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WINONA LAKE – The Village Art Fair in Winona Lake drew vendors from all over Saturday and Sunday.
Nick Hauck, managing director at The Village at Winona, said this was the 26th year for the Village Art Fair.
There were 69 art vendors and the majority of the artists aren’t from the area, “they’re from all over the nation. In years past, we’ve had world artists. We’ve had artists from all over, we had some Israeli artists a couple years ago. We’ve had artists from Italy, so we’ve had artists from all over the world in years past,” Hauck said.
“There’s, in the art world, there’s an application called ZAPPlication where a lot of art fairs do their juries from. So a lot of artists will get on ZAPP and go through ZAPP to see what art fairs are rated. And we’re a rated art fair. We’re always within one of the top 100 art fairs in the nation in certain magazines.”
He said that was pretty amazing considering the size of Winona Lake and the fact they are going against a lot of the big art scene, “so it’s pretty amazing that we can come and put on a show like this where artists want to come to it and they’re eager to come.”
He said he thought artists are drawn to the amenities they have and “we really like to take care of our artists, so it’s a lot easier when you provide amenities that people want to be around and the setting’s beautiful ...”
The art fair drew a crowd and between the fair and the Farmers Market at Winona on Saturday, there were cars parked on Park Avenue almost to the roundabout.
“I think it’s just culture truthfully,” he said about why the event drew people to it. “When you look at the art culture and you know, it’s kind of going away. Most schools have been cutting art programs, but there’s definitely a need for it. And people love it. I mean, when you look how crowded it is down here, you know, people are definitely still a part of the arts. Look at Wagon Wheel and how popular they are, so our community has a great art following. So it’s nice when a community comes together and uses the assets that they have to showcase the arts.”
Hauck said the rain Saturday morning didn’t hinder the art fair that much. Set-up was rough and the rain pushed everything back a little bit, but by 9:30 a.m. the rain had pretty much pushed through and everything was ready pretty much on time.
“So I think people were scrambling, but you know, you can’t have your artwork ruined by weather. So we’re very cautious in keeping an eye out on the weather when in comes,” he said.
Besides the various art vendors, there were also food vendors and live music Saturday and Sunday. Lakeland Art Association was in the kids’ tent doing kids activities as well.
Hauck also talked about the benefits of the art fair.
“I mean, obviously, there are artists making a living off this so providing shows for them keeps them afloat with their living, but also it gives the community a place to come and shop. So when you look at the traffic, you know, it’s back down all the way to the roundabout, the community wants to be a part of this,” he said.
Julie Kuhn, Julie Kuhn Designs, was selling stainless steel utensils at the fair. She said she has been going to the Village Art Fair as a vendor for about four years because it local and she gets to see everybody. There are a lot of people who really do appreciate art and “I really enjoy this art fair.”
The fair is open for so many people with different visions of art “and it’s just really nice to be in a big mix of it all, and it gets the word out about art,” she said.
Brian Viamontes, Brian Viamontes Fine Art Studio, was selling acrylic art Saturday and Sunday. It was his second year attending the art fair. Last year he was a vendor at the fair and liked the town. Fairs like Winona’s help bring culture to people.
Aimee Wesling, Wood Soul Studio, was selling wooden mosaics at the fair. This is the first year she’s been a vendor at the fair.
“We’re close and I wanted to do local art fairs because we usually go out of state, so I was trying to find some local ones that were close to home,” she said, adding the fair was lovely and everyone had been so nice. “I just love meeting everyone. I mean it’s been a great day, even though it rained this morning, it’s still been a great day.”
Art fairs “exposes everyone to art and they get to meet artists in person instead of at a store and, also, I’ve seen a lot of kids learn to love art and that just makes me the happiest is watching kids’ reaction to art,” she said.
