Aaron Reed began painting to boost his GPA. 20 years later, he's Artigras' featured artist

PALM BEACH GARDENS – Aaron Reed discovered his knack for painting in a high school art class he enrolled in to boost his GPA and nothing more.

The class ended up kicking off his career as an artist. The talent he uncovered as a 19-year-old took him all around the country to sell his artwork at festivals for the next two decades.

Reed of Conyers, Georgia, is this year’s featured artist for the ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival.

His painting will serve as the official poster for this year’s 39th commemoration of the festival, an annual celebration of community and artistic expression in northern Palm Beach County.

Reed named the piece after this year’s theme, “Artistic Journey.” It features a paint palette with a curved path alongside it with palm trees tucked away in the distance.

“It’s a winding road because life happens,” said 40-year-old Reed. “We think we have everything figured out and next thing you know, a curveball hits. But we always seem to get back on track.”

Reed experienced an unexpected moment like this in his first job out of college — a marketing job in Atlanta, where he worked for six months before leaving to pursue art full-time.

He was encouraged to leave by his boss. The chief executive officer was impressed by Reed’s paintings that hung on the wall of his office. He advised Reed to quit and pursue an art career.

“He bought three of my pieces, wrote me a check and told me if it didn’t work out, I could get my job back,” Reed said. “I left and never went back. I’m still here doing this. It’s amazing … God blessed me with this gift.”

Hundreds of poster prints will be available for purchase at the festival, which is scheduled for Feb. 17 and Feb. 18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, at Gardens North County District Park.

The abstract piece is a shift away from ArtiGras' typical posters, many of which have had a nautical and beachy theme. Festival leaders decided a few years ago to include a wider variety among the chosen poster pieces, according to a spokesperson.

Reed has shown his work at ArtiGras for the past 13 years and will host a booth at the festival with his work.

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The biggest inspirations behind his abstract art are music, love and motion.

“Abstract art is my new love,” Reed said. “It allows me to paint with feeling, as opposed to visuals. It also allows the viewers to connect emotion to the piece … they have to find a deeper feeling behind that emotion in order to figure out why they love it.”

Reed is the first Black man to design the poster for ArtiGras.

“As an African American artist, it is very important to give back,” Reed said. “The community (should) know that it is possible to do anything that you want to do when it's your time. Someone younger like I was at 19 can come out of school and say, ‘Aaron did the poster for ArtiGras; I can do that!’”

From a trunk show to a full-blown festival

ArtiGras began with a few artists selling their work out of trunks at the North Palm Beach County Club in 1985.

The festival has exploded since then. Around 275 artists will sell their work at its booths this year. Nine of them were chosen as “emerging artists” and given a free booth from which to sell their work at the event.

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The festival was held behind The Gardens Mall before moving to Abacoa in Jupiter where it remained for 20 years. It then moved back to Gardens in 2021 due to construction on Central Boulevard.

The festival has been held at Gardens North County District Park on 117th Court North, near Timber Trace Elementary and Watson B. Duncan Middle schools, since then.

ArtiGras is produced by the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce and is presented by Tampa General Hospital this year.

Tickets are sold online in advance for $15 for one day and $25 for two days. At the gate, tickets cost $20 and children 12 and under have free admission.

Maya Washburn covers northern Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network. Reach her at mwashburn@pbpost.com. Support local journalism:Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: ArtiGras 2024 festival poster revealed from veteran artist Aaron Reed