MADISON (WKOW) — Downtown Madison is seeing some extra traffic this weekend as people head to Art Fair on the Square.
“This is a great way to kind of meet the people that are collecting your art,” artist Hannah Stelter said.
“Every weekend in the summertime, I drive to festivals like this,” Stelter said. “So, this was an eight-hour drive for me. I’m going to a show in Washington, I’ve been to one in D.C. this summer. And it helps me reach people all across the U.S. who maybe don’t use social media or who prefer to see my art in person.”
Stelter, a North Dakota based artist, focuses on body positive art.
“The mission behind my artwork is body positivity and self-love and just encouraging people to embrace who they are by turning them into a piece of artwork,” Stelter said. “But I’m not really turning them into a piece of artwork, because they already are one.”
Stelter says she’s had experiences at art shows before where someone will see a piece that reminds them of their own body, and they’re overcome with emotion.
“It’s that moment when you know they feel the effects of the piece,” Stelter said. “The piece that is meant to help people embrace themselves and love themselves a bit more.”
Artists on the square say the best way to spread their name and share their art is by coming to shows like this.
“A big way, I think, to get out in front of people is to do art fairs,” jewelry artist Steve Mitchell said. “Give a lot of cards away, that’s the networking.”
Mitchell, an Iowa native, started turning rocks and silver into unique pendants, rings, bracelets and more when his wife saw a piece of jewelry in the store and said, “you can make that for me!”
“I said, ‘I have no idea,” Mitchell said. “So, she signed me up for a jewelry class at a local art studio…and here we are.”
Mitchell says not only are art shows good for artists. They’re good for the communities that host them.
“There’s dollars being spent in town, not just the art show,” Mitchell said. “There’s 400 and some artists here that are staying in motels and eating food and that kind of stuff. So, it’s good for the community too.”
Artists are all at their own booths, so if you see something that catches your eye, you can speak to the creator yourself.
“You have some amazing talent and there’s people from all over the U.S. who are here. You get to see some really cool, unique things,” Stelter said.
27 news is a proud sponsor of Art Fair on the Square. Members of the news team will be at our booth just outside the capitol on the state street corner all weekend.
