Peoria Art Guild Fine Art Fair
September 28 – 29, 2024
Saturday: 10-5 | Sunday: 10-4
NEW THIS YEAR! ALL PEORIA ART GUILD MEMBERS MAY ENTER THE FAIR AT 9AM ON SATURDAY!
It's our 62nd anniversary for bringing original art to central Illinois and we want you to be a part of the celebration! As one of the oldest art organizations in the country, the Peoria Art Guild Fine Art Fair is nationally recognized. We offer affordable hotel rates, convenient parking, and 500+ volunteers. This is the Peoria Art Guild's major fundraising event of the year. All proceeds benefit the Art Guild's community outreach and programming. Thank You to all of our Sponsors for all they do to support this event!
Location
Riverfront Festival Park
200 NE Water Street
Peoria, IL
Free Parking / Click here for parking map
Admission
$10 per person per day
CHILDREN 12 & UNDER FREE
MEMBERS FREe
2024 Fine Art Fair Map
2024 Fine Art Fair Artists
Meet our 2024 Poster Artist
Our 2024 Fine Art Fair poster artist is Ernie Benton.
A native of Chicago, Illinois, I have been actively involved in artistic activities since early childhood. I am a self-taught artist who started making sketches with pencil and charcoal at a very young age. I consider myself a contemporary artist, and through the years I have worked to develop a unique and distinctive artistic style producing several notable pieces, some by special request for individuals, and for public and private events. I have competed in and won many awards in local, regional and national competitions, for numerous juried shows and exhibitions, building a solid reputation as a well-respected artist.
For me, art is essential to the human experience.A basic understanding and appreciation of the arts serves to broaden character and deepen the connections with those in our social circles(A Passion for Jazz!). I like to use my art as an opportunity to inform, educate, and ignite the interest of art lovers and students. The paintings I create depict the sounds, flavor, and vibrations of life and I hope that in some authentic way to generate an opportunity for communication and understanding.
My mediums of choice are acrylics and pastels, and my palette is a mixture of earth tones, cool pastels, and vivid primary colors that focus on styles, texture, and form. Of my creative process, I am inspired by passion, beauty, and the abstracts and intangibles of music, thought, form and shape. My work mostly revolves around the interplay of shapes and color, and the interaction between the abstract and the figure. Many of my pieces are evocative of the great Picasso in geometry and form, yet display a truly distinctive approach. I have recently ventured into the "Wearable Art" arena with Le Galeriste clothing designers and manufacturer to bring selected paintings to the fashion industry.
My wife and I now reside in North Texas where I am actively involved in local art organizations, juried exhibitions, public art projects, and participate in selective Juried Fine Art Festivals throughout the country. My paintings are collected and displayed in fine homes and private collections across the United States including California, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Georgia, Missouri, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Florida, New York, Kansas, Oklahoma, Washington DC., and in the collection of Northlake College in Irving, Texas, and my painting, Quaker Town, commissioned by the City of Denton TX Public Art Project, which hangs in the Denton Texas City Hall.
I BUY ART: Supporting the arts in Peoria
Again this year, we are proud to promote the I BUY ART Campaign which is exclusive to the Fine Art Fair in Peoria. The campaign was launched to reinforce a philosophy that the best way to support the arts is to buy art. “We are thrilled to encourage this initiative that promotes Peoria as a community that supports its artists. This will enhance our Fine Art Fair and our city as a supportive art community that welcomes our guests and artists to come back another time and explore more of what Peoria has to offer.”, said Shannon Cox Director of the Fine Art Fair. This year’s collector buttons are navy blue and can be obtained from the artists when you purchase their work.
2024 Emerging Artists -
Angela Risinger is an artist specializing in relief printmaking. She is teaching printmaking classes with the Peoria Art Guild. After attending Eastern Illinois University, she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art. Ever since she was young, Angela has always had an interest in nature. This interest reflects in her artwork and prints that she creates.
2024 Guest Artist - John Boylan
John Boylan (artjeb), creates mixed media artwork often using bright and colorful tones across multiple layers of joyous texture and design. His creativity isn’t tied to any one specific art form or expression. He’s just as happy painting as he is editing photos, entertaining or building a mini-skyscraper out of raisins. Common materials used consist of acrylic and enamel paint, silicone, epoxy resin, photographs, laser print transfers and random scraps of miscellaneous texture.
A lot of John’s content has personal meaning to him, but sometimes it’s just as simple as making him laugh or smile. His work is often inspired by things that most of us have chosen to ignore from our vision over time. Vintage concepts and elements from his personal history are also often explored and help people connect to his work, reminisce and form a closer connection with him. Overall, there is no denying his love for pop culture, the obscure and complete random.
John’s latchkey lifestyle as a child was a key contributor in helping him shape his creative thinking and acquire the skills needed to entertain himself. During his later school years he was highly influenced by the skateboard, punk rock and hip-hop culture that he grew up with. He studied art at Columbia College in Chicago, with a concentration in oil painting, printmaking and experimental photography. You will often see those techniques combined in his work today. He currently lives and works in Peoria, Illinois.
2024 Guest Artist- Eric & Nikole Cooney
Nikole and Eric Cooney are married artists living in East Peoria, IL. Both artists bring their individual backgrounds together to mesh into one creative experience.
Eric's sculpture is predominantly water related and is informed by his work in the water treatment industry for over 10 years. His most recent works read as archaeological unveilings of known and unknown species.
Nikole’s love of nature and animals is evident throughout her sculpture where creatures of land, sea and sky are depicted in a fantastical, storybook-like manner.
As both artists combine creative forces a unique world is created where fantasy dances with reality.
OSF Community Mural
If you think the kids are the only ones having fun, the interactive Community Mural is designed for adults. It takes hundreds of people to participate in this fun, hands-on activity — and everyone attending the fair can watch as the mural literally comes together tile-by-tile over this three-day event. It's free, it's fun and it's Peoria's nod to last years Best of Show Award Winner, Carrie Pearce.
Kids Art Festival
This year’s Kids Art Festival will celebrate the inner artist in the youngest creators. Using repurposed and recycled materials, kids can boldly proclaim "I Make Art" Kids are welcome to make their mark on the kids art mural, create a collage, create a “I Make Art” button, and add to the beat of the of the fair by making instruments. The best news is its FREE!
Other things offered will include:
Balloon Artist
Face Painter
Magician
Entertainment
On entering the fair, you can enjoy live musical selections throughout our scenic riverfront as a backdrop to your viewing and purchasing of the art on display.
Food & Beverages
Exceptional palate-pleasers from some of Peoria's favorites will be available from:
Phoenix Food Truck
The Station
Tony’s On Wheels
Popcorn Heaven
Grill Em All
Demarchis Coffee Truck
Beer, Wine, and Water Tents
Water, and beer will be available to purchase at several locations throughout the fair. Again this year, sponsored by CEFCU, we are inviting Mackinaw Valley Winery, Tres Rojas Winery, Hidden Hills Winery and Spoon River Junction Winery to the Fair. Each winery will be sampling some of their best wines by CEFU Stage. If you like what you try, you can purchase a glass at the wine kiosk so you can enjoy while you shop at the Fair.
The 2024 wine tasting tent is sponsored by CEFCU
Peoria Art Guild Information
The best volunteers on the planet will answer all your questions about the Fine Art Fair, locating a specific artist, or directions to the Kids Art Festival. They can also tell you about upcoming special events. A fundraising raffle will also be at the PAG tent with current works from participating artists. And don't miss the official Fine Art Fair commemorative poster and T-shirts. They are a great, affordable way to support the Fine Art Fair.
