Palatine welcomes the 2nd annual Sounds Good Festival with a new mural
Jun. 24—FAIRMONT — What started last year as a local music showcase is transforming into an all-out art exhibition for its second year.
The Sounds Good Festival returns to Palatine Park this weekend and with the help of other local artists, is becoming bigger than any of the organizers imagined when it started. To commemorate the festival's return, Marion County officials installed a mural designed by Lyndsey Dugan at the park's Merchant Street entrance.
The mural, which cost the county just $400 in wood to build the support frame, depicts landmarks around Fairmont that are instantly recognizable. The landmarks are surrounded by the words "Sounds Good Palatine." It pulls together many aspects of the area and different pieces of culture, which is exactly what the Sounds Good Festival aims to do.
The brains behind the operation is Osage-resident Aristotle Jones, mostly known for his work with WVRC Media and his radio show, "Sounds Good To Me." He's also an Appalachian soul musician and works with West Virginia University's student-run record label, Go 1st Records.
He created the Sounds Good Festival as a way to feature new artists.
Last year's inaugural festival was a huge success for Palatine Park and its programming, and this year it's going to be somewhat of a centerpiece for the park's summer lineup.
"Growing up in Appalachia, a lot of art and music I saw was based on whoever was telling the story, I didn't see a lot of my story reflected as a young Black man who grew up around string bluegrass bands," Jones said. "I started my radio show... to talk to the people who are creating and to hear their stories and their values."
That was the inspiration for the Sounds Good Festival, and this year, the festival is planning to branch into all aspects of art in order to show kids and the community all the different media local artists create.
A major piece of this goal was filled by a partnership with Fairmont State University. Art students will have an opportunity to show off pieces they're working on such as stickers or print-making.
The festival will also coincide with the Governor's Honor Academy at Fairmont State, in which each of its 150 students will be bussed to Palatine to enjoy the festival this weekend.
"All of our efforts are not aligned to one event or opportunity, they're lasting and overarching," Dugan said. "We want to make sure we always have something that highlights Appalachian creatives and has an open door that brings inclusion for everybody. All backgrounds, ages and disciplines are welcome."
Inclusion has been top of mind for this event, but also for the county as it manifests its goals for Palatine Park.
As the summer concert series continues and the improvements to the park continue to take shape, Marion County Administrator Kris Cinalli said the mural and the concerts are a part of the vision that is centered around tourism appeal for the county and for Fairmont.
"These sort of improvements spruce up our city's entrance in a big way and this is really what we're trying to do," Cinalli said. "We're trying to make things bigger and better and anything we can do to get more people into Marion County that's what we're doing."
The Sounds Good Festival is scheduled to kick off Saturday, June 25 at 4 p.m. and will feature a variety of exhibits and artists. For more information, visit www.palatineparkwv.com/events.
Reach David Kirk at 304-367-2522 or by email at dkirk@timeswv.com.
