Popular Ridge Art Fair & Festival to feature 42 exhibitors showcasing original works in Beverly

Newcomers photo-surrealist Matthew Coglianeseu and leatherworker Michelle McCullough are among 42 exhibitors who will be offering original fine arts, applied arts and/or crafts Saturday at the second annual Ridge Park Art Fair & Festival.

Irene Testa, president of the Vanderpoel Art Association, which is co-sponsoring the free event in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood with the Ridge Park Advisory Council and the Chicago Park District, said it creates a venue for Chicago’s South Side and south suburban artists.

Potter and ceramist Daniel McCabe, jewelry-designer Susan Larsen and stained-glass designer Monica Harris are among the best-known local exhibitors, Testa said.

But the first appearance of Ohio-based glassworker Thomas Unger, who creates his art at the Corning Glass Studio in that state, suggests the fair and festival may have a wider draw.

Testa said visitors will find a “wonderful variety of art” encompassing buttons, ceramics, clay, comic book art, children’s books, digital art, drawings, fiber art, glassware, jewelry, leatherwork, mixed media, paper, painting (including acrylic, oil and watercolor), photography, plaques, pottery, printmaking, sculpture, glass, textiles, weaving and woodwork.

The exhibitors will be in tents spread around the park. Those working in clay, however, will gather in front of the Ridge Park Ceramics Studio in what Testa called “a potters village.”

Studio instructor Vida Radic may also exhibit some of her work, Testa said, adding, the studio has “a very active ceramics program.”

Exhibitors pay a fee, which is used for park improvements and special projects.

Most, but not all, of the exhibited work has been juried, Testa said.

“We don’t like to turn people away,” she said. “We try to accept everyone, but we reserve the right (to reject) if we think something is not suitable for a family festival.”

There also will be fun activities for families with children, Testa said, noting TwistiCity’s Scott Ingerson returns with his balloon animals and creations and is joined by a giant bubble show. Two age-appropriate bounce houses, instead of a single structure, will also be set up this year, she said.

In keeping with the family friendly focus, the 2019 event offers live music from inspirational singer-songwriter Gincy Hartin, the Over The Side Americana-country-soul band, and a local jazz band.

Food and beverages will be available from Beverly-based Calabria Imports, Blue Island-based Pollo Locuas, Midlothian-based Smokin’ BBQ Kitchen and Misericordia's Sweets On Wheels.

Asked about the culinary variety, Testa replied, “We want to hit everybody!”

Just about everything exhibited is for sale, including limited-edition tote bags featuring an image of Ridge Park by Beverly water-color artist Judie Anderson, who will be available to sign the bags.

Anderson trained at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago under the tutelage of LeRoy Neiman before working as an illustrator at the Chicago Tribune for 20 years.

Sale proceeds help maintain and conserve the hundreds of works by American painters and sculptors in the Vanderpoel Memorial Art Gallery. The collection, named after artist John H. Vanderpoel, who taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, is now located in the Ridge Park Fieldhouse through the Chicago Park District's Arts Partners in Residency Program.

The Vanderpoel Art Association and the Ridge Park Advisory Council have acquired the original image, which was painted by Anderson at the 2018 fair and festival.

“Hopefully it will be already hung at the time of the fair,” said Testa, who has lived in Beverly since 1981 and been involved with the gallery.

Fair and festival attendees are invited to tour the gallery, which contains Impressionist and other late 19th and early 20th century paintings and works on paper.

Noting the 2018 event drew more than 1,000 attendees, Testa said, “We’re pretty much doing the same thing.”

Ridge Park Art Fair & Festival

When: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. June 22

Where: Ridge Park Cultural Center, 9625 S. Longwood Drive, Chicago

Admission: free

Information: 773-294-8311 (Irene Testa); www.ridgeparkartfair.org