Stage and the South Stage. Folk and jazz are particularly well-represented, but you can also hear classical, Celtic, klezmer and country.

• Buy lunch, dinner or dessert at one of the many food booths. Proceeds go directly back to the festival.

• Take the kids to the Children’s Art Area, where they can do their own creating.

• Admire the festival’s traditional Sandcastle, which is several degrees of difficulty beyond what most people can mold with a plastic bucket.

This year’s event will feature artists from all over the country. Fewer than a third come from Idaho; the rest are from as far away as Georgia, Oregon and New York.

Most major genres will be represented: paintings, drawings, pottery, wood, fabric, leather, glass and jewelry, among others.

The two music stages will be rollicking almost constantly, all three days. A special highlight this year will be The Chosen, a song and dance troupe made up of six Ugandan orphans who are touring the U.S. under the sponsorship of an international AIDS orphan organization.

They’ll kick the day off at 11 a.m. on Friday at the North Stage, and then head over to the Sandcastle (near the festival entrance) for an encore at 1 p.m. Friday.

Also of note will be two Northwest acts with national followings: Pianist Scott Cossu, a former Windham Hill stalwart who will perform with his own ensemble; and Tingstad and Rumbel, the oboe-cello duo who perform what they call “Northwest impressionism.”

The rest of the lineup ranges from opera to cowboy music (see accompanying schedule for the complete list).

Parking is generally available at various lots on the NIC campus, or you can take a free shuttle bus that leaves regularly from downtown Coeur d’Alene.