On this week’s episode of Out and About, Mae Gilliland of ArtsPartners of Central Illinois talks with Megan Scott, executive director of the Peoria Art Guild, about the Peoria Art Guild Fine Art Fair, returning Sept. 26 and 27 to the Peoria Riverfront.
Now in its 64th year, the Fine Art Fair brings more than 100 artists to Peoria, representing 13 states and three countries. Visitors will find everything from paintings, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, book arts, printmaking, glass, and more, alongside a group of local emerging artists gaining experience on the fine art fair circuit.
This year’s poster and community mural artist is Merrell Hickey, whose vibrant, whimsical beadwork inspired several elements of the weekend. Hickey’s "A Ride for Me and My Friends" will become a collaborative community mural, where visitors paint individual squares that will be assembled into a larger reproduction of her work and displayed on Washington Street after the fair.
“Everyone has an opportunity to paint a little square that we then attach to the wall that becomes a much larger mural,” Scott said.
The weekend also extends well beyond the visual arts. Jazz Day, produced by the Central Illinois Jazz Society, features musicians from central Illinois and Chicago, while Community Day showcases local performing arts organizations.
Scott is especially excited about this year's Kids Art Festival, where young artists can get creative. Inspired by Hickey’s "Mad Hatter's Tea Party" beadwork piece, there will be themed crafts, activities and a collaborative table mural inviting children to draw themselves enjoying the tea party.
The Peoria Art Guild Fine Art Fair takes place Sept. 26 and 27 at Riverfront Festival Park in Peoria.
