By DEVIN HEILMAN

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — A photograph of a girl in red surrounded by birds and gray clouds caught Sariah Vieira’s attention.

“Good use of color there,” Vieira said Friday afternoon, admiring the framed photo. "That's gorgeous."

She wandered the Juried Art Show at Art on the Green on a mission: To find the perfect piece of artwork to take back to KTEC (the Kootenai Technical Education Campus), which is the recipient of the 2017 Juried Art Show Brooten Award.

"It's awesome. We have like no art," said Vieira, who works as KTEC's career and college counselor. "It should be a visually stimulating environment for students. We want them to come in and feel inspired."

The Brooten Award is named for one of Art on the Green's founders, Opal Brooten.

"We make a selection of a school we want to honor in the area, and this year we chose KTEC,” said Juried Show co-chair Diane Solomon. "The Citizens’ Council for the Arts pays for that piece of art and it’s placed in their permanent collection… It’s a new school, so we thought a piece of art on their wall might be a nice addition."

Vieira ultimately decided on two small, framed, 3-D paper pieces by Art on the Green booth artist Kim Nickens.

"This one, you definitely get a construction influence, like nails or something like that," she said, gesturing to the piece titled "Spike," which has gray, conical pieces grouped together. "You get that metal component, it'll speak to auto and diesel students.

"As far as this one up here, it was a little more reminiscent of something students in our engineering program would enjoy," she said, pointing to the piece titled "Wheels," a grouping of colored papers tightly wound in circles. "They get to be creative. If they can imagine it, they can program it."

North Idaho College was also honored with the President's Purchase Award. NIC President Rick MacLennan chose an art piece for the college Friday evening. 

The 49th annual Art on the Green features a smorgasbord for the senses, from the original artwork of the Juried Show, which awarded a total of $3,500 to winning artists, to the unique works in the artist booths, the appetizing aroma of festival foods and the live music playing throughout.

"It really is a joyous time," said Annie Solomon, treasurer of the CCA. "If you look around, starting at 11 this morning, we were busy. There were a lot of people already here."

More than 160 artists, a variety of entertainers and more than 500 volunteers can be found on the NIC campus as more than 50,000 people are expected to visit.

All of downtown is bustling this weekend as the Idaho Panhandle Kiwanis Club's Taste of Coeur d'Alene takes over City Park and the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association's Street Fair fills Sherman Avenue.

Elephant ears, seasoned potato chips on a stick, gyros and other goodies are among the many options offered by 24 food vendors in the park. More than 100 artisan and craft booths line the pathways, bursting with handmade items and unique finds.

Naomi Frayley, 12, of Coeur d'Alene, feasted on a chocolate-dipped frozen banana, with sprinkles, as she walked through City Park with her mom.

"It's really good," she said with a grin. "I love the chocolate-covered bananas."

She said this weekend is something her family enjoys each summer.

"I look forward to all the different stands and all the cool things to look at," she said. "There's something new each year."