THEY SAY it's not bragging if you can back it up, so Art on the Square had every right to hold its "We're No. 1" party Wednesday evening at Bellecourt Place in Belleville.
Nearly 100 Art on the Square committee members, volunteers, show sponsors and sponsors of Sculpture in the City gathered, munched on appetizers courtesy of Illinois Distributing and listened to Patty Gregory, executive director of the art fair, thank them.
"Nothing like this gets done overnight," she said. "You all know. Work actually starts on the next show about two weeks after the other one ends. It's quite an adventure."
Gregory said the show has progressed in the national rankings of the "Art Fair Source Book" each year.
"There are more than 5,000 art shows in the nation every year, and our first year, we were number 42," she said. "Our second year, we were 25. The third year, ninth. In our fourth year, we were named best small-town art show in the nation, and ranked number five overall."
Last year topped their efforts when the magazine, counting the votes of artists from all over the nation, named Belleville No. 1.
"We're the smallest of all the shows, and they call us the baby of the shows," she said. "Yet we can compete with shows with two or three or four hundred artists."
Coming in second was Sausalito, Calif., a suburb of San Francisco, and Cherry Creek, a Denver suburb.
Cathleen Lindauer, tourism director for the Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce, said the town has a lot to be proud of.
"The atmosphere, more than 200 volunteers and keeping the fair to 100 artists are a big part of the reason," she said.
Gregory thanked her committee members. "My committee from heaven," she said. "The public only sees three days, but the work goes on year-round."
Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert said worrying about the details, treating people well, taking care of artists and excellent marketing and promotion are why the fair is No. 1 in the nation.
"Now, Patty was in my office the other day, worrying, how long can we keep this up?" he said.
He said he told her not to worry but just to enjoy it and keep working.
Art on the Square will be May 16-18 in downtown Belleville.
Wally Spiers' column runs five days a week. Have a column idea? Call Wally at 239-2506 or (800) 642-3878; or e-mail: wspiers@bnd.com
