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Howard Scott’s funny maps intrigue visitors at the 57th Street Art Fair |
Browsing the 57th Street Art Fair, right in our very own neighborhood of Hyde Park in Chicago, is another one of our family traditions. It’s one of the oldest art fairs in the country (it began in 1948), and is always held the first full weekend in June. Since it’s a juried art fair, the quality of artwork is consistent, and we love discovering new artists or visiting with favorites we have seen before. Following I’m sharing some of the art work that intrigued us, as well as some street scenes to give you a feel for what it was like to be wandering about all this art.
Wait a minute! Cacti don’t grow here? – These metal sculptures by Desert Steel Co. are so realistic, I had to look twice.
One of the intricate baskets by Martha Monson Lowe from Iowa. She also exhibits at the Northeast Iowa Artists’ Studio Tour, an event that I would very much like to visit some day.
My daughter recently wrote a fairy tale involving ravens sitting on poles, so we were stunned to find them so aptly depicted in Glynnis Lessing’s ceramics.
My daughter is a glass fetishist and last year she fell in love with the glass pumpkins by Jack Pine Studio. We were happy to find him exhibiting again. She doesn’t go for these serene white ones though; she prefers purple and blues.
We both fell in love with the whimsical animal sculptures by Malen Pierson. Turns out he is from northern Utah, where he has enough space to create his sculptures out of scrap metal, but he spends a good deal of his summer hauling them to art fairs around the country.
Now we’re both dreaming of having a pony with a shovel for a hind quarter.
Loved these frames cut from the same trunk by Turning Green.
My daughter buys something from local glass artist Roberta Mezinskas every year and has slowly built a little collection:
Do you detect a theme?
Ken and I love art fairs. There's a fantastic one in Kansas City every year in early fall.
Wow!! I love these art work!! Thanks for the close-up pictures! What I found so touching from this post is that you and your daughter go to this art fair and share the moments together. It is so nice to peek.
oh how I loved this post!!!!! Thank you for putting all those wonderful pictures up. I especially loved the Rodgers Naylor oil painting. And oh my, the embroidery 'painting' is amazing!!! If I hadn't read that it was stitched- I would have just assumed it was a painting- wonderful!!
Really lovely!!
Annette, this is a great post. Since I had my own booth and was alone I didn't had the time to walk around. Now I can see at least a little bit of what other Artist had created. Thanks for sharing. I think my favorite is the cactus art!
Would you happen to have any contact information for Howard Scott? I would love to order one of his prints, but I can't find any way to get a hold of him. Thank you! – Jenny
Sorry, I don't.