More than 180 artists and nearly 80,000 visitors will visit Brookside for the 25th Brookside Art Annual, April 30, May 1 and 2, presented by Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City.
The inaugural year of the Art Annual, Virginia Kellogg, past director of the Brookside Business Association, envisioned a Brookside art fair similar to what Prairie Village and Plaza merchants were doing. Limited to Kansas City-based artists, the first Art Annual displayed paintings in Brookside business storefronts, according to LaDene Morton, author of an upcoming book on the history of the area’s shops. After growing in popularity among the public, local merchants and artists, the first tent went up on Brookside Boulevard in 1987.
What began as a small-scale art fair in storefront windows now draws artists from around the country; local, national and international artists displaying art of all types and price ranges.Art Source consistently ranks the Art Annual, the first art fair of the season in Kansas City, as one of the top 25 in the country.
The event also attracts a diverse crowd – from families and groups of friends out enjoying the spring weather and the chance to browse and purchase eclectic art, to serious collectors who rely on the reputation of the Brookside Art Annual to attract and assemble a large and varied group of works. A wide variety of media – including acrylic, oil and watercolor painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, glass, fiber and jewelry – will be represented.
The Brookside Business Association invited a select group of artists to create artwork commemorating the Art Annual’s 25th anniversary. Rusty Leffel’s photographic montage of Brookside was the chosen winner. His work is displayed on the Art Annual’s 2010 logo. Commemorative merchandise with the 2010 logo will be for sale at the event at the information booth, including t-shirts, sweatshirts, posters and note cards.
New to this year’s event will be a gift certificate program, rewarding shoppers for supporting the arts. If you spend $500 in art purchases, you get a $20 Brookside gift certificate. Or, if you spend $250 in art purchases, you get a $10 Brookside gift certificate. Simply bring your art purchase receipts to the information booth located along 63rd Street by the food booths and get your gift certificate to “taste” Brookside. Multiple receipts can be combined to reach one of the qualifying amounts. One gift certificate is allowed per person for the entirety of the event.
Artists’ booths are set up under tents, allowing the show to go on, rain or shine. The event hours are 5 – 9 p.m. on Friday, April 30; 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. on Saturday, May 1; and 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 2.
A children’s art activity area will be available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Several Brookside restaurants will be serving food from booths during the fair, and light music will enhance the festive atmosphere each evening.
A complete list of participating artists and schedule of events are available at www.brooksidekc.org.