Art Overload

It has been an incredibly artful weekend here in St. Louis with numerous shows opening Friday and Saturday evening and two large art fairs: the Saint Louis Art Fair in Clayton and Art Outside at Schlafly Bottleworks. Both fairs were very well-attended and the weather couldn't have been better.

First I went to Art Outside at Schlafly and caught up with fellow artists Bradley Bauer, Sean Frye and Mary Beth Shaw. I always enjoy Art Outside because it offers many local artists an opportunity to show their work, some of whom are participating in such an event for the very first time. A lot of St. Louis artists got their start in the art fair circuit at Art Outside. Several are hooked after the event, attending multiple art fairs and honing their presentations in the following years. Despite the newcomers, which do not comprise the entirety of those showing their work, Art Outside is always very professional and offers a wide variety of wonderful artworks in different media and styles to peruse and purchase, ranging in price from $1 up. I even purchased a couple of photographs from Sarah Cross for all that I wasn't there to shop.

After attending the Art Outside event, I went to the big Saint Louis Art Fair in Clayton, which is on its 15th year and was juried by Paula Owen, Denise Ward-Brown and Tom Huck this year. This fair is a nationally-recognized event that features artists of numerous disciplines, including ceramics, digital art, drawing & pastels, fiber, glass, jewelry, metalwork, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and wood. Over 150 artists from across the country participated in the St. Louis Art Fair over the weekend, including several local artists. My friend Sarah Giannobile participated for the first time this year, and her work was chosen to represent the 2008 event on the poster and program guide! (Congratulations Sarah!)

The Saint Louis Art Fair was immense, stretching up and down several city blocks. I am not even certain that I managed to see everything there was to see after looping around the city streets, but I'm pretty certain I saw all of the artists' booths at least. (I skipped the food vendors since I wasn't hungry and had eaten before I went, but many enticing smells were coming from that direction and a lot of the area restaurants were also serving food outside so fairgoers could enjoy the atmosphere while indulging in a sit-down lunch.) The crowds were very thick, which is a testament to the success of the event and is great for the participating artists for all that it can be frustrating when you have to elbow your way in to see everything.

I'll admit that I prefer the Art Outside event for its laid-back atmosphere and because the crowds weren't so incredibly thick at Schlafly for all that both shows were well-attended. Both fairs are definitely well worth seeing, though. Many artists were working in similar veins at both events and a huge and diverse range of styles and media were exhibited, offering different things to appeal to different people. And both offer different yet similar experiences. The Saint Louis Art Fair features artists from all over the country while Art Outside showcases works by local artists, including those who are lesser known and who haven't participated in such events before. As a result, both events provide fairgoers with opportunities to familiarize themselves with artists that they may or may not have been previously exposed to.

I must admit that, after soaking in everything today, I feel I need to take a break to process it all a little. I do intend to head out to a couple of openings that I have been eagerly anticipating later on in the evening, though, including Nervous Laughter at phd Gallery and Depleted Uranium Extravaganza at Cranky Yellow. But I seriously think I may take tomorrow off...