SARASOTA - As a steady stream of blues enthusiasts filtered into Ed Smith Stadium Saturday, they were greeted by 15 youths singing, clapping and stomping around on a grassy area to the side.

The children from the Lift Every Voice children's choir, part of an art-based after-school program in Newtown that uses music, dance and theater to teach and entertain. The children perform at nursing homes, churches and community events, including Saturday's Sarasota Blues Festival.

Cateria Murray, 10, rattled off a list of reasons she enjoys the choir.

"It's fun," Murray said. "You help other kids. You can learn songs. You make friends. And it could probably be a career. It's a great adventure."

Terry Rhodes, known as Mr. T-Bone to the children, organizes the choir's activities and said they currently know three songs but are practicing 10 others as well as three dance routines and two skits for a January fundraising performance.

The choir is about entertaining people and creating an ethic of success for 11-year-old A'brrie Thomas.

"I practice and learn, so I can get a job," Thomas said. "I don't want to be out on the streets being bad."

Those who ventured past the choir could hear the Wyatt Garey Band, which is headed by a 16-year-old guitarist, gearing up for an hour-long set on the main stage.

The festival, in its 18th year, has developed a reputation as a showcase for young musicians, but also attracts national acts. This year's headliner was Bobby Rush, a 74-year-old veteran bluesman whose 2007 album, "Raw," earned him three Blues Music Awards.

Surrounding the field were several food and beverage vendors. Alongside them was artist Whitney Resler of Miami.

In Resler's booth, the 24-year-old showcased about half of her 45 original oil paintings depicting blues artists.

Resler has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she said, and has always loved portraits.

"It developed into this obsession with art, music and people," she said. "And I'm just very inspired by the emotion and angst that goes into this music."

Her original work ranges from $250 to $7,500, but prints are available for as little as $25.

Resler's favorite painting is of a man whose identity is unknown to her.

"I found a picture of this man," she said, "and it's just the way he holds a guitar and his facial expression, he just represents what blues is to me."