“What is your vision of the Brome Fair?”
The tradition of fair posters
For years, the Brome Fair has been distinctive among Eastern Townships Fairs in being the only local agricultural fair in the region to have its own commemorative fair posters. A tradition in larger exhibitions, notably the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, the posters have provided a unique souvenir of each year that sets the fair apart from its neighbours.
Lee Patterson, the vice president of the fair board, traced the tradition back to local artist Doreen Benenati.
“She would make the posters and then sell them at the fair,” Patterson said, adding that although he is not completely certain how far back the posters go, the tradition is easily more than 20 years old.
Benenati, the vice president said,
made the posters up until the end of her life.
“When she passed away we decided to do an artistic contest,” Patterson said, adding that opening up the idea in that way has allowed the fair to work with a number of local artists and styles in the years since.
The competition is based around the question, “what is your vision of the Brome Fair?”
This year, the selected design was by local artist and Savonnerie de l’estrie founder Kara Needham.
“I’ve been going to the fair my entire life,” Needham said
At the time of this interview, Needham had yet to see this year’s poster in print, but she described the selected artwork as an image of the fair at night. Inspired by her family’s love of some of the events that take place on the fairgrounds after the sun goes down, like the truck pulls and music shows, the artist also said that the work shows off a different side of the fair than has been visible on some past years’ posters.
Although the chosen painting is a night scene, the artist said that the work is still as bright and colorful as one might expect from a fair poster, just in a different way.
Asked what inspired her to enter the contest, Needham said that she has been painting since her early 20s, but always for fun and without any kind of formal training.
“I just sort of fell into the scene,” she said, pointing out that she is now president of a local artists’ group and is responsible for the artwork associated with her company’s products.