Town of Chesterton showcases artistic variety and creativity at 66th Annual Chesterton Art Fair

On Saturday, Aug. 2, the Chesterton Art Center, in partnership with the Town of Chesterton, brought together thousands of residents from Northwest Indiana for a display of art excellence at the annual Chesterton Art Fair.

Micah Bornstein, marketing director of the Chesterton Art Center, is grateful to see this tradition continue to get bigger and better over the years.

“This is the 66th annual Chesterton Art Fair,” Bornstein said. “It actually predates the Chesterton Art Center by one year. The Chesterton Art Center presents this festival every year as one of our flagship programs. We see a lot of returning vendors, along with new vendors, who come to the fair every year. Our community reach comes out to about 4,000 people in attendance every year. People are not only coming from Northwest Indiana, but also Southwest Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois to see what this fair has to offer.”

A total of 89 vendors filled Dogwood Park for this year’s event. The fair featured artwork in forms such as photography, painting, sculptures, wood and leather, jewelry, and many more. Every year, the event draws a large number of applicants who are excited to showcase what they have in their art catalog.

“We call this a juried art fair, which means we get a bunch of applications to review each time we host this event,” Bornstein said. “We have an eye towards making sure there is a broad range of disciplines. It’s not just photography and painting, but also things like printmaking, sculpture, and ceramics. We have something that might appeal to everybody.”

While the Chesterton Art Center has put in a lot of work annually for two-thirds of a century, the successful turnout is only possible ever year with the support of the vendors.

“It takes a lot of people to put an event like this one together,” Bornstein said. “We receive over 100 applications for spots from booth vendors as artists each year. We also have a number of food vendors here and live music to make it an even better experience.”

The vendors play an important role not only in showing off what they have to offer, but also inspiring people to unleash their own creative spirit. One young attendee of this year’s show was 9-year-old Annabelle Rossi, who brought a drawing book with her to the event. Rossi walked by one booth at the event featuring local artist Shelby Silverman and her art catalog. One painting in particular stood out to Rossi, and she decided to draw based on the piece.

“I was just walking around and saw one of the paintings from the booth,” Rossi said. “It inspired me to start drawing here. I’m trying to focus on that painting and draw it in my own way.”

Shortly after, Rossi started expanding her own personal art catalog at the event, including a drawing of the Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee Truck.

“I really like art, and there’s a lot here to enjoy,” Rossi said. “I’m here to see what inspires me and try to draw what inspires me.”

More than anything, the Chesterton Art Fair is a way for people in Northwest Indiana to gravitate towards local artists who convey art in a way that’s unique and memorable. While art exists everywhere, you don’t have to look further than the Region to find a collection of talented artists.

“One of the biggest things that we hope people take away from the fair is not only that it exists, but also that it’s very accessible in Northwest Indiana,” Bornstein said. “People can come in, walk around, and have a pleasant afternoon while seeing things they may have never seen before.”

For more information on the Town of Chesterton, visit chestertonin.org