The 47th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival begins at noon Friday and continues through June 18 with visual art exhibitions and programs spread throughout Point State Park and the Cultural District.

The Artist Market is open from noon to 9 p.m. daily; indoor exhibitions from noon to 8 p.m. daily; the food courts from noon to 9:30 p.m. daily; and the Family Festival from noon to 7 p.m. daily. Exhibition receptions will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday and June 16 at the PPG Wintergarden and at 937 Liberty Ave.

Following is where to find the art, and a bit more. (For further information, call 412-281-8723 or visit www.artsfestival.net.)

GATEWAY CENTER

"Duquesne Light Artists Market" -- More than 300 artists and craftspeople from Pittsburgh and across the country. Weekday artists change twice during the festival, and numbers swell on weekends. New artists arrive Friday, Wednesday, and June 9, 12 and 16. Emerging artists return this year, as does the children's mart (1-2:30 p.m. June 10). Artist demonstrations will also be given.

4 GATEWAY CENTER PLAZA

Italian Street Painting with chalk pastels by CAPA students begin at noon Saturdays. Chalk will be available for the public to join in, at the Artists Market Information Booth as long as supplies last.

POINT STATE PARK

"Lions, and Tigers, and Groundhogs ... Oh My!," a 7-hole miniature golf course designed by artists. Six holes are at the Point, with the seventh at the Festival offices, 937 Liberty Ave. Play free of charge.

"Animals on Parade," The Pittsburgh Pontiac-Buick-GMC Dealers Family Festival, offers performances and hands-on activities daily. Ben Sota, of the Zany Umbrella Circus, will perform a solo show, "My Grandfather's Circus," which he will perform in Afghanistan later in the month (5:30 p.m. daily except 5 p.m. June 16). "Gypsies and Crickets, a mix of puppetry, Garcia Lorca's poetry and music of Spain, directed by Tavia LaFollete, will be performed at 1 and 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Artists will build a Papier-mache Zoo with children, and visitors can watch and create origami while life-sized Origami Zoo creatures wander. Among other participants are the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (June 9-11); UMOJA African Drum and Dance workshop (4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and June 11 and 18; 5 p.m. June 17); and WQED's Education and Community Resource Center.

STANWIX STREET TRIANGLE

"Denied Viriditas," a site-specific installation by Canadian artist Reinhard Reitzenstein (at the intersection of Liberty Avenue and Stanwix Street).

GARRISON PLACE

"Displacement/Inversion," a site-specific installation by Canadian artist Reinhard Reitzenstein. (The alleyway is located near the 937 Liberty Ave. festival offices.)

PPG WINTERGARDEN and FOUR GATEWAY CENTER PLAZA

"Projects 2006," a sculpture exhibition curated by James Nestor and Jennifer Bechak and presented by the Pittsburgh Society of Sculptors.

707 PENN AVENUE GALLERY

Chicago ceramist Chris Garofalo's site-specific installation "Suppositious bionomics: reshuffling evolution."

801 LIBERTY AVE., FUTURE TENANT

"Something Borrowed, Something Blue," a site-specific installation by Monique Luck and Leslie Ansley, who will also participate in the Artists Market as Emerging Artists (June 13-18 and June 8-12, respectively).

937 LIBERTY AVE.

"Pittsburgh's Best 2006," previously called the Annual Exhibition, which replaced the Festival's long-running juried two-dimensional, sculpture and photography shows.

The seventh hole of "Lions, and Tigers, and Groundhogs ... Oh My!," artists-designed miniature golf.

4TH RIVER PROJECT

A diverse set of programs held at various sites; see the Festival schedule for details. A $5 ticket gives access to all.

--Mary Thomas, Post-Gazette art critic