Several local artists presented at the Second Annual Fine Arts Cafe, held at the First Congregational Church in Rochester on Sunday.

Event organizers said that although turnout seemed slightly lower than last years', possibly due to a busy weekend of festivals in New Bedford and Buzzards Bay, the cafe was still successful with local artists showing and selling plenty of work.

"I was thrilled, I sold my first piece of art," said Dale Wallace, a Rochester resident and retired landscape architect-turned-artist. "This was my first show."

"It was the pastor's idea," said Patricia Gonsalves, the event's organizer.

"Actually, it was my daughter-in-law's idea," said Rev. Dr. Leo Christian, pastor of the First Congregational Church. Christian said the idea came from his son's church in California. The church holds a successful fine arts cafe annually and Leo brought the idea back with him to Rochester.

"I said to Pat, 'We need to do this,'" Christian said.

The church held the Fine Arts Cafe last year to great success and plenty of the artists returned with local painters, photographers and other fine artists coming out in force.

"There's lots of talent in there," said Mark Lawrence, who was showing his brother Gary's photography while Gary was on an assignment in Vermont. "A lot of stuff got sold. We had some people come all the way down from Berkeley."

We had a couple-hundred people or more turn out," said Christian. "It was fantastic."