Saturday morning, what is a person to do? Time for an art fair fix.
Maple & Main Art Fair, Sylvania, OH, May 31 & June 1
About a 2 hour drive down the toll road delivers me onto one of those small town main streets that you see in the movies. I travel often to Los Angeles to visit my kids so whenever I find myself in a town like Sylvania I think "who even knows that these places are still here in our country?" Yes, artists know because we get to many idyllic places: think Madison (IN & WI), Lafayette (IN & LA), Columbia (SC & MO), Cedar Key (FL), Northhampton (MA), Cape May (NJ), Estes Park (CO), etc. But people who are in the midst of large cities don't have this sense of discovery and renewal that artists encounter many weekends throughout the year. Another perk of our business, being in the heart of America.
Maple & Main is an art fair sponsored by the Sylvania Arts Commission and the Sylvania Chamber of Commerce. Frankly, I'm so used to seeing empty storefronts in the towns of the upper Midwest that it is a thrill to walk down a street with nice restaurants, high end clothing shops, a fine gallery (Hudson Art Gallery), no chain stores in a historic district that the trip was worth it just for that.
This was the second year for the show and there were approximately 70 artists. Someone had done their homework because it had all the artists on the main drag with a stage at one end and sponsors and food tents on the side streets. Just what an artist wants and what makes a show work.
Reported to me by participants:
- easy drive up to load in and out
- hotel a block away with easy parking and a quick walk to the booth
- streets cleared and ready for set up
- at early morning check in everyone received a breakfast bag with a bagel, etc.
- plentiful volunteers
There were heavy rains (maybe 5") the night before so people were glad they had not set up on Friday night.
A few AFI members:
Kathy Funderberg and Lou Ann Frey who does cool sgraffito glass
photographer Scott Pakulski & his cool fan...
Although many of the artists were pretty local there were folks from Virginia and Tennessee, etc.
On Saturday night they have a gala ticketed affair to honor a prominent artist from the region, drawing people late in the day to visit the show prior to the event.
Easy to do, inexpensive, worth keeping an eye on for next year?
As a gardener I was fascinated by this shrub. Anyone know what it is?
Visit the show's website for more photos, a video of the event and lots more info:
http://www.sylvaniaarts.org/fine-art/maple-main/
and what the local press had to say:
