If you go
› What: Outsider Art Trail Tour› Where: Seven art and folk art venues in Summerville, Rome and Calhoun, Georgia› When: 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Trade Day flea market; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. galleries, Saturday, Aug. 17› Admission: $15 adults, $5 chidren› For more information: https://paradisegardenfoundation.org/
Escape the hustle and bustle of the city for a day of Southern charm and local color in North Georgia when Paradise Garden Foundation presents its second Outsider Art Trail Tour on Saturday, Aug. 17.
The Outsider Art Trail Tour is a self-guided, dog-friendly tour of little-known folk-art locations around the Summerville, Georgia, area - with some side trips to Rome or Calhoun, Georgia. It includes one flea market, five galleries and two restaurant suggestions for lunch.
Start your day early in a picker's paradise by strolling through Trade Day, an outdoor flea market in Summerville, Georgia, just a half-mile from Paradise Gardens. Since Trade Day opens at 7 a.m., visitors have plenty of time to search for treasures before the remainder of the tour begins at 10 a.m.
Enjoy walks through two folk art environments: Howard Finster's Paradise Garden in Summerville and The Rock Garden in Calhoun. The latter is somewhat like a fairy garden filled with more than 50 miniature castles, churches and other buildings. The structures are all built from tiny stones, pieces of shell, bits of broken glass, tile, wire and other materials to mimic their larger counterparts.
Visit two folk/outsider art galleries in Summerville: Folk America Gallery and Finster Framing & Art Gallery.
Somewhere in between, pause for lunch at either Jefferson's for juicy burgers and salads or The Willow Tree Grill for its chicken salad.
Paradise Gardens contains flower beds decorated in folk art created by the late Howard Finster. / Cameron Federal PhotoFind your way to Rome to the Harbin Clinic Gallery at Makervillage to see works by 85-year old memory painter Charles Wimpee.
This tour is free with paid Paradise Garden admission ($15 adults, $5 children). Donations are appreciated at the Rock Garden. Pick-up an Outsider Art Trail passport at any location; as you tour you will earn stamps to qualify for free prizes including a drawing for an Airbnb overnight stay at Paradise Garden.
For more information: 706-808-0800.
2019 OUTSIDER ART TRAIL
» Howard Finster's Paradise Garden
201 N. Lewis St., Summerville, Ga.
» Trade Day, A Picker's Paradise
12071 Highway 27, Summerville, Ga.
» Folk America
12135 Highway 27, Summerville, Ga.
» Finster Picture Framing
29 Georgia Ave., Summerville, Ga.
» Jefferson's Bar and Grille
10096 Commerce St., Summerville, Ga.
» The Willow Tree Grill
592 Highway 48, Summerville, Ga.
» Harbin Gallery at Makervillage
252 W. Fifth Ave, Rome, Ga.
» The Rock Garden
1411 Rome Road, Calhoun, Ga.