© 2024 WVIK
Listen at 90.3 FM and 98.3 FM in the Quad Cities, 95.9 FM in Dubuque, or on the WVIK app!
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

A First for the Snake Alley Art Fair

The show will go on for the Snake Alley Art Fair in Burlington this weekend – just not in person for the first time in its 53 year history. The fair will instead be held online.

Organizers made the change because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hillaurie Fritz-Bonar, Communications Director for the Art Center of Burlington (which hosts the art fair), said this year’s artists are featured in a photo album on the Snake Alley Art Fair’s Facebook page.

“People can go on and click through the album and they’ll see each artist that’s participating.  It will have a little blurb about the artist and a link to their Facebook page or their website. And people can shop directly from the artist,” Fritz-Bonar said. 

She said around 25 artists are participating, which is less than the usual 70-80 artists.  But she said the fair will still have a wide variety of unique art for sale: jewelry, glasswork, metal work, photography, and more.

“These are really cool, one-of-a-kind pieces and some of the artists do commission work,” she said.

The Snake Alley Art Fair takes place the third Sunday of June. But Fritz-Bonar said this year you don’t have to wait until Sunday to browse and shop.

“You can start purchasing artwork now. They’re all on the Facebook page. And you should still be able to continue to place orders even after Sunday,” she said.

And unlike past years, no one will have to worry about the weather.

“This is probably my sixth year of helping plan the Snake Alley Art Fair and we’ve gotten really luck with the weather. So if this is the year to rain, please do it,” Fritz-Bonar said with a laugh.

“It’s a bummer that we can’t have a physical fair. It’s a Father’s Day tradition for a lot of people in this area. But it’s nice to be able to offer this (the online fair) to the artists and the community.”

This story was produced by Tri States Public Radio.  TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department please consider making a financial contribution.

Copyright 2021 Tri States Public Radio. To see more, visit Tri States Public Radio.

Related Content