Sara Shambarger, director of art fairs at the Krasl Art Center, resigned on November 21, the organization announced. Shambarger spent 19 years directing the popular Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff, and three years leading the Artisan Market fundraiser for the St. Joseph art center.
The popular St. Joe art fair was started in 1962 and has been a loved local tradition, increasing in prestige and attendance in subsequent years. When Sara took over the art fair it was heavily grandfathered, reinviting the same artists back every year. Under her direction each succeeding year there have been fewer invitations and the event has opened up to a greater diversity of artists.
With her fine attention to detail and the relationships she developed throughout the area she was a great partner with the media and tourism bureau, using them wisely to grow attendance from a mostly local and summer tourist event to a well-known show around the Midwest. The Chicago area tourist crowd who have second homes in the area plan to be in St. Joe specifically for the show. It is a "must do" on the western side of the state.
Sara excelled at artist hospitality, instituting many amenities to enable artists to afford to stay in the area on that weekend, including a home stay program where locals opened their home to artist guests. As many people on vacation bring their dogs and they are not allowed at the fair she began a relationship with the local animal shelter so that now when someone shows up with Rover there is a kennel right there where he will be taken care of while Rover's family shops at the show.
With a master's degree in social work Sara knew how to listen to people and empathize. Artists are losing a solid advocate with her departure. Sara is a well-loved person in the art fair business. Her smiling face and helpful manner will be missed in St. Joe in July.
