By Jim Bloch
“The 52nd St Clair Art Fair is in the books,” announced Sandy Attebury, one of the members of the St. Clair Art Association, which produces the event. “It was a great weekend.”
With the art fair joining forces with the St. Clair Jazz Festival, organizers were able to shut down M-29/North Riverside Avenue for the first time in the fair’s 52 year history, which made crossing the street easy back and forth from Riverview Plaza to Palmer Park along the St. Clair River.
“People seemed to love having the street blocked off,” said Attebury.
The key organizers of the St .Clair Art Fair extend their hands of thanks to all the volunteers, artists and fair-goers that made the 52nd annual fair a success: Josh Wayt, Twila Wayt, Dave Fry, Sandy Attebury and Jason Stier.
It made the fair safer and more tranquil, especially with the mellow sounds of smooth jazz drifting through the artists booths from the Alexander Zonjic and the jazz fest, 2-8 pm. on Saturday.
The fair was co-chaired by Twila Wayt, SCAA president Dave Fry and Jason Stier.
“The jurors had a hard time selecting the awards this year,” said Attebury, who organized the jurors. “It was a great looking art fair with a lot of new and younger artists.”
Kat Zinn took home the Best of Show Award and $500 for her colorful floral drawings. Sug O’Shen won the Winnie Compton Fangman Award and $500 for her mixed media work featuring ocean abstracts.
The tug Manitou at the St. Clair Art Fair.
In the two dimensional category Anthony Shublic won first place for his drawing and $300. Mady Chen won second and $200 for her printmaking. Richard Franz captured third and $100 for his drawing. Honorable mentions and $50 went to Emma Whittredge for her painting, Jennifer Spezia for her photography and Joe Cilluffo for his painting and mixed media work.
In the three dimensional category, Colleen Williams won first place and $300 for her pottery. Beverly Bartlett took second and $200 for her jewelry. St. Clair Township’s Ken Reidel won third place and $100 for his wood work. Honorable mentions and $50 went to Troy Robutz for his mixed media work, Brian Westrick for his pottery and Patti West-Martino for her jewelry.
“The drama of the day was the tug boat that crashed into the boardwalk, bending the railings, which the crew straightened,” said Attebury. The tug Manitou was a selfie magnet. “It was quite a draw for the tourists.”
The art fair drew big, happy crowds.
There are always plenty of surprises at the fair. Rob Barrett’s booth, titled Rob’s Mental Playground, featured a striking canvas that visually considered the consequences of the train derailment and subsequent toxic releases in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this year.
His painting “Treating the Symptoms, Pt. 2, Paid Sickness” features a view from behind of a dad holding his young daughter’s hand in the lower left-hand corner of the frame beholding a black wintery tree in front of a nasty plume of smoke blooming into the sky and creating near-night conditions. Lines of colorful homes and electric poles funnel the viewer’s eye to the burn site, the smoke from which surreally echoes an American flag.
“Continuing with politics, this piece shows East Palestine during a controlled burn,” says Barrett, based in Portage, on his website. “The situation, along with a lack of appropriate government and corporate response, left those people forgotten and with severe health risks. Ultimately, this American Capitalist mindset creates havoc, and the public has to deal with those consequences.”
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.
