Something special can be found at art fair

Lawrence artists craft unique gifts for guild-sponsored event

Holidays are a time for gifts, but in Lawrence it also is time for the arts. You can, at the same time, get a creative holiday gift and support the arts in Lawrence at the 2005 Holiday Art Fair.

The fair is a fundraising event sponsored by the Lawrence Art Guild to support artists in Lawrence, and it has been going on for 25 years. But each year, the fair brings more people from Lawrence and its surroundings. This year, the fair will host 70 artists, working in various media such as ceramics, painting, photography, mosaic, glass, jewelry and printmaking.

“Our mission is to support area artists,” said Linda Baranski, president of the Lawrence Art Guild.

Baranski’s work will be at the fair. She is a mosaic artist, and she also works with printmaking and oil painting.

“I’ve been focusing in more ancient-type art,” Baranski said. She said that after a trip to Italy, ancient art has been a frequent subject in her work.

The fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 3. There will be live music all day, featuring Leo and Susan Poch, Maria Anthony and Megan Hurt, and Mary Ann Carter. The fair ends with a wine and cheese reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Michelle Babcock assists a customer at the 2004 Holiday Art Fair. This year's event will be Dec. 3.

“There is just a whole range of art this year,” said Patty Burr, coordinator of the event and member of the Lawrence Art Guild.

Burr is another artist who will be part of the fair. She works with ceramics, sculpting various animals. She said her work was an “exaggerated realism,” because she exaggerates the colors and brightness in the animals she portrays. Burr’s work is inspired by the colorful fish she saw in Hawaii, but she expanded this effect to all sorts of animals.

“It’s like turning up the color control on your TV,” Burr said.

Burr graduated from Kansas University in 1970, where she studied drawing and painting. She has been the coordinator of the event for the past 10 years, and she participated as an artist for the past 15 years.

“One huge change is that we are attracting people from the surrounding areas,” Burr said.

She said that people from all over Kansas and Missouri come to the fair, but that this year, there are artists coming from Chicago and Nebraska as well.

“It’s going to be an up year,” she said.

See more information about the Lawrence Art Guild at www.lawrenceartguild.org.

If you go

What: Holiday Art Fair
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 3
Where: Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H.
Reception: After the fair, 6 p.m.-8 p.m.