Arts and Crafts Fair kicks off at Sandpoint City Beach

By Scout Anatricia
Reader Staff

Concurrent with the Festival of Sandpoint’s musical arts will be the display of visual arts. In fact, over 120 regional artisans will be swarming City Beach this year with colorful and vast displays of their art.

Pend Oreille Arts Council will be hosting their 43rd Arts and Crafts Fair at City Beach on Saturday, Aug. 8, from 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 9, from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.

The selection of art for purchase is expansive, including five to 20 artists in each category: ceramics, fiber, glass, jewelry, metal, painting, photography, woodwork and miscellaneous. Metal sculpting seems to be the hot new item this year, according to Debbie Love of Pend Oreille Arts Council.

Love takes great pride in the event, which she has been running in recent years. Pleasing the public is important, and Love says that public feedback on the Arts and Crafts Fair in the past has been positive and uplifting.

“It’s a free event, so [the public] loves attending,” Love said. “They also love that it’s at City Beach, so if they get hot, they can just jump in the water and then continue shopping.”

Of course, the event couldn’t happen without the artists, who Love admires greatly. Over 70 percent of them have been returning for the last decade and plan to continue. Many are local, but others come out of the woodwork from seven different states and two provinces. The artists are really what inspires Love’s enthusiasm for the event. She gets a kick out of  hearing where they’ve come from and where they plan on going next.

“Their stories are just fascinating,” she said.

One artist who lives in continual summer is Sheryl Tolman. For the past 15 years, Tolman camps in Sandpoint for nine weeks in the summer and travels to area art shows around Montana and Coeur d’Alene. Afterward the summer season is up she and her husband travel, eventually heading back to Arizona to continue making their living.

Tolman is a watercolor artist on large canvases, which she revels in selling at the annual Arts and Crafts Fair. She was referred to years back by another artist. Ever since she migrates up to her “summer home” in Sandpoint.

“You just can’t have a better place for an art show,” Tolman said. “It’s always been a positive experience. We like it here a lot, and it’s a good little show.”

In addition to the artisans and their displays, there are also quite a few food booths and kids’ booths.

This event is for the community, supported by the community and rewards the community as all proceeds benefit POAC’s visual arts and art education programs.

For additional information, contact Love at www.poac@sandpoint.net