2024 Salem Art Fair is much improved from 2023

The Salem Art Fair and Festival is on an upward trajectory, according to my decidedly personal opinion.

After going to the fair every year since I moved to Salem in 1977, enjoying the shady setting under the large oaks in Bush Park, in 2022 the fair had to move to a big grassy field with little shade because the oaks were being damaged due to soil compaction.

The title of my July 15, 2022 blog post expressed how I felt about the change: "Salem Art Fair better for trees in new location, but not as pleasant now." It was uncomfortably hot out in the sun, and the layout of the artist booths was much more confusing than the old layout: semi-circles branching off a central paved path.

The fair improved in 2023, as I noted in another blog post. I believe the booth layout was close to how it was this year, with most booths in a large circle surrounding the big grassy area. But the temperature was in the mid to high 80s on Friday, the day my wife and I went in 2023.

This year the Salem Art Fair dates changed to mid-September, the 13th, 14th, and 15th. Great decision. Having the temperature in the low 70s in the afternoon caused us to enjoy the fair a lot more than in the hotter previous years. Moving the main stage and food court from the north to the south end of the grassy field also was a plus.

Made it easier to hear music and get something to eat or drink after entering the fair. I took photos of some other improvements.

There were more booths under trees, which was pleasant -- especially for people with limited mobility. When we were looking at booths in the big grassy area, I overheard a woman using a walker say to her friend, "It's difficult for me to get around on this grass; I'm tired." The paved path under the trees is way more walker and wheelchair friendly. 

Again, I realize that the fair had to be moved from under the white oaks. But just being near some trees somehow makes booths seem more, well, artsy. 

The beer and wine area is more centrally located now. And it isn't "walled off" from the rest of the art fair, as it used to be.

I guess there's no way to make the big grassy field look like anything other than what it is, but at least it wasn't a hot big grassy field in September. Still, I can picture street performers doing their thing in this area, entertaining fairgoers with juggling, mime, hoop tricks, and such, much as a few musicians were singing and playing elsewhere with a collection plate for donations.

A copper booth looked warm and bright.

This booth looked cool.

My child-raising days are long past, as are my daughter's. But maybe I'll live long enough to be able to buy a cute children's sweater if or when my granddaughter has a child.

It was nice to see "This is Kalapuyan Land" signs scattered around the fair, reminding us of the Native Americans who were here first. 

This year I actually bought some art at the Salem Art Fair. Usually I'm just a browser. But the Mercurial Art booth attracted me. I browsed at first, then after my wife and I got some cold drinks, I went back and bought one of the fused glass creations. At the moment I have it next to a reading light in my office, since the tree leaves show up best when lighted.

If I understood him correctly, Leonard Tinnell, the artist, told me that the rock holding the fused glass via a slot cut into the rock was deposited by the great Missoula Floods that occurred at the end of the last Ice Age. That's how the Columbia Gorge in Oregon and Washington was fashioned, with the floodwaters reaching the Willamette Valley, where Salem is. 

Here's a description of the fused glass art from the Mercurial Art web site. 

Crushed glass (also known as frit) and glass powders are used to paint the imagery of a grove of trees in the changing seasons. Starting at room temperature, the glass is heated in a kiln to a process temperature of 1500 degrees, then cooled through several annealing zones back to room temperature. Multiple firings result in more complex geometric designs using cut sheet glass, or by slumping the glass into a mold to achieve the curve of a plate or bowl.  

Comments

[Aileen Kaye]

Thank you for this info!
And fused glass is one of my top favorite mediums.

[Kay Perdue]

Thanks for sharing! It sounds like the changes that have been made are a positive for the fair! I'll admit, I haven't been in several years. It used to be one of my favorite activities in Salem! Next year maybe I'll come back!

[Jon]

Nope... not even close. At $10:00 per person too much money for families, Route change has not added to the overall feel of an art festival, fences are prohibitive and make people feel captive and/or excluded, diversity of artists inclusion is lacking. Needing more artists from outside the area to add depth. The Salem Art Association needs to stop worrying so much about money and focus more on people and art. If they would, the fair would grow and mature thereby making us all the more enriched. BTW/ I enjoy your column.