Starving Artist Fair to feature more artists than ever

Amanda Paffrath is a new participant in this year's Starving Artist Fair, contributing her handmade glassware to the event.

Robert Meyer is returning, along with his art, to the Starving Artist Fair this year.

RACINE — The Racine Art Guild is presenting its 58th annual Racine Starving Artist Fair from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 6.

This is the fair’s third year at the historic DeKoven Center, 600 21st St.

In addition to a lovely, historic setting, DeKoven grounds are allowing the fair to expand to welcome more artists and food and beverage vendors.

The fair is the largest juried art fair in the tri-county area with just over 120 booths.

Shuttle Service: Two shuttles will be available taking visitors to and from their parking spots.

A neighborhood shuttle will be making a loop in a radius of several blocks of DeKoven Center. Wave it down. A second option is to park in the southeast corner of Gateway Technical College’s lakefront lot at Pershing Park and 11th Street. This shuttle will be running every 15 minutes.

The fair’s 10 jurors — talented artists themselves — have reviewed applicants’ work, creating a well-balanced, high-quality collection of artists representing painting (acrylic, oil, digital, watercolor and digital), mixed media, glass, ceramics, jewelry, printmaking, metal, yard art, fiber, photography and wood.

While the art is high-quality, it is also affordable to our visitors.

While many of our artists have participated in this fair for years, each year we also welcome many new artists.

Most are from the region with 42% coming from Racine County (a much larger percentage than the past two years), 57% from Wisconsin communities outside the county, and 1% from Illinois, giving our visitors a fresh look at today’s art.

Please also consider shopping at our Racine Art Guild Boutique featuring the art of Guild members.

Artists are eligible for four awards this year: Best of Show, People’s Choice, The Marj Lacock Award of Excellence and, new this year, the Rose Kaprelian Award for Excellence in Creativity and Innovation.

Proceeds from the Starving Artist Fair go to support four significant scholarships to art students residing in Racine County and attending one of four regional colleges.

In addition to the booth fees, the guild raises money at the fair through raffle ticket sales featuring art created by Racine Art Guild members. The silent auction offers donated art by the fair’s participating artists and also contributes significantly to the scholarship fund.

Artists and visitors alike enjoy being across the street from Lake Michigan and in the shade of DeKoven’s grounds. As visitors stroll the grounds, they can also enjoy Kids Korner free art activities, a great selection of food and beverages, and fine music.

Attendees with children will want to stop by Kids Korner on the west side of the fair for free art activities.

A guild volunteer designs several quickly completed art projects to generate kids’ creativity and make a great afternoon even better.

Nearby, Stephanie’s Glittery Tattoos will have some “bling” appliques available for purchase.

Two food courts will be available — one on each end of the fair.

The West Food Court will feature St. Mesrob Armenian Church, Z’s Table, Pastry4U, Nutman and Dekoven Center (wine and beer).

The Southeast Food Court will feature Cut Stone Food, All About

(non-alcoholic mocktails) and Dekoven Center.

Cowboy Kettle Corn will be along Wisconsin Avenue throughout the day

Music will be shared throughout the day by Vibhaus Kendzia from his booth within the fair. Two performance sites — one on the east and one on the west side of the fair — will offer special performances by the following musicians:

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