(COOKEVILLE, Tenn., March 19, 2008) -- Painters and crafts artists in the 14-county Upper Cumberland region in Tennessee are invited to apply for admission to the first-ever Fresh Air Arts Festival, set for the first day of summer in historic Granville, located in Jackson County.

The festival, a juried event, is the first public show in the Upper Cumberland expressly intended to bring together "plein air" painters -- artists who paint from life in the outdoors, or "open air" -- and their peers in other painting styles, as well as in the fine crafts. Demonstrations of all media are welcome.

While the festival focuses on plein air painting, artists of all painting styles and craft media are welcome and encouraged to apply for exhibition and sales space, from potters to woodturners, glass blowers to metalsmiths, fibers artists to folk artists. The Fresh Air Arts Festival seeks to show the public what artists do, how they do it, and encourage sales of art work.

Artist applications are due by May 15. The festival can accommodate approximately 60 booth and easel spaces; after jurying, spaces are first-come, first-served. The entry fee is $25 for members of the Upper Cumberland Arts Alliance, which is sponsoring the event, and $50 for non-members of UCAA.

The Fresh Air Arts Festival is set for 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday, June 21, in Veteran's Park, on the shores of Cordell Hull Lake in Granville.

More information and application forms are available online at the UCAA web site: www.uppercumberlandartsalliance.com. To request a paper copy of the application materials, call the UCAA at 931-265-0388.

The Upper Cumberland Arts Alliance is a grassroots arts advocacy group that seeks to forge a stronger connection among the many artists and arts groups in the Upper Cumberland. The festival is coordinated by the UCAA with assistance from the Cumberland Art Society, perhaps the oldest arts organization in this part of Tennessee and primarily a society for painters. To increase visibility for the arts in the region, the festival will be held in a different Upper Cumberland county every year.

(931-265-0388, uppercumberlandartalliance@yahoo.com)