LOUISVILLE, Ky, — The St. James Art Festival is underway, and it is big.
Touted as the largest art festival in the country, St. James Art Festival is underway in Louisville. More than 600 artists and vendors have traveled from across the country U.S. for the three-day event.
Being one of the best art fests in the country means vendors like Arlaina Marie have the potential of selling thousands of dollars’ worth of art this weekend. “Being an artist in any one of the six sections of this show is, it’s beyond an honor. It’s quite a life achievement,” Marie told Spectrum News.
Marie is a New York state raised and Indiana-based artist but is constantly on the road — booked for 40 art festivals and expos this year alone.
“Now I paint the strip, down on my pallet and then bring up to the top of the piece that sits up on the easel and I glue it. These are all done that way, one strip of paper at a time,” Marie explains her process to potential buyers.
At a moment when inflation has Americans spending a lot more on necessities, one might wonder how it affects spending on fine art. Marie is a full-time artist and says the initial months of the pandemic were hard on sales. 2021 and 2022 has been a big turnaround, according to Marie. “I can tell you that ones that seem to be able to afford it do but, yeah, I’m scared because I don’t think this is over yet. I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” Marie says of the economy and American’s spending power.
A few tents over, Sean Corner wears a confident face. “I’m a sculptor of faces,” Corner said. He suggests art is necessary for the soul and expects sales to be strong this year. And with this being his 16th year at St. James, he’s speaking with a lot of experience.
“The more people that you have the better your chances are and this show gets a ton of people so definitely better than most other shows,” the sculptor adds.