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Peoria's Fine Art Fair is Golden

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What's so special about the Fine Art Fair?
The answer might surprise you

The Peoria Art Guild, one of the oldest art organizations in the country, will again host one of the longest-running fine art fairs in the country when the 50th Annual Fine Art Fair is held the last weekend in September.

Not many art institutions can boast that they have existed for 134 years, but the Peoria Art Guild can. Even Rocco Landesman, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, said it is amazing that an arts organization located in the heart of the Midwest, in the middle of Illinois and 150 miles from a large metropolitan city can survive 134 years.

Simply stated, art is alive and well in our fair city.

The mission of the Peoria Art Guild has been to present to the public an array of contemporary art through exhibitions, outreach programs in area schools and initiatives like the Fine Art Fair. The Guild, like many other art organizations, has survived on revenue generated by fundraisers, small grants and membership support. There are no government handouts. Without the Fine Art Fair, the Guild and its programs would be on life-support and the community would most likely be void of the largest annual cultural event.

A BIT OF HISTORY

Let's take a step back and examine what the art fair was like 50 years ago.

A local art fair was first envisioned by well-known Peorian Adelaide Cooley, who attended the Chicago's Gold Coast Fair in the early 1960s and felt Peoria could benefit from something similar. Reportedly, however, the idea did not meet with overwhelming approval. Peoria questioned whether Peoria was ready for such an innovative approach to the fine arts. Would Peorians support it? And who would take on the monumental task of organizing it?

That's when Marianne Bibo-Russell of Bibo Gallery stepped in. She had been an active member of the Peoria Art Guild and was the perfect person to champion the outdoor art event in 1962. Her first effort showcased 27 artists along the Junction City boardwalk and was so well received that 54 artists were featured the following year. The art fair eventually grew to 120 artists and Bibo managed the art fair for 11 years.

Another well-known Peoria name took over the fair and took it to another level, bringing high quality art from artists all over the country. Former Fine Art Fair Chair Sheryl Cohen attended fairs all over the country to persuade artists to apply to the Peoria show. Not an easy task, especially when some artists would say, "Where's Peoria?"

MOVES THAT MATTERED

In 1998 the Peoria Art Guild took the bold steps to move the art fair to Peoria's riverfront. To say the decision to move the fair to the riverfront was met with resistance is an understatement. Remember, the Gateway Building had just been built. There were little or no organized weekend activities on the riverfront. Even though Peoria had a picturesque riverfront as a backdrop, few in city leadership spent time cultivating or supporting our best natural asset. Once again, the Guild took the challenge in hopes to draw people to the developing riverfront to expand the reach for the art fair.

So what has happened in the past 14 years? In 1998, only 129 artists applied to fill 125 booth spaces, compared with nearly 700 artist applications of today. Most of the artists were invited and did not have to go through the rigorous jurying process of today to be accepted into the Peoria show.

Most notable in the early days on the riverfront was the weather. The Fine Art Fair had a long history of being the first weekend in October and for three years after moving to the riverfront, it rained at least one of the two days of the fair. In 2000, it snowed. That prompted the Guild's board to move the art fair to the last full weekend in September, hoping for better weather conditions.

In the meantime the art fair started to gain national recognition. For the better part of 10 years, the Fine Art Fair has been rated in the top 200 art fairs in the country, going up against larger art fairs that had the support of being in or near a metropolitan city. It was a testament to relentless "selling" of the art fair to artists by those involved.

PLAN NOW

The 50th Annual Peoria Art Guild Fine Art Fair is Sept. 29 and 30, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Peoria's Riverfront. Admission has been lowered to $5 a person a day in celebration of the 50th anniversary.

Plans are already in place to have 150 jury-selected artists from all over the country exhibit works of art in jewelry, painting, photography, ceramics, wood, glass, mixed media, metal and fiber. All artwork is original, created by the exhibiting artist.

In March, a panel of art professionals judged all the entries at Bradley University; more than 800 applications were submitted. Through an extensive rating process, 129 artists are invited to exhibit at this year's Fair along with 21 artists who were invited to attend as last year's award winners.

The Kids Art Festival has become its own destination event within the Fine Art Fair, offering great "make and take" art projects for kids of all ages.

The interactive Community Mural is designed for adults. It takes hundreds of people to participate in this fun, hands-on art activit and everyone attending the Fair can watch as the mural literally comes together piece-by-piece over the Fine Art Fair weekend.

Even if you're not much of an art buff, the Fine Art Fair has you covered. The Art Guild supports the performing arts with free hourly jazz and gospel performances on the music stage located in the heart of the Fair. All performers are local and are among the best in central Illinois.

The Guild has you covered on food, too. All of the food vendors are local and have been carefully selected to serve food and beverage at the Fair. A variety of top quality wine and beer will also be available, so come early and stay late.

To kickoff the Fine Art Fair, the Art Guild will host a Preview Party on Friday, Sept. 28, 7 to 10 p.m. at the Peoria Art Guild. The wine and hors d'oeuvres event will showcase an exhibit of art from many of the Fine Art Fair artists and the art on display will be available for purchase during the event. Tickets will be $75 and can be purchased prior to the fair.

If you are a Peoria Art Guild member, you can view all the works of art an hour prior to the official opening of the fair, free of charge, at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. If you're not a member and you want to join the early art enthusiasts, memberships will be available at the fair entrance.

Join the buzz! The art fair can't function without the people of the Peoria area and the Peoria Art Guild Fine Art Fair is known throughout the artist community for its volunteers. If you want to help be a "part of the party" and help make a positive Peoria impression, go to www.peoriaartfair.com

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