Put your stamp on mural at Naperville art fair

Once again, people will have the chance to contribute to an interactive mural while supporting local artists.

The 64th annual Naperville Woman’s Club Fine Art and Artisan Fair is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 29-30 at the Naper Settlement in Naperville. The event annually draws around 10,000 visitors and features more than 100 juried artists.

The volunteer-run event also features live music, food and adult beverages and children’s activities.

Susan Stockton is one of the co-chairwomen of the Fine Art and Artisan Fair and is excited about the 8-by-12-foot interactive mural.

“People can get an eight-inch square and paint their own little square and it gets stapled to the mural and it comes to life,” she said.

Each year, a different artist’s work is selected to have the mural based on at the fair. This year’s artist is Vandana Jain, a Chicago artist who created a brightly-colored work titled “Bumblebee Ballet.”

“It’s a beautiful floral with bumblebees. It’s a colorful painting, it’s really going to be spectacular,” Stockton said.

Some of the categories at the art fair include painting, mixed media, fiber, glass, photography, ceramics, wood, upcycled repurposed art and specialty foods. A full list of artists can be found on the website. People are able to purchase items marked at a variety of price points or simply admire the artists’ work..

Last year, they added live music to the event for the first time; something that worked so well they’re bringing it back again, she said.

“It was so popular last year we wanted to keep doing it,” she said. “People liked sitting down and relaxing and it added an ambiance to the whole fair to see these talented musicians.”

This year’s lineup includes acts like a string quartet, an acoustic folk-blues guitarist, a pianist, violinist, a cappella singers and a Celtic fiddler.

Children will also find things to keep them busy at the Petite Picasso area. The Naperville nonprofit group KidsMatter will provide coloring sheets and face painting. Pinot’s Palette will have painting for the kids, too.

An artist works on a painting at the 2023 Naperville Woman’s Club Fine Art and Artisan Fair. The fair features more than 100 juried artists. (Tom George Davison)

“There will be lots of activities for them,” she said. “So that adds to it as a nice, family-friendly, interactive event.”

It’s critical that people support art, especially at this time of AI and dwindling art shows, she said.

“I think that this is a community that really appreciates art,” she said. “I think they look forward to going out there and seeing real art done by real people and getting a chance to actually talk to the artists.”

The first Fine Arts Fair was held at Central Park, she said.

“The artists put their paintings on benches and hung them from clothespins,” she said.

There will be food trucks plus vendors selling treats like ice cream and kettle corn, plus beer and wine for sale.

She hopes people enjoy the community atmosphere, the music and most importantly, the artwork.

“It’s something nice for the whole family to enjoy,” she said. “There’s something for everybody there. And what other opportunity do you have to see real art and be able to talk to the artist about what they did and how they put it together and their emotions while doing it. You could go to a museum but you wouldn’t get to talk to the artist and you wouldn’t have a chance to purchase something and bring it home.”

And the backdrop of the historic Naper Settlement doesn’t hurt either, she said.

“One of our members, who is I think 85, grew up in one of the houses that has been moved to the Naper Settlement,” she said.

Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.