The art business is no different than most other commercial enterprises: it takes a little money to make a little money.
That is true for all of the artists who show their wares at the annual Cherry Creek Arts Festival. Setting up those displays of painting, sculpture, jewelry, photography, ceramics and more requires a significant investment in raw material.
Paint does not come cheap, nor do cameras, clay, precious stones, sheet metal and other supplies. On top of that, individual artists often need to invest in infrastructure costs, like studio rent or installing a kiln or a wood-cutting workshop.
Then, they need to invest in the fair itself. Renting a booth, transporting their work to the site, and three days worth of labor greeting potential buyers. For artists just starting out — who need to navigate the best ways to turn a profit — the job can be daunting.
The Cherry Creek Arts Festival has long offered a leg up for newcomers to the art fair world. For two decades, its Emerging Artists Program has provided mentorship for artists who are in the process of getting their careers going. The program offers professional advice, plus free booth rent for their first fair.
This year, to celebrate the program’s 20th anniversary, the fest is kicking it up a notch. For the first time, it will offer direct financial support, awarding grants of $5,000 to the five artists selected for the 2024 event.
“We do workshops with them, about everything from how to price your work to how to market yourself to how to set up a booth, and all of the things that go into doing this,” said fest CEO Tara Brickell in an interview last week. “And then, in addition to that, this year they’re receiving this unrestricted funding.”
The Emerging Artists Program is highly competitive. This year, the fest received 240 applications and left the task of selecting the final five to the same jury that chooses the fair’s overall participants.
That panel picks winners based on how well the program might help them, but this year’s cohort is also a good example of the makeup of the larger group of artists in the fair, who are from various locations and work across a variety of media.
Emilia Ealom, for example, makes ceramics, while Giulio D’Amore works in wood. Adam Anglin is a graphic designer whose current pieces start out as digital prints before he morphs them into paintings.
And they have different professional profiles. Phoebe Hatch is just 19, a graduate of Boulder High School who now studies at the Rhode Island School of Design. Annie Anderson lives in Portland, Maine. She is a mother of three who studied art in college but only came around to making her practice full-time in 2020.
All of the emerging artists will be set up on the Steele Street portion of the fair. The fest website has bios of the artists, plus Q&A’s explaining how they arrived at the career place they are today.
In all, the 2024 fest will have 250 artists participating. The jury selected that group from a considerable 1,950 applicants, according to Brickell.
The setup will be similar to past years. The event takes place July 5 -7 throughout the streets of the Cherry Creek North shopping district. It goes on rain or shine.
Many of the artists are returning from past years, including crowd favorites such as sculptor Sarah Bowling, from Pittsburgh; glass artist Sam Stang, from Augusta, Mo.; and ceramicist Marge Margulies, from Guerneville, Calif.
There are plenty of fresh faces in the mix. In all, 52 sellers will come for the first time, and they are spread across all 13 of the festival’s art categories, which also includes such disciplines as fiber art, printmaking and metal work.
When the weather cooperates — and it does not always during a Colorado July — business can be brisk. In 2023, sales averaged $18,381 per artist, with more than $4.4 million in total sales, according to the festival.
And fairgoers will find the usual attractions returning, including food and drinks and the popular Creation Station, a hands-on project playground for kids.
The fest does shake up its musical lineup each time around. This year, there will be 14 acts performing over the course of the three days. Local favorites include jazz ensemble Dotsero on Friday, DJ Fa’Dorah on Saturday, and the Mary Louise Lee Band on Sunday. Again, there is a lot of info online, including a map of the booths and advice on where to park.
That said, the most fashionable activity at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival is shopping. Seeking out artists, checking their offerings, chatting them up to learn all about their practices, and then deciding if there is something worth bringing home.
It will all feel like art comfort food for fair regulars, though the presence of new, and emerging, artists is the thing that makes it a unique experience each year. With the right combination of sunshine and sunscreen, it is likely to be a very familiar — and very Colorado — weekend of art.
Ray Mark Rinaldi is a Denver-based freelance writer specializing in fine arts.
IF YOU GO
The Cherry Creek Arts Festival runs July 5 to 7 in Cherry Creek North. It’s free. Info: 303-355-2787 or cherryarts.org.
