Art Show Committee Celebrates 50th Golden Anniversary
It seems counterintuitive but the Art Show Committee actually preceded the formation of Historic Yellow Springs. In 1973 a group organized to raise money for the purpose of acquiring the 140 acre campus and decided that an art show would be a smart way to do it. The job of organizing the show, spearheaded by Esther Altmann, yielded a plan to form the Yellow Springs Foundation in the Summer of 1973. The property was acquired in early 1974.
The Yellow Springs Art Show was one of the first regional shows featuring local artists. The model has been mimicked by many other cultural institutions. Meanwhile, what started so modestly in 1973 has now grown to manage over 200 artists who deliver over 4,000 pieces of art in early April. The Committee then catalogues its inventory and publishes a written book of featured pieces in coordination with Anro Inc. of West Chester. Since 2020, art has also been made available for sale online and the Historic Yellow Springs website.
To celebrate its golden anniversary Committee chair Maureen Fendrick orchestrated a group of events which kicked off with an opening PARTY on April 28 catered by Perfect Settings in The Washington. The PARTY garnered 136 guests who previewed the show in the Lincoln Building and then meandered over to The Washington for dinner followed by a live auction. While dinner was served this year’s poster artist Monique Sarkessian “painted the room.” Her work was auctioned while the paint was still drying along with an equestrian oil by Elise Phillips. Don and Judy Rosato contributed a carriage ride and Harry and Laura Carpenter offered their home with a catered dinner for eight and a flight of wines selected by oenophiles Keith and Rita Kaplan. Following dessert, the bar and Lincoln galleries were re-opened so the shopping could continue.
On Thursday, May 4, the Committee struck again with a fashion show in the Washington. The Committee provided its own models who displayed fashion from the American Revolution through to the Age of Aquarius when the Art Show first started. Polka Dots Boutique of Paoli provided the duds which were offered for sale. Again, the Lincoln was staffed to sell art to those who prefer canvas to cotton, linen and silk.
Friday evening, May 5, the Yellow Spring Art Show Happy Hour was added back into the lineup of events and featured wine and hors d’oeuvres from the folks at Cedar Hollow Inn Restaurant. And on Mother’s Day, May 14 the show concluded with the 3rd annual Art Around the Village” event. 15 artists from the show painted en Plein air around the grounds, and the Chester Springs Studio “threw” in its own demonstration of how to make pottery and how to fire it to 2000 degrees so the product is both beautiful and usable. Tours of the village were offered so that guests could meander our trails and poke about our iron, sulfur and magnesium springs.
While our new executive director Tim Compton had been to Yellow Springs to fire in its kilns, the arrival of the art show was something to behold. “I was used to work at the Goggleworks in Reading, which regularly hosts 1,000 people a day creating and enjoying art. But, it was astonishing to arrive in the village on April 6 and see it explode with activity as Committee members greeted 200 artists dropping off thousands of pieces of art. Suddenly, the Lincoln Building was overrun with people dropping off, visiting, cataloguing and hanging art.”