Fall Arts & Crafts Show at Sedona Heritage Museum October 25, 2008
Kathryn Keir likes bold, bright colors and using furniture and found objects as canvases. Art fans may remember Keir’s vivacious Violet and Rosie pair from Javelinas on Parade. On Saturday, October 25, Keir will be coming to the Fall Arts & Crafts Fair at the Sedona Heritage Museum and bringing a small collection of her whimsical furniture, dozens of folk-art gourd birds with big raffia tails, woven Christmas ornaments and several snakes made from fallen manzanita branches. The museum is located at 735 Jordan Road in Uptown Sedona.
The fair, which runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., is a popular annual event. There is no cost to attend. Nearly 50 vendors will be showcasing their products both inside the museum and on the surrounding grounds—a delightful mix of handmade items from cards that sell for a dollar or two to wood carvings, baskets, pottery, bags made out of recycled blue jeans, stocking stuffers and fine art that can cost several hundred dollars. The range of work is impressively extensive. There will also be a bake sale.
All the participating artists are from Arizona, and most are from the Sedona area. “It’s a good place to come and shop and meet the artists,” notes Janeen Trevillyan, historian and trustee for the Sedona Historical Society. Many people get a jumpstart on their holiday gift lists at the fair.
“This is a small-town show,” Trevillyan adds. “A lot of people only show at this fair.” For many, making arts and crafts is a hobby, and they can’t afford a big show; for others their work is a serious passion, and the fair has become an important venue for their products. Several of the exhibitors take painstaking steps to control the quality of their products, such as lotion-makers who grow their own herbs and weavers who spin their own yarn.
A few artists are coming back to an old love. Sally Peck rekindled her fascination with beadwork after retiring as a junior high school teacher. Her introduction came as a campfire girl nearly 50 years earlier. Now she enjoys making her hand-beaded necklaces, built around a single stone she handpicks. Peck is proud that no two pieces are alike.
Those who want to spend the day in the museum’s beautiful setting can enjoy picnic tables and shade trees. Anyone can pack a lunch or buy some barbecue prepared by Red Rock Barbecue and home-made goodies, such as breads, pies and cookies, baked by museum docents and volunteers. “It’s a fun event,” says Keir. And it’s a great outing for the entire family.
“The Sedona Heritage Museum has become an important repository for Sedona’s historical legacy and a delightful community gathering place for festivals,” notes Jennifer Wesselhoff, president/CEO of the Sedona Chamber of Commerce.
Anniversary party October 18
The fair comes a week after the 10th anniversary party for the Sedona Heritage Museum on October 18. The anniversary festival is a time to celebrate the crafts and way of life of years gone by—from pre-historic fire-starting to saddle making. Admission and all activities are free. Those who come will see an apple sorter, learn about native plants and desert critters and participate in a silent auction.
Mixing in with the crowd will be some modern-day stand-ins for historic figures, reenacting a soldier from the 1880s and Sedona’s pioneering ladies, as well as contemporary Sedona historians. Kate Ruland-Thorne and Hoyt Johnson will be signing books.
The anniversary party is much more than a spectator event, however. The public can also learn to carve soap, weave baskets, lasso, quilt, hand-stitch, make a cornhusk doll, and play horseshoes.
SAC commemorative exhibit
Anyone coming to these community celebrations is invited to drop in on a small commemorative exhibit in the museum lobby, which celebrates Sedona Art Center’s (SAC’s) 50th anniversary. Egyptian sculptor Nassan Gobran takes center stage in the show. His was the vision of turning Sedona into a “Tanglewood for the arts.” With the help of volunteers, Gobran and Cecil Lockhart Smith transformed the old Jordon apple shed into an arts center. Coincidentally, the Sedona Heritage Museum is housed in the Jordon’s former home.
For more information, call the museum at 928-282-7038.
By Sylvia Somerville
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