Members of the Mount Si Artist Guild are eager to get you into art.

That’s why the Arts in Festival Hall expo, which returns for a fifth year at the Festival at Mount Si this year, continues the emphasis on master classes by Valley artists and artisans.

Artists at work include Jeff Waters, who will share techniques of watercolor painting, and Snoqualmie artist Patricia Tamburini hosts a class on acrylic painting.

Portrait pro Mary Miller offers tips on photography, Richard Buchmiller will showcase basic cross-stitching and Hilde Gettinger will urge passersby to try a hand on her loom. Showing off his pottery technique, Jeff Griswold will be on his wheel.

For the younger set, a children’s corner where children can work on their own, interactive projects is also planned.

With one of the biggest festivals in the Valley, it’s a great opportunity to involve people in the local arts community, explains Alraune Chowdhury, a member of Mount Si Artist Guild.

“We want to showcase art as a big part of what we do in the Valley. It’s a part of our cultural fabric. We have a very robust community of artists,” she says.

Live shows

Arts in Festival Hall uses the Si View Community Center’s wood-framed indoor stage as a venue for live arts.

On the slate: Dancers from Cascade Dance Academy, IGNITE Dance and Yoga, a local Zumba group, student dancers from Big Star Studios in Snoqualmie, a group of Irish-style dancers, and the Veils of the Nile, the Valley-based belly dancing troupe.

Audiences are encouraged to come into the hall during the festival and see these performers, of all ages, showcasing their talents.

Environment and community plays a role in how a painter, a dancer, potter or weaver creates.

“It’s important for us to be there, be present, and the hall to be alive, being the center of arts in the middle of the festival,” says Chowdhury.

Learn more about Mount Si Artist Guild at www.mtsiartistguild.org/msag.

Learn more about the Festival at Mount Si at http://www.festivalatmtsi.org/.