Art community grows in University Park

University Park’s Art in the Park will be the biggest of its 20 years.

The event will have 42 artists this year, an increase of 10 participants from last year. 

Deborah Van Brunt, an artist and event organizer, said some of the new artists are new to the community while others are people who have shown their work in the past but haven’t showcased their work for a few years.

“Our community size is not growing, but our sense of an artistic community is certainly growing,” she said.

The show will include more than 150 pieces including oil, acrylic and watercolor paintings, sculptures and photography. Pieces range in prices of $50 to $3,500. All sales go directly to the artists.

Nancy Fairchild, the manager of the show and an artist, started sharing her work in the show nine years ago and has watched it blossom over the years.

“As I’ve stayed with it, and I’ve met the artists and watched it grow, I’m just so impressed to find out we live in an artist colony,” Fairchild said.

The show will have three jurors and cash awards and ribbons for winning artists. Artists are also vying for the People’s Choice Award. People who attend the art show will be able to vote for their favorite piece of work.

Van Brunt said the show includes professional artists but also many art hobbyists.

“I think for some of the hobbyists, it was an opportunity to show off a bit and test out their art,” Van Brunt said. “A lot of people have become more serious thanks to entering into Art in the Park.”

Art in the Park has become a way for the artists in University Park to develop a community within their community.

“It’s a way for us to all get to know each other,” artist Lori Salzman said.

The event includes an awards dinner March 6. At the dinner, Founder Ellen Kaiden will be honored as well as Judy Kramer and Marci Weisgold, who were instrumental in starting the show.

MEET THE ARTISTS

Deborah Van Brunt

Acrylic, mixed MEDIA

Van Brunt has always liked to draw but has never taken an art class.

When she retired 10 years ago, she had a bucket list of activities she was going to do that included ballroom and tap dancing and art.

“The one that’s stuck was art,” she said. “I’m still painting, having great fun and learning.”

Nancy Fairchild 

Oil painter

Fairchild studied art in college, but after graduating, she struggled to make a living at it.

Instead of art, she started her own business in technologies in banking.

When she retired in 2003, Fairchild decided it was her turn to work in art.

“I’m going to paint until I receive a major award or for 10 years, whichever comes first,” she said. “I’m still painting.”

Many of Fairchild’s paintings are of figures and mostly people outdoors.

Lori Salzman

Abstract artist

Salzman was a professional musician with an interest in art. When she retired from music in 2005, she decided to pursue art.

In 2016, Salzman decided to try her hand at encaustic paintings, which is a style of art that uses molten beeswax and adds colored pigments.

“I’ve often said my studio is as much a laboratory as it is a studio,” Salzman said. “I’m always experimenting.”