An online map will guide shoppers through Salem’s first Virtual Art Fair, an effort to sustain artists during a pandemic that forced a cancellation of the usual Bush’s Pasture Park event. The virtual doors open at 9 a.m. Saturday, July 18.
About 125 artists are signed up to participate in the first from-your-home Salem Virtual Art Fair on Saturday, July 18, and Sunday, July 19.
The online festival runs from 9 a.m. Saturday until 9 p.m. Sunday. There is no cost to exhibitors or shoppers.
Initially, Salem Art Association officials expected 70 to 80 vendors, but that number jumped to 105, and then 25 more people signed up.
The increased participation is credited to word getting out that there was to be an art fair after all, although in a different format.
A video online explains how it will all work.
LINK: Salem Virtual Art Fair video
The association in March canceled what is one of Salem’s marquee summer events. Usually the three-day festival takes place the third week in July at Bush’s Pasture Park. It draws about 35,000 visitors, generating about $220,000 in revenue.
There were fears concerning the potential transmission of Covid, and then Gov. Kate Brown announced a lockdown and imposed gathering restrictions, making holding a traditional art fair impossible.
“The Salem Art Association is determined to fly the flag again in 2020 regardless of the challenges,” Sandra Burnett, Salem Art Association executive director, wrote in an email to Gallery Guides, the docents at the Bush Barn Art Gallery.
She went on to say “this is being done as a community service to honor the idea of community resilience but also to support the artists at a particularly difficult time.”
Many artists make their livelihoods selling their work at events around the country. However, the pandemic has forced the cancellation of fairs and festivals.
“While we honor a proud Salem tradition, we hope that our virtual event may help them to some extent,” Burnett said.
To “visit” the fair, shoppers can go to the association’s website, salemart.org, and click on the virtual festival link. Displayed will be an aerial overview of Bush’s Pasture Park with icons representing various fair locations.
Those include the artists’ booths, the demonstration area, the Main Stage, Bush Barn and the children’s court.
Visitors can click on an art or craft category and a pop-up window will introduce the artist. Another click will take fairgoers to a guide where each artist in a particular category will have their own page displaying artwork and a video when available.
Shoppers can buy directly from the artists or on Etsy. The artists will pay a commission to art association for what they sell.
A click on the children’s icon will bring up instructions for kids and families to color a snow cone. The drawings can later be left at Bush Barn, where they will be displayed in the windows, and they will be posted online.
A click on the Main Stage icon will bring up music by Rich McCloud, Kristen Grainger and True North and performances by the Children’s Educational Theater.
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