Event Will Coincide with Downtown Wine Walk
A staple in the community for 55 years, the Mother’s Day Art Fair is making a few changes while staying true to its premise.
Rebranded as “Art on the Avenue,” the free event has been moved to Saturday, May 12 to coincide with the Downtown Wine Walk. MACCI has taken the reigns from New Visions Gallery to organize the event, which will be held this year in the Holiday Inn Ballroom. Previously, the event was held at Marshfield High School and last year expanded to the Marshfield Fairgrounds.
Even with the changes, the premise of the show hasn’t altered. Nearly fifty fine artists and crafters will be displaying their talents in a variety of mediums, including woodworking, pottery, metal, jewelry and painting.
“The artists have been receptive. They’re excited for the change,” said Debbie Bauer, MACCI Program Director.
Due to conflicting events on Mother’s Day, which affected attendance, the event was moved to coincide with the United Way’s annual Downtown Wine Walk for a full day of art, shopping and wine. With the Holiday Inn as a wine stop, participants can make the art fair an easy stop on their route.
New Visions decided that it could no longer continue organizing the art fair, which was originally started by a community group, due to increased responsibilities and a desire to focus more on art experience activities instead of big events.
“Our organization’s mission was never to have an event,” explained New Visions director Bobbie Erwin. “My team and I took a hard look on our programming and decided to focus on arts experience activities.”
Not wanting the longtime event to cease altogether, gallery staff approached MACCI to see if they knew of any organizations willing to carry on the event, and MACCI itself decided to volunteer. “We said we would give it a try, because we would hate this event to go after 55 years,” explained Bauer. “It’s something the community truly enjoys.”
While New Visions is no longer directly involved with the planning, they juried the artists. “New Visions staff was very excited to see some new artists, but also the favorites that have been loyal,” Bauer said. “I think attendees will see that same quality.”
MACCI plans to start small, but has visions for the art fair’s future, which include continuing to partner with United Way. “It’s so well established in our community, we’re hoping it can be success for many more years to come,” she said.
Art on the Avenue will take place from 10-4 p.m and is free to the public. Food trucks will be available in the Holiday Inn parking lot. Learn how to register for the Downtown Wine Walk at this link.
