Art House Project

If you don’t know about the Art City Austin, you should. Austin has so many amazing things to do and see – and this is certainly high on the list. Each year, they have an art fair which is now about to have its 65th year. They have an annual attendance of 20,000 people and the juried art fair is one of the biggest in Texas.
The fair includes an outdoor display of nationally recognized artists, live music and amazing food options. Food that will be available includes Crepe Crazy, Coolhaus, Garbo’s Lobster Truck, Whole Foods and more.

Bringing kids along is always fun as well. There will be interactive projects and entertainment for kids throughout the fair.
The list of already confirmed artists includes:

Meyer Abrams
Todd Alexander
Chester Allen
Susie Aoki
Yoshi Aoki
Will Armstrong
Lynn Armstrong
Cynthia Bjorn
Barbara Bouman Jay
Jason Brueck
Doug Cavanah
David Conroy
Lisa Crowder
Joseph Cyberski
Greg Davis
Jason Dean

February 20-22 is the time to be in Asheville, North Carolina for the annual Arts and Crafts Conference and Antiques Show. Since 1988, when author, collector and former high school English teacher Bruce Johnson created the conference, it has been dedicated to the education of arts and crafts collectors. Each February, Johnson brings together the most dedicated collectors to enjoy speakers, various craft displays and more.

The setting for this amazing event is The Grove Park Inn which opened in 1913 and was considered at the time one of “the finest resort hotels in the world.” It includes arts and crafts furnishings, Roycroft lighting fixtures and other beautiful designs.

The three day conference includes 1500 attendees and more than 2000 tickets that are sold for the antiques and contemporary crafts show. The three days are packed with lectures, small group discussions, special exhibitions, book exhibits, a craft show and an antique show.

Come and be part of the fun.

If you love pottery, you should put this into your to-do book. On February 7-8 at the Pasadena Convention Center in California there will be the largest art pottery and tile show in America.

The 18th annual show includes more than 90 exhibitors from around the country who come to show what they are doing with ceramics today and to sell their wares. The event will include appraisals from David Rago of Rago Arts. Visitors from past years rave about the event and the displays. As James Fox and Jacob Sunny said about last year’s fair, “It’s not often that you find so much pottery in one place. Artist Jose Embers agrees. “It feels good, as an artist, to have people focus on pottery and ceramics rather than paintings and other more popular items.”

The event takes place on Saturday from 10-6 and on Sunday from 10-4.

Exhibitors include:
Annie’s Garden Ceramics…Big Bear Lake, CA

Walt & Jody Bammann…Roseburg, OR

Joanne & John Barrett…Gardena, CA

Eric Berg, Early California Antiques

William Bilsland III, Cedar Rapids, IA

Christy Brown…Artpotters.com, Springville, CA

Kirby Brown, Kirby Brown Books & Curios…
Manteca, CA

Carole Coates, Pottery Hound…Kenwood, CA

Steve Conti…Brastoff.com Los Angeles, CA

Al & Elaine Eldridge…Lake San Marcos, CA

Jim Ely…Concord, CA

Dan Emerson, Dan Emerson Collection…So. Pasadena, CA

Ephraim Pottery…Lake Mills, WI

Fox & Lois Garney…Cambria, CA

If you love Andy Warhol, or you’re really into Christmas, you’ll want to know about the current online sale by Christie’s auction house named “Warhol-iday.” The work that will be available for sale includes festive polaroids and seasonal illustrations. As Amelia Manderscheid, head of eCommerce for Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie’s said, “the work is very personal…[It was] pretty much all made for his own desire.”

The auction collection includes many holiday cards which were most likely from Warhol’s days illustrating for Tiffany & Co. Other notable items include Lot 91, a cookie tin that is decorated with poinsettias and a black and white photo of Keith Haring posing in a Santa suit.

If you love art fairs, now is the time to come to Miami. As part of the Art Basel Miami Beach event, there will be more art events than you can imagine during the first week of December. Here is a taste of what’s coming:

From December 4-7 at the Miami Beach Convention Center you can enjoy the Art Basel in Miami Beach. The Aqua Art Miami is taking place at the Aqua Hotel from December 3-7 and the Design Miami will be at the Convention Center over the same days.

For something off the beaten path, check out the Ink Miami Art Fair also from December 3-7. This one will take place at 1850 Collins Avenue. The NADA Art Fair Miami Beach will be from the 4th to the 7th at the Deauville Beach Resort.

These are but a few of the many events happening in Miami at the beginning of the month.

As the winter approaches and we all look for comfort, people are drawn to quilting. For more information about quilting there is a wonderful resource at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Visitors to the museum can see the largest publicly held quilt collection in the world. A local couple donated their 1000 piece quilt collection. The museum is a great opportunity for kids to see hand and machine made quilting techniques and to see objects that are used for folk art.

In total, the museum has 3500 quilts from 30 countries made over four centuries. These include doll, French, African-American and Amish quilts.

Art comes in many forms, and while many people don’t consider food an art form – it certainly is. And if you’re in the Asheville area, you can enjoy the fall food festivals and dinners that are coming our way.

Asheville GreenWorks is having their second annual Root Ball at the “Boathouse” today. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door and all sales will benefit Greenwork’s efforts to keep Asheville clean and green. Participants can expect gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, watermelon gazpacho, make-your-own sundae bars and more. Learn more at (www.ashevillegreenworks.org).

On September 21, people can enjoy oysters galore at Asheville’s Curve Studios and garden. It will benefit Arts for Life, which provides art lessons to patients of Mission Children’s Hospital. The event will include live music, an art display, a silent auction, oysters, barbecue and more. Tickets are $40 through September 21 at artsforlifenc.org/shuck.

The 27th Greek Festival will begin on September 26th and will include all the spanakopita you can eat, Greek folk dancing, cooking classes, jewelry making and more. It will take place at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church and admission is free.