By Michael Prochaska
Staff Writer

    Madison Artists Guild member Tim Reilly officially announced plans for a city fine arts festival Monday before the Madison City Council.
    “There’s a difference between a fine arts festival and a street fair or a typical art festival,” Reilly said. “This is not going to be a funnel cake festival. It’s going to be a pretty nice affair.”
    Reilly and his wife Janice are the brainchildren of “The Cotton South,” which is scheduled to take place September 28 -29, 2013, but they have the help of dozens of volunteers, supporters and event planner Sara Lawler, who owns Vivid Events in Athens.
    “It will be a big and fun boost to the local economy,” Lawler said.
    “Cotton South is very much a part of what Madison is and what it was. We see it as a tribute to everything that was built here.”
    Reilly said an annual arts festival would fit right in with the personality of Madison.
    “Madison enjoys a quality of life that is the envy of communities not just close by but regionally,” he said     “It follows that classic recipe of one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”
    For art enthusiasts seeking specifics, Reilly said Morgan County residents would have to remain patient until Aug. 3 when the festival’s planning team will host a reception.
     “There we will begin to flesh out some of the tedious details that are going to make this an outstanding festival,” he said.
    “I think you will be impressed by the scope and potentiality involved in something like this.”
    More information on the anticipated festival can be found on its Web site, www.cottonsoutharts.com, but, as of now, details are a safe kept secret.
    Reilly said he will reveal more about potential vendors, sponsors and other information as time goes on so to create a media buzz.

Printed in the July 12, 2012 edition