Oswego Hosts Annual Fine Art Fair This Weekend

On any given day Oswego’s downtown Main Street is bustling with people and cars visiting the library, the local eateries and the shops.

On Saturday and Sunday expect it to be even busier with the addition of tables and tents brimming with hundreds of pieces of artwork as Oswego hosts its eighth annual Fine Art Fair.

“We have a lot of really great new and returning artists,” said Michele Bergeron, organizer of the fair. “There will certainly be something for everyone.”

Among the local artists participating are members of the Kendall Arts Guild.

Peggy Sutton, president of the Kendall Arts Guild, said the group will have its annual booth at Main and Jackson streets and there will be about 30 artists involved.

Sutton will be participating, selling watercolor landscape paintings. Describing the subjects of her paintings as “rural and historical,” Sutton says her style is very traditional:

“I live on a farm, and I love all that: the old churches, buildings and barns. Getting to work on subject matter that you love is a win-win."

There’s plenty more artwork besides the traditional. Fellow guild member Jeanne Dennis, who will be heading up the guild’s table at the fair, works with stained glass and fused glass jewelry.

Her interest started several years ago when her son was in 4H and wanted to challenge himself to something new. After the first project, Dennis took a class to learn more.

“It was there I got hooked with fusing glass,” she said.

And although she said it wasn’t her intention, her work with glass led her to wire wrappings of silver and gold wires and her fused jewelry was born.

Although the art will be the main draw, what’s a fair without some music?

There will be bands throughout the weekend, from the local Shawn Maxwell Jazz Quartet on Sunday afternoon to Chicago artist Petra van Nuis on Saturday, according to Bergeron. The Fox River Academy of Music and Art will also have musicians participating Saturday morning.

Karen Kulzer, the academy's co-director, said several ensemble and duet groups that will perform, with members ranging in ages from 5 to adults.

“It gives them the opportunity to have a public performance," she said. "By doing that, especially when you first begin, you get to experience the joy of sharing your music with other people.”

The academy is also once more in charge of the children’s art activity, which Kulzer said this year has an important message.

“We try to find activities that are educational from an art perspective,” she said. “This year we’ve become very passionate about the environment and being green, and are going to use found objects, like egg cartons or milk jugs, in some of the art.”

This year’s fair has three do-it-yourself activities. The making of suncatchers is geared toward the younger ages while the duct tape projects are open to everyone. The final project is titled Oswego's “Little Village.”

Using found objects and some paint, anyone is welcome to make anything from trees to the post office to their house to be put in the collaborative project of rebuilding a miniature Oswego.

“You can make art with what you have,” Kulzer said. “Look and see what you can make.”

The fair spans the weekend and will open at 10 a.m. both days and close at 5 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday.