The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
ARTS FESTIVAL GOING STRONG
Chardon Square Arts Festival continues to grow in popularity and size in its 40th year
“We came up with, ‘let’s try an arts festival and see what happens.’ We had 25 artists who came and we started jurying from the very beginning.”
— Jan Gipson, festival organixer and Chardon Square Associaion founding member
When Jan Gipson saw the 25 artists on the lawn and the quality of the art they had during the first Chardon Square Arts Festival, she thought, “this needs to grow.”
In starting with 25 artists 40 years ago and now having more than 100 in attendance, it has.
“I’ve been so pleased to watch that happen over the years,” said Gipson, who has helped run the arts festival since its beginnings 40 years ago and one of the founding members of the Chardon Square Association.
The association started out with eight people and money they were in need of to decorate the historic Chardon Square, located at the intersection of Routes 44 and 6, at Christmastime.
“We came up with, ‘let’s try an arts festival and see what happens.’ We had 25 artists who came and we started jurying from the very beginning,” Gipson recalled.
“We started out on the lawn of the courthouse and we charged each artist $25. That went into our kitty.”
Many different avenues are represented at the arts festival every year, Gipson said, from pottery, jewelry, brooms, totes, soaps, lotions, honey, maple syrup, metal work, handbags, leather and fabric. In addition, quality art and crafts for everyone can be found from $500 paintings down to a $10 purse.
“If you were looking for a gift for Christmas, you will not leave this park without something in your pocket,” Gipson said. “It’s all unusual, different, beautiful, handmade and I’m amazed at what people can do.”
While some artists in attendance are local, others in attendance come from Pennsylvania, Indiana, Florida, Kentucky and all over Ohio, Gipson said.
“I had an artist this morning who said, ‘I’m brand new here and I’ve heard so much about this. I finally decided to give this a whirl.’ We go to different art shows and we’re always looking for new artists,” Gipson said, who strives to replace a quarter of the show every year if she’s able.
“That’s what keeps it fresh and that’s what keeps the locals coming back,” Gipson said. “We always try to bring in new blood every year.”
This year’s featured, local artists were Jim and Betsy Anderson, of Farmhouse Stoneware. The two have attended the festival for all 40 years.
Jim learned the pottery process in college, but he didn’t use it right away. He went into the work world and after a few years, Jim got a job at the Chardon Library as a clerk. One of the patrons, Mary Etta Burr, was a potter and she opened her studio to Jim.
“She was one of the other founding members of this. When Betsy and I got married, she gave me a kiln as a gift. That started our business,” Jim said. “We’ve been in business for 45 years. It started out as cottage pottery and then in the early 2000s, we changed to Farmhouse Stoneware, so we separated the manufacturing and the retail.”
Out of all of the shows Jim and Betsy have attended, the Chardon Square Arts Festival is the highest quality, crafter after crafter, Jim said.
“They try to keep a balance of art and craft, and it’s been a real job to keep this up,” Jim said. “As a result, you see the crowd here. They know they’re going to find quality. It’s only rained three times in the 40 years. It rained the very first year — just a down pour. We had to cover things, but from the second year on, it was like 30 years before it rained.”
For Jim and Betsy, it’s been a “blessed weekend.” They have always done well and they think many of the others do well.
“The people are special and we live in this community, so we see neighbors and friends,” Jim said. “It’s a hometown thing for us.”
Carol and John Richards, of North Coast Bottle Openers, have been coming to the festival for five years. They started in 2013 out of their garage and they’re still there.
“My husband (John) started with woods and irons, and as we went to different shows, people requested different items,” Carol said. “We would scour flea markets to figure out how to do this. Someone asked if we had any super heroes, so we found those — our latest thing. We do personalize. A tap handle — we can do that. The other new thing are car names.”
Carol and John always enjoy coming to the festival because of the people and its uniqueness.
“We enjoy meeting people as they come into our booth,” Carol said. “It’s an amazing thing for the community to do and it gives us artists a chance to express ourselves. Our kids live in Munson, so this is their haunting grounds in Chardon. It’s close and it’s local.”
For Stephanie Talty, the current Chardon Square Association president on the arts festival committee, it has been a pleasure working underneath Gipson and “learning the lay of the land.”
“People are ready to get out. It’s nice to bring newness and freshness to everything. We started the Harvest Handmade Market because it’s a different feel — more folky,” Talty said. “Some of (the artists) use this to make a living.”
Gipson always says to anyone who comes onto her committee to treat artists like they would treat someone in their own home, she said. Without the artists, there is no show.
“We cater to these people. They’re appreciative because they don’t get a lot of that at different shows they go to,” Gipson said. “It’s been a joy to watch this and to work with these artists. They are wonderful people. “I’ve got artists who are friends and they want to be side by side, so when I layout the park, I get those together. It’s a community.”