Rockford Art Museum (RAM) and Midland States Bank present the 73RD GREENWICH VILLAGE ART FAIR on Saturday, September 18, overlooking the scenic Rock River at the Riverfront Museum Park, located at 711 North Main Street in downtown Rockford, Illinois. Held rain or shine, the outdoor festival features nearly 60 juried artists from throughout the country selling original paintings, drawings, sculpture, prints, jewelry and more, with kids activities, a marketplace, live music, food, craft beer and specialty drinks.
The 73rd Greenwich Village Art Fair (GVAF) takes place Saturday, Sept. 18—rain or shine—on the grounds of Rockford Art Museum (RAM) at Riverfront Museum Park, 711 N. Main St., in downtown Rockford, Illinois. The annual outdoor event features 55 juried artists, live music by local musicians, an artisan marketplace, children’s art activities, food trucks, cocktails and more. Established in 1948, Greenwich is the longest-running art fair of its kind in the Midwest. Presenting sponsor is Midland States Bank; premier sponsors are the Dean Alan Olson Foundation, Lon + Dick Behr and Cathy + Rob Funderburg. Gates are open 10 a.m.– 6 p.m. Saturday followed by an after-hours party and music event until 9:30 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, free for children 12 and younger. Tickets are available at the gate (cash only). Ticket proceeds help support RAM programs throughout the year.
Exhibiting at this year’s fair are 55 artists from across the nation. Types of artwork represented include paintings, jewelry, sculpture, glass, ceramics, textiles, photography, wood, mixed-media, and more. Artists compete for awards on the first day of the fair, where their work will be viewed by 2021 Judge April Marque. Awards, including Best of Show and Judge’s Choice awards, will be presented Sat, Sept. 18.List of exhibiting artists at end of the article.
For the sixth year in row, the Rockford Mass Transit District Trolley bus will transport fairgoers from parking lots off-site at no charge (open to close).
Special events at the fair include Greenwich After Hours (6–9:30 p.m.) at Burpee Amphitheater featuring music by local favorite, The Bitter Ends followed by Chicago’s The Steepwater Band, Art Raffle (announced Saturday, with raffle prizes of original artwork donated by 5 exhibiting artists), after-party at Point Bar and Spark Champagne Bar until 8 p.m. and live t-shirt printing of this year’s Greenwich design by Ronin Branding.
Greenwich Main Stage at the Amphitheater at Burpee features LIVE MUSIC all day by local musicians including Lincoln Flowers, Honey Cellar, Harlan Jefferson, Boom Boom Room and Half Catholic with The Bitter Ends and The Steepwater Band performing at the After-Hours event. All sets are included with fair admission.
For the first time this year, local food trucks will be on-site serving everything from bao sandwiches to woodfired pizza. Village Pub will also serve sodas, teas, and LaMonica brands of beer, wine and hard seltzers. Local and regional vendors at the Greenwich Artisan Marketplace this year include Rockford Woodcrafts, Dip’n Good Dips, PRP Wine International, Canine Crunchery, the Rockford Brand, the book “100 Things to do in Rockford Before You Die”, The High and Mighty, AB Face and Body Art and Ronin Branding. Food and drink vendors include We-B-Popp’n Kettle Korn, Citrus Squeezers, Disco Chicken, Ka Bao, Meg’s Daily Grind, That’s My Dawg, Tita’s Local Kitchen and Veebo’s Pizza. Kortman Gallery Point Bar features signature cocktails, mixed drinks and fine wines and, new this year, Kortman Gallery also presents Spark Champagne Bar featuring champagne cocktails. Point Bar hosts GREENWICH AFTER HOURS on Saturday night (6–8 p.m., with a DJ, and cash bar; admission is included with GVAF ticket or is $5 after-hours). Point Bar will have DJs performing all day on Saturday. The RAM Membership Booth is also located near the entrance, where visitors can easily join the art museum or renew their membership for the upcoming year. 2021 Art Raffle tickets, $5 each or 3 for $10, are available at the GVAF Info Booth. Drawing will be held Saturday, Sept. 18, at 6 p.m.; ticket holders need not be present to win. Exhibiting artists who have contributed their artwork for the raffle include Steve Brewster (blown glass), Jeff Methany (painting), Nick Scheuer (hand-carved birds), and Stephanie Tantillo (jewelry). Sponsored by TREKK Design Group and J.R. Kortman Center for Design, the Emerging Artist Booth features local emerging artists selected by Kortman Gallery.
Kids can make their own take-home art based on this year’s theme “Aliens” at the popular Creations by Kids tent. Hands-on art activities are $1 each, or $5 for all 6. The Creations tent opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. (one hour before the fair closes). While visiting the fair be sure to stop by Rockford Art Museum; several exhibitions are on view including the feature exhibition Technicolor Constellations (through Sept. 26), which features over 50 pieces from the museum’s Modern and Contemporary Collection that tell the fascinating stories of how RAM built a public art collection.
Presenting Sponsor: Midland States Bank; Premier Sponsors: Dean Alan Olson Foundation, Lon + Dick Behr, Cathy + Rob Funderburg. Supporting Sponsors: Illinois State Credit Union, Rockford Area Arts Council, Rockford Mass Transit District, TREKK Design Group Contributing Sponsors: Kortman Gallery and J.R. Kortman Center for Design, Perryville Pet Hospital. Award Sponsors include Lon and Dick Behr, Dean Alan Olson Foundation, Gorman & Company, Kortman Gallery and J.R. Kortman Center for Design, Rockford Mutual Insurance, WilliamsMcCarthy LLP, Wipfli, Women’s Art Board of Rockford Art Museum. The 73rd Greenwich Village Art Fair is co-chaired by Jenny Mathews and Tim Stotz and supported by a Steering Committee. GVAF is also staffed by community volunteers throughout the event. Ticket proceeds help support Rockford Art Museum. Learn more at greenwichvillageartfair.com or facebook.com/greenwichvillageartfair, and follow GVAF during the event at instagram.com/greenwichvillageartfair #gvaf2021.
FULL LIST OF 2021 EXHIBITING ARTISTS
Exhibiting artists include:Gerri Ager(Madison, WI); Shawn Barbagallo (South Beloit, IL); Salem Barker (South Beloit, IL); David Barnes (North Aurora, IL); Bill Bergeson (St. Charles, IL); Vilma Birbilaite (Chicago, IL); Gary + Pat Braker (McHenry, IL); Steve Brewster (Poteau, OK); Dan Brinkmeier (Mount Carroll, IL); Peter Brown (Northbrook, IL); Sharon Cherney (Clayton, WI); Melinda Cook (Freeport, IL); Ron Clevenger (Machesney Park, IL); Kathie Collinson (North Aurora, IL); Dick Dahlstrom (Rockford, IL); Kelly Daniels (Rockton, IL); Claudia Darak (Schererville, IN); Suzanne DiMarco Ferguson (Naples, FL); Barry Dock (Rockford, IL); Christine Duckman (Chicago, IL); Valentina Fedoseeva (Roscoe, IL); Paige Griffin (Rockford, IL); Joy Griffis (Rockford, IL); Nikki Hollander (Rockford, IL); Christina Holm (Rockford, IL); Kelly James (Rockford, IL); Norm Knott (Rockford, IL); Pablo Korona (Rockford, IL); John Lamar (Rockford, IL); James Lassak (North Port, FL); Jennifer Lynde (Rockford, IL); Julie Matos (Willow Spring, IL); Eileen McDaniel (Wautoma, WI); Kari McDonald (Rockford, IL); Nancie King Mertz (Rockford, IL); Jeff Metheny (Rockford, IL); Anne Morris (Rock Island, IL); Mike Murray (Deforest, WI); Toby Nathan-Silverstein (Morton Grove, IL); Hironobu Nishitateno (Loves Park, IL); Susan Otterson (Madison, WI); Chris + Katie Robleski (Milwaukee, WI); Michael Schael (Cambridge, WI); Nick Scheuer (Rockford, IL); Scot Schmidt (Oshkosh, WI); Jean Simonson (Marion, IA); Peter Swanson (Rockford, IL); Stephanie Tantillo (Marengo, IL); Sabrina Tassoni (Rockford, IL); Tres Testolin (Rockford, IL); Thomas Trausch (Woodstock, IL); Michaela Wachlin (Rockford, IL); Adam Weiss (Fort Calhoun, NE); Brett Whitacre (Rockford, IL); Samuel Yao (Ann Arbor, MI). Also featured this year are four Rockford Art Collectives: 317 Art Collective, Fatherless, Fraim & Mortar, and GEM: Gather, Engage, Make.
