Before the first artist is announced or the first ticket is sold, River Clay Fine Arts Festival is kicking off its 11th season where organizers say its mission begins: in North Alabama classrooms.
Festival organizers delivered $15,700 in grants to teachers across four area school systems during the first week of the new school year, funding everything from paint and clay to a 3D printer and replacement ceramic kiln.
Seventeen awards went to teachers serving pre-K through 12th grade at Decatur City Schools, Morgan County Schools, Decatur Heritage Christian Academy and Hartselle City Schools.
“We could have opened this year with a poster, but we’d rather open it with a check to a teacher,” River Clay Board President Holly Whitt said. “Everything River Clay does in October exists so that a classroom in this community can start the year with something it did not have before.”
The grants will support traditional art supplies including paint, clay and printmaking materials. It will also include digital drawing tablets, a 3D printer and a new ceramic kiln.
Some of the projects will make their way beyond the classroom. Teachers proposed a permanent clay and wood installation for a school entrance and student-created crane sculptures made from recycled newspaper and plastics and inspired by Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge and the Tennessee River.
Since its founding, River Clay has invested more than $65,000 in arts education across North Alabama through classroom grants, student programming and community arts initiatives.
River Clay returns in October
The grants serve as the opening act for the River Clay Fine Arts Festival, which returns to downtown Decatur Oct. 23-25.
More than 75 juried artists from across the country are expected on the grounds of Decatur City Hall for a weekend featuring original art, live music, chalk art, food and family activities.
The Rendezvous preview party will open the weekend Friday evening, giving patrons the first opportunity to see and purchase artists’ work before the festival opens to the public.
Plastic Recyclers Southeast Inc., or PRSEI, will return as presenting sponsor for 2026. This marks the second year of a three-year commitment and the first presenting sponsorship in River Clay’s history.
The partnership also extends into student art. PRSEI sponsors a competition for high school and college students creating works with recycled plastics, tying the festival’s arts programming to science and engineering.
“For thirty-five years, our business has come down to finding value in what other people were ready to throw away,” PRSEI President Grant McKelvey said.
“This year, our student competition hands kids recycled plastic and asks what they can make of it. When those kids turn it into something they are proud to hang on a wall, it’s demonstrating our philosophy through their creativity.”
Performing plastics artist Jamey Grimes will demonstrate his work Friday and Saturday, while spray paint artist Chandler Hayes will demonstrate Sunday.
For McKelvey, the investment comes back to the same place River Clay chose to begin its season: the next generation.
“The next generation of artists does not arrive on its own,” he said. “Somebody has to fund it, and we would rather that happen here at home, on a weekend when this whole community turns out for what it built together.”
River Clay’s full 2026 artist roster will be announced in September. Festival, patron package and sponsorship information is available through River Clay Fine Arts Festival.
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