Last year more than 850 people attended the Art & Soul art fair which features high-caliber local and regional artists selling fine arts and crafts across many price ranges. This year’s fair is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at Mills Lawn School gym. (Submitted photo)
Art & Soul: Art both high-quality and affordable
- Published: November 20, 2014
Those who can embrace the idea of a high-caliber art fair in an elementary school gym will be treated this Saturday to some of the finest and most striking pieces of local and regional art.
Whether patrons of the Art & Soul are looking to buy one-of-a-kind gifts for the holiday or add to their own art collections, they consistently find quality and value at the annual fair, according to organizer Lisa Goldberg.
“For people to come — and come back — the quality has to be good both for the visitors and for the artists themselves,” Goldberg said. “This year is no exception.”
The third annual Art & Soul is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at Mills Lawn School gym, 200 S. Walnut St. Admission is $3, a portion of which goes to support the Yellow Springs Police Coat Fund and a scholarship fund for graduating high school students interested in pursuing the arts. Children six and under are free.
A total of 30 artists are expected, including 11 first-time exhibitors, representing a range of media: ceramics, jewelry, fused and blown glass, beads, fiber, paintings, photography, clothing, journals, boxes, lamps, quilts, ornaments and more.
This year’s fair features more variety and a larger range of prices, according to Goldberg.
“Everyone can find something within their reach to buy,” she said.
Goldberg, who also organizes the annual Artists Studio Tour and Sale in October, views Art & Soul as an intimate show that allows for more interaction between artist and customer. A jury of gallery owners, artists and designers winnow the group of artists down as many more apply than are accepted, she added.
Fair newcomer Lake Miller, a Yellow Springs High School junior, will sell photography that captures “everyday scenes in a beautiful and truly unique way,” according to Goldberg. Kate Chesar, who works out of John Bryan Community Pottery, creates pots with brushwork that has an oriental feel. Tattoo Dreams of Bloomington, Ind., sells hand-built boxes embellished with iconic images of modern culture.
Nationally recognized area potter Geno Luketic has traveled around the country to art fairs but finds Art & Soul to be among the best he has participated in. Luketic, who manages wood firings at John Bryan Community Pottery, recently stopped traveling, in part because of Art & Soul, an event he says is stacked with high-quality artists and that has been very profitable for him.
“Because [Art & Soul] is inside and local this has been the one that a lot of the folks in town will come out to buy. And there’s no rush — we can visit,” he said.
Luketic has created more functional pottery this year and will sell his functional pieces in the range of $25 for a mug up to $65 for a pitcher, while his art pieces sell for around $200 to $400, about half the price he charges when selling at an out-of-town fair.
One of Goldberg’s missions with Art & Soul is to help emerging artists who have limited experience showing or selling their work. For example, Columbus metalworker Ben Jordan is “pushing the edges” of the art with his etched and stamped metal bracelets, earrings and pendants which start at $15 to $25.
Glass artist Karin Hammond is another emerging artist being spotlighted. In her first show, Hammond will sell the fused glass panels she creates in her Hyde Road basement studio. The 5×7-inch panels are “painted” with colored glass powders then melted in her kiln at 1,525-degrees Fahrenheit.
A former stay-at-home mom who also worked in banking, Hammond only recently started working with glass but quickly is becoming proficient. Goldberg, a former classmate at YSHS urged her to apply for this year’s Art & Soul fair. It will be the first time Hammond has sold her work, and she is excited for the challenge.
“I was looking for a little bit of validation,” Hammond said. “I loved what I did but I didn’t know if what I did was interesting…Lisa’s support definitely tipped me over the edge.”
For more information, visit http://www.ysarts.org/artSoul.html or the “Art and Soul YS” Facebook page.
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