Prairie State Art Fair - June 20-21

In conjunction with the Prairie State Festival of Racing, the Prairie State Art Fair will feature some of the finest artists from Illinois in a judged art show. Artists will compete for $5,000 in prize money. Artist booths will be set-up in the Park and feature items of all price ranges for sale.

Sunday - Father's Day

Father's Day is one of three premium days on the 2009 Arlington Park calendar with admission being $10 at the gates. Guests can save $3 by purchasing in advance online by clicking here. For more information about Father's Day click here.

Featuring the following artists:

Marilyn Hageman Borglum

http://marilynhagemanborglum.com/

Marilyn Hageman Borglum has been consistently gaining notoriety in the art world for her traditional decorative images as well as for her unique life size acrylic paintings of horses.

Marilyn earned her Bachelors of Fine Art in Painting from Colorado State University in 1984 and in 1989 returned to Colorado State University where she earned her Masters of Fine Art degree in Painting with a strong emphasis in Lithographic printmaking.

Her own work during this period focused on the form and gesture of the horse which had long been a theme throughout her years in art school as well as in her formative years. All of Marilyn's work is strongly rooted in traditional and formal skills and problem solving and it is evident in her work. Because of this her florals, still life imagery and landscapes have gained her significant recognition in commercial decorative art markets. Her decorative work is represented by a major publisher and continues to gain momentum in international as well as national markets.

In addition to her decorative work, Marilyn remains compelled to the explore imagery of the horse. With acrylic paint as her medium, her sensitivity to their form, energy and gesture is unique and captivating especially in her life size horses. Perhaps Marilyn's drive and desire to depict the horse on a grand scale can be at least partially explained by her biological DNA, as her ancestors Gutzon and Solon Borglum were both recognized for their monumental work of horses and figures. Gutzon of course best known for the commissioned work Mount Rushmore Memorial, and the torch for The Statue of Liberty.

Teresa DeVer

http://www.deveroriginals.com/

Teresa DeVer has always had an intense passion for the arts, and enjoys nurturing this passion through many creative outlets.  Her designs are created using the ancient artistic techniques of Wire Sculpture and hand-woven chains.

Teresa's designs are primarily hand-sculpted, using minimal tools and no soldering.  With the hand-sculpting process, no two pieces are exactly alike, which results in one-of-kind, exciting wearable art.  In creating hand-woven chains, the artist forms and hand cuts her own jump rings for her creations.  To maintain the high quality this artist demands, only the highest grade of natural gemstones are utilized along with 14k gold filled and ARGENTIUM Sterling Silver in the sculpting and chain-weaving processes.

Brian J. Sullivan

http://www.briansullivanart.com/

Brian J.Sullivan is a professional artist residing in Champaign, Illinois. He obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Metalsmithing at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in 1981 and a Masters Degree of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the University of Illinois, Urbana in 1988.

Brian is regularly showing in a variety of venues as well as in an ongoing series of art festivals around the mid-west and south-eastern United States.

Mary Watson 

www.MaryAndSpencerWatson.com

Mary and Spencer's work features finely handcrafted, unique pieces that are created with care and purpose for the pleasure of our customers. Mary uses metalsmithing fabrication processes such as hollow/fold forming, piercing, soldering, hammering, texturing, polishing and stone setting for each jewelry/sculpture creation. She works primarily in sterling silver with yellow gold accents. Torch fired enamel is often worked into the pieces. She frequently sets unusual materials such as jaspers, fossils, opals, pearls and lake stones. Many of her pieces are mounted on removable display bases which allow the work to function as small scale sculpture as well as wearable art. Spencer creates images and sculptural "heads" on individually hand-picked stones by using hand cut stencils and a sand-blasting process. His pieces evoke a primitive beauty with style and humor. The smaller pieces are often incorporated into Mary's jewelry. The other stones are great as stand alone sculptures or wonderful in groups.

Tammy L. Deck

www.tlddesigns.com

For over 25 years, Tammy's focus has been on the creation of wearable art; garments, accessories and jewelry. She begins with the selection of fibers and the hand painting of yarn, and progress to the creation of cloth, and finally the draping, sculpting and finishing of each wearable item. Her fabrication methods include hand weaving, hand and loom knitting, crochet, hand painting and dyeing, as well as, the recycling (up-cycling) of textiles. The common thread within her work is undoubtedly her approach to color and combining textures.

Lately, Tammy has indulged herself in her fascination with traditional wet felting. This technique is a natural, primitive method of creating fabrics that allows her to break free from the grid and work in a fluid style. Through this exploration she creates very organic looking pieces containing ripple and echo effect textures.  This medium is also quite sculptural which allows her to create hats, purses and accessories that transcend function.

Keri Ippolito

http://www.keriippolito.com/

Keri paints landscapes and abstracts both with the intent to encompass aspects of atmosphere, and an emotional response to the scene or senses.  As in all art forms, she tries to communicate in paint what she perceives in the world around me.

Keri has found in the medium of acrylic new ways to express and relay emotion within the painting.  She likes to use different colors, textures and materials to convey a mood. Keri loves the speed and freedom of acrylics but still loves working in oil and often combines the two.  

Lorenzo Cimaglio