Giant paint brushes and a buzzing crowd greeted arriving visitors at the three-day Des Moines Art Festival held Friday through Sunday.

Passing among the mammoth art supplies, pedestrians walked into a world far removed from the every day, based on freedom of expression and governed by dedicated pursuit of making ideas into reality.

“It was pretty dynamic, pretty impressive,” says Sara Compton, program coordinator at the Iowa State Center. “You couldn’t miss it.”

Festival goers drifted around the grounds, trying to take in as much of the spectacle as possible.

The colony of small tents, which took over the event grounds, was packed with almost every imaginable application of paints, glass, metals, plastics, ceramics and wax, as well as a host of other materials and a number of food options both familiar and exotic. Exploring offered festival goers a chance to experience a wide array of out-of-the-ordinary views of the world.

In one corner sat a group of wax mannequins so lifelike, onlookers searched for the artist among the art. Along another sidewalk, spectators were invited to join the fun with Capoeiradance fighters, who passed swift kicks just inches above their partner’s heads. In another tent, a photographer displayed black and white shots using the female anatomy as a landscape for outdoor scenes, like golfing, skiing and fishing.

Each artist’s tent offered a chance for visitors to step into the mind of the individual whose vision created the unique artwork displayed inside. Some were classical and formal, others were more abstract, ambiguous and at least one was clanking, rolling and generally making a racket.

“I watch the people, not the sculptures; I love to see the surprise they get when certain things happen,” says Jeffrey Zachmann of Kinetic Sculptures based out of Fergus Falls, Minn. Behind him, in his kinetic sculptures, were a number of marbles traveling along metal tracks in complicated endless circuits.

“I am very interested in motion and how it affects people,” Zachmann says. “You can watch people coming down the street, and as soon as they see something moving, they perk up.”

Zachmann builds his sculptures from the top down, constructing and fine-tuning each obstacle for the marbles until they work. With so many intricate tricks and motions in the sculptures, it is easy to miss the small electric motors that keep all the action moving.

“A lot of people think it is going under its own power,” Zachmann says. “I would like to know how many fights I have started between husbands and wives when they go home after seeing [the sculptures].”

Mechanical mayhem is not all the Des Moines Arts Festival had to offer, however. One artist who chose a more organic medium as his outlet is Terry Evans. Evans’ woodworks, known as “Spiritwood,” were more intricate than they first appeared to be.

“[Visitors] can’t believe that the colors are not surface applied somehow,” Evans says.

“Spiritwood” pieces feature a number of vibrant colors flowing through each work. A Technicolor effect is created by combining many different types and colors of woods and laminates into a single block that is carved into the desired shape. A separate inlaying process is applied to some works, but no paint or dye is used to create the pieces. This process requires using types of wood that are not typically thought of as woodworking staples.

“One of the things I pride myself on is using lesser-utilized species of wood that people don’t think of as commercially viable timbers,” Evans says.

A weekend of art and fun for visitors, however, means a lot of work for event planners and staff.

“We are on site about 22 hours each day,” says festival executive director Mo Dana. Despite the exhaustion of the weekend, Dana says she is already looking ahead.

“We’re looking forward to next year,” she says. “Making changes and making it better; we don’t want it to be over.”