Definitely one of the biggies in the art fair business is the extravaganza that takes place the first
weekend of October in Louisville, the St. James Court Art Show. This show takes place in an enchanted Victorian neighborhood full of brick mansions. When you are standing under the huge trees you can easily imagine the gas lights and carriages moving through the fall day. Back in 1957 Malcolm Bird got involved in forming a neighborhood
association to save the area from urban blight and also to fight
political battles, including successfully blocking attempts in 1969 by the city to build a planned Ninth Street Thoroughfare through part of Old Louisville. He went on to save the entire neighborhood.
Yes, you know the legends: the association held its "first art show, with 35 to 40 entries strung up on clothesline that hung from tree to tree down the court. A few hundred people attended the first show, which raised a modest amount of money but generated a buzz that grew louder each year."
If you attend St. James you will see from 175,000 to 300,000 people pouring down the streets. In fact, this event is so important to the citizens of Louisville that they close the schools on Friday. Really.
Read the rest of the story and learn about Malcolm Bird, one of the art fair legends: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100721/NEWS01/307210043/Malcolm+Bird++St.+James+art+show+founder++dies
