Beaux Arts Fair celebrates 55th

This weekend, items both larger and smaller than the wooden breadbox from Shatek’s Wood Chalet can be found at the 55th Beaux Arts Fair in downtown Davenport.

And several unusual items make this fair just as sweet as The Fudge Box confections found in the food court section.

The whole fair has been re-juried to create a new mix of wares, according to committee member Tom Magers, owner of Major Art and Hobby. With the mighty Mississippi River receded enough to gain easy access, almost 150 artists from seven states have been slated to show their work for sale on Second Street between Brady and Iowa streets for the two-day event.

John Swanson of Council Bluffs, Iowa, travels all over the country with his pure pewter leaf designs. “We make the designs in clay, and a mold of that, and then melt the ingots in a furnace in my garage,” he said. The process uses spin and gravity casting and the result is a remarkably lifelike leaf made of solid pewter.

Modern folk art stars and other works sold well at Stacey Edwards’ Have a Heart Collection on Saturday. She paints vivid colors on metal, glass, wood and clay. “A little bit of everything,” she says.

This is Edwards’ third time traveling from Des Moines to participate. “I like coming here early in the season,” she said, citing Mother’s Day weekend as a good time.

Sally Rasmussen of Clear Lake, Iowa, a retired Iowa State Art Teacher of the Year, hand paints silk scarves. “When I went back for my masters, they told me to try silk, and look what happened,” she said. While many of her scarves have carefully painted flowers or other nature designs, her “Sassy Sally” designs are caricatures of real people.

Chicken, goose, ostrich and emu eggs filled many baskets under Shirley Beeg’s tent. “They are real eggs covered with decorative paper and dipped twice in polymer resin,” said the Valparaiso, Ind., artist. “It’s a 27-step process, though,” she added. The resulting eggs are extremely hardy as well as decorative.

Beeg can comply with most design requests: “I usually have about 1000 eggs in inventory.”

Under Saturday’s cool temperatures and with occasional distant whistles of tugboats on the river, fair goers strolled with their dogs, stopped to chat with friends, and gathered to eat funnel cakes, gyros, nachos or hot dogs.

The white tents lining Second Street also include paintings, ceramics and glass, metal art, woodworking, leather goods, stained glass, jewelry, garden stones, batik, wind chimes made of cut agates, and hand-woven scarves and hand-woven baskets.

The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2450 or newsroom@qctimes.com.