Woodworker Gary Twitchell is racing to finish making a chair in his South Grand Boulevard studio in the Holly Hills neighborhood.
He will show the chair, if it’s finished, next month at the Historic Shaw Art Fair under his tent, along with a 10-foot-tall cherry console, a seven-foot-tall china cabinet and a couple of other pieces.
The fair will be on the shady, park-like islands that run down the middle of the 4100 and 4200 blocks of Flora Place just east of the old stone gates of the Missouri Botanical Garden. It’s the same weekend as the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Best of Missouri Market, so many visitors attend both events.
The fair raised about $10,000 last year. Most of that money went to help children’s charities, but money is not the real reason for the event. The Shaw Neighborhood Improvement Association began it as a way to promote the neighborhood.
“People come to buy art and end up moving in,” said Tom Keller, who has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years.
Some years ago, Tom and Marilyn Sweeney went to the Shaw Art Fair to decorate their new house in Chesterfield but fell in love, not with the art, but with Flora Place. A year later they bought a house on the block.
And that is really what the fair was intended to do. Nearly 13 years ago, some neighbors tried to figure out how to draw attention to the Shaw neighborhood and also enhance the region’s cultural mixture.
“We were like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland who wanted to put on a show and just said ‘Let’s do it,'” said founding committee member Janet Keller, Tom Keller’s wife. About 5,500 attended that first fair in 1993. Last year, more than 12,000 bought tickets.
“Now the fair’s become an important part of St. Louis’ cultural events and ranked 66th in art fairs,” Janet Keller said.
Sunshine Artist, an artists’ trade magazine, compiled the rankings.
Last June, a jury of St. Louis artists, gallery owners and art teachers examined the slides of work submitted by 450 artists from across the nation. Of the 125 whose work was chosen, about 25 come from the St. Louis region. The majority live in the Midwest and upper South.
Works at the 2004 Shaw Fair will include paintings, drawings, photographs, jewelry, ceramics, sculpture, prints, textiles, glass, wooden pieces and mixed media. Over the years, various Shaw neighbors have contributed money to establish prizes, which also draw artists. This year, the fair distributes $6,000 to artists.
“The prize money is really good,” said Caroline Huth of University City, who won Historic Shaw Art Fair awards the past two years for her vintage objects, which she displays in shadow boxes.
“The fair’s in a beautiful location, on a beautiful street, and the people walking around are really interested in art, even if they are only browsing,” she said.
She said she had been at other higher-ranked art fairs where the shoppers are interested only in buying items, almost any item, for less than $50 as gifts. But the Shaw shoppers are undaunted by high prices. Two years ago it rained on the Sunday of the Shaw Fair, and she feared few would attend and questioned whether she should waste energy displaying her work.
“They came with umbrellas and bought; there is that kind of commitment,” she said.
She expects to sell very well at the Shaw fair.
“The economy is much better; people are spending money for art again,” she said.
Sales are not the only things that draw artists to Flora Place. Jack Brubaker of Bloomington, Ind., a blacksmith and copper etcher, has displayed at the Shaw Art Show twice and will be returning this fall.
“It’s not the most financial rewarding show, like some of the really large shows around the country,” he said. “But it has a pretty sophisticated audience. Its incredibly supportive community makes things very easy for artists.”
Organizers let artists drive their work right up to the display tents and provide lots of help. Chaos and unfriendly rules reigned at some other shows, he said.
Shaw Art Fair offers artists a chance to get to know one another. At many fairs, he’s tried to get together with other artists afterward for dinner but found restaurants filled or closed by the time they had stored their art. The hospitable Shaw neighborhood hosts an artists’ dinner on the Saturday night.
“We go to one of the beautiful homes, and they provide good food, wine and beer, and we sit around for hours having a wonderful time,” he said.
Twitchell, the woodworker, rarely sells much at fairs. He brings a small selection of his work and displays a thick portfolio of photos of other cabinet work. It’s just been three years that he’s done well enough to give up his day job and support himself full time making custom furniture. Last year, he got two commissions at the Shaw Fair. He enjoyed the relaxed friendly banter with visitors who seem genuinely interested in his work.
“I don’t advertise nationally, though I sell nationally, so a show like this is good for me,” he said. = = = = Fair days The 12th annual Historic Shaw Art Fair will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 2 and 3 along the 4100 and 4200 blocks of Flora Place. Admission for both days is $4 each for adults; children 14 and younger are free. A shuttle will run from Tower Grove Park’s bandstand to Flora Place. For more information call 314-771-3101 or check http://www.shawartfair.com.
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