Cherrywood Art Fair In East Austin Ends 18-Year Run

EAST AUSTIN, TX — This year's Cherrywood Art Fair — the city's longest-running nonprofit arts fair featuring nearly 100 curated artists and makers from throughout Texas — will be the last, organizers said on Wednesday.

The final version of the art fair is scheduled to take place through Dec. 7-8. After 18 years, the juried fair in its current format will end to allow for Cherrywood’s producing partner and beneficiary, Chula League, to pause all programming, restrategize its mission and reassess its priorities, officials explained.

"Community members are encouraged to come out in support of the final event and enjoy more than 90 curated artists and makers from around Texas, plus a full roster of live music and entertainment," officials wrote in a press advisory. "In its final act, Cherrywood Art Fair will — in true spirit — offer families a festive and interactive holiday event highlighting the best in Texas arts."

Each year, Cherrywood Art Fair is produced by a small crew of contract staff, a large group of event volunteers and a volunteer panel of jurors — all overseen by the grassroots-run Chula League board, officials described. Much of the event’s support has come from sponsorships and volunteerism — both of which have declined over the years, officials added.

Of the “big three” Austin holiday markets, Cherrywood is the only free event supported by and run by a nonprofit organization. "As the East Austin community and the city’s demographics have shifted, so too have the challenges and opportunities for producing a large-scale free two-day event," officials noted.

In addition to sunsetting its flagship event, Chula League will pause its other programming beginning in March 2020 including the popular Little Artist BIG ARTIST program, which provides art mentorships for East Austin elementary school students. Each year since 2007, the program has paired professional artists with fifth and sixth-grade students to offer one-on-one arts mentorships that help the students explore creativity, develop personal expression and strengthen social skills while engaging in positive adult communication in an after-school setting.

Each year, the Little Artists’ work is auctioned off at Cherrywood Art Fair to raise funds for each of the participating elementary school’s art program. Since its inception, more than 200 students have gone through the program across seven East Austin schools and mentored by over 150 professional artists. Proceeds from this year’s Cherrywood Art Fair will go towards the 2020 Little Artist BIG ARTIST program.

To date, officials said, Chula League has endowed more than $135,000 in grants, services and programming to East Austin schools from funds generated through Cherrywood Art Fair, Little Artist BIG ARTIST auction proceeds, and their professional development workshops: Cultivate. Cherrywood Art Fair has showcased an estimated 1,200 artists from across Texas and drawn more than 100,000 visitors from around the state in its 18-year run.

"Since its inception, Chula League has strived to fuel and sustain the arts in East Austin," John Mathew Bernal, Chair, Chula League Board of Directors, said in a prepared statement. "Just as the arts landscape in Austin has changed over the past two decades, a decline in financial support for our organization is forcing Chula League to evolve. In making the tough decision to pause all programming which includes Cherrywood Art Fair and our arts-mentorship program, Little Artist BIG ARTIST, we will be able to strategize a way to keep our promise to the arts community in the coming years."

The final Cherrywood Art Fair takes place Saturday, Dec. 7, and Sunday, Dec. 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Maplewood Elementary School, 3808 Maplewood Ave. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, visit chulaleague.org/cherrywood. The 2019 Cherrywood Art Fair Facebook event can be found here. More information on Chula League can be found at chulaleague.org.

ABOUT CHULA LEAGUE

Chula League is a nonprofit formed in 2005 to support the arts, and art education in East Austin managed by a small, grassroots board of directors. Chula League ensures that the arts play a valued role in the educational, economic, and cultural well being of the neighborhoods in East Austin. Chula produces a variety of projects to achieve its mission and purpose, including its flagship event the Cherrywood Art Fair and the arts-mentoring program Little Artist BIG ARTIST, and their professional development series, Cultivate.
Cherrywood Art Fair is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.