Original Art on the Square crew helping revive St. Clair County Fair
Some of the original crew who worked on Belleville’s Art on the Square are now helping to revive the St. Clair County Fair by 2026.
Art on the Square founder and former Belleville Mayor Patty Gregory this week confirmed she is among four chairpeople leading what will become a larger committee to plan the future county fair.
Gregory said she worked with two other chairpeople in the early days of Belleville’s fine art show, which is now in its 23rd year. They include Cathleen Lindauer, the former director of Belleville Illinois Tourism and a past member of the first Art on the Square committee, and Anne Kolsen, a past Art on the Square volunteer who previously ran the art cash program for the event.
Jann Severit, director of the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds Park expo center, is also a chairperson for the new fair committee.
St. Clair County purchased and is renovating the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds, which will once again host a county fair next summer.
Severit said the event is scheduled to take place July 30-Aug. 1 at the fairgrounds, 200 South Belt East in Belleville.
The fairgrounds last hosted a county fair in 2014. It was canceled the following year due to financial difficulties.
The County Board voted at its meeting Monday night to apply for $60,000 in state funding available for county fairs.
The St. Clair County Fair received almost $69,000 from the state in 2014, according to past BND reporting. Illinois suspended funding for county fairs in 2015 because of a budget stalemate, which lasted until 2017.
The fair had operated at a loss for a couple of years before the 2015 cancellation, the president of the St. Clair County Fair Association told the BND in 2015.
Plans for the 2026 fair are in the early stages and subject to change, both Gregory and Severit said.
The committee wants to bring unique attractions to the event, according to Gregory. She said some of the ideas discussed include featuring farm-to-table restaurants and chefs who use fresh, local ingredients and highlighting the history of the fairgrounds as a Civil War training camp for the Union Army, possibly with re-enactments.
This story was originally published December 19, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
