The New City School is making some noise in the local art scene and hosting its second Craft OutLoud! Art Fair in the Central West End. Area artists will set up booths inside the school, and sell their wares. Featured artists work in a variety of mediums, including metal, fiber, wood, glass, paint and more.
The New City School’s second Craft OutLoud!, located at its campus on Waterman Boulevard in the Central West End, will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sat, November 3, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sun, November 4.
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Stephanie Brown, co-founder of the festival as well as one of the event’s planners, said the fair will feature a diverse range of artists, each one offering work in their own unique mediums.
“We try very hard, if we have several jewelry artists let’s say, that someone crochets metal,” Brown says. “Then there will be nobody else there that crochets metal. We have an artist this year that works in porcelain and sterling silver. Her gorgeous pieces, you’re never going to see anything else like that there, versus other art fairs where you’ll tend to find things that kind of feel the same.”
Brown says the artists for the fair were hand-chosen by a small committee from the New City School. The committee visits local art shows, and chose artists based on the quality and uniqueness of their art.
“We’re showing a true diversity of artisans in a wide variety of mediums,” Brown says.
Artists present at the fair will include David Stine, a woodworker; April Tate, a plush doll maker; Matthew Naftziger, a metalworker; Sharon Spillar, a painter; Charity Fedde, a jewelry maker; and many more.
In addition to the craft artists, there will be local food vendors, including Kakao Chocolate and Extra Virgin, an Olive Ovation, which will sell specialty infused olive oils. A gluten-free bakery booth will sell desserts.
Every attendee of the fair receives a free entry into a raffle. Guests can win a gift basket filled with local goods and foods.
Brown says the prices of goods sold at the fair will range from $30, for something small like a plush doll, to $15,000 for a larger item, like a dining room table.
The fair has a $5 entry fee, all of which will go towards the New City School.
The school serves students preschool age through sixth grade. Brown says Craft OutLoud! fits with the mission and creative atmosphere of the school.
“The population of the school is all about uniqueness and creativity,” Brown says. “It just seemed like such a perfect fit.”
The name of the fair, Craft OutLoud!, is meant as an expression of the visibility of the art featured at the fair.
“It’s just a sense of self-expression,” Brown says of the title. “It was really more of a feeling that we had, it’s an expression of art. It’s visual and it’s really making a statement and putting it on the forefront.”
More information on the Craft OutLoud! art fair can be found at craftoutloudstl.com.
