Belleville’s Art on the Square is still on for 2021. Here’s how plans are shaping up
Leaders of Belleville’s nationally ranked Art on the Square expect 90 artists to participate in the downtown art show, which is scheduled for Oct. 22-24.
“We’re really pleased with the artists,” said Tom Barnett, president of the Art on the Square board of directors.
“People are looking forward to an art show and something that will be fun,” he said.
All of the artists who were invited to the canceled 2020 show were invited back for 2021 and 80 of those artists accepted. Ten other artists on the waiting list also were added, bringing the total number to 90. The show usually features 100 artists.
The three-day show, which is free to attend, is normally held each May, but the 2020 show was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 show was moved to October.
Coronavirus restrictions on festivals were lifted on June 11 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, but infection levels have increased in the past couple of weeks. Pritzker said he hasn’t ruled out another shutdown due to the rise of COVID-19 cases and the state has placed St. Clair, Madison and Monroe counties on a warning list.
Organizers of Art on the Square and other local festivals planned for the fall urge residents to get a COVID vaccination to help reduce the spread of the virus. They said the festivals will follow the latest guidance from health officials.
Art show leadership
Along with dealing with disruptions caused by the coronavirus, the show’s organizers have had to absorb some additional workload from Patty Gregory, the show’s founder and executive director, who was elected mayor of Belleville in April.
Gregory remains on the board of directors but Barnett said others have divvied up many of her duties. Barnett said he calls Gregory when he needs to find out how various issues were handled in the past.
“Patty started this thing from scratch and it’s turned out to be a phenomenal thing for the city of Belleville,” Barnett said. “Patty’s always had a lot of people involved with things.”
Barnett noted that the show has over 20 committees and every committee chairperson decided to stay on duty for the October show and the 2022 show scheduled for May 13-15.
“The people on the committee have just stepped up,” Gregory said. “From the very beginning everyone who has been involved with this have had total devotion to the show and the city of Belleville because they know what an opportunity it is for the community and the economic impact it has.”
Barnett said the board is doing fundraising instead of Gregory in an effort to avoid a conflicts of interest with her mayoral duties. Gregory said she did not want to be involved in fundraising in case one of the donors had to appear before the City Council.
Most of the sponsors from previous shows have decided to support this year’s show, Barnett said.
Art on the Square began in 2001, making this year’s show the committee’s 20th.
The 2019 Art on the Square was ranked fourth nationwide in exhibitor sales reported to Art Fair SourceBook and the show was ranked No. 1 nationwide in sales six times between 2006 and 2017.
October art show plans
All of the primary facets of Art on the Square are planned for October except for one: the high school student art competition.
Barnett said there isn’t enough time between the beginning of school and the art fair in the fall to stage this contest. The high school competition will be part of the art fair in May, he said.
Other community outreach programs will be conducted in the fall, including the artist in residence program that brings Art on the Square artists into area schools to meet students.
The sculpture in the city program has rotated with area high schools and this year it will be conducted at Althoff Catholic High School with artist Kent Epler.
Art show visitors also will be invited to tour historic homes in Belleville.
Longtime Art on the Square participant Don Nedobeck died last year and his wife and son have been invited to operate booth with Nedobeck’s work, which included whimsical pieces that often featured cats.
This year’s show will run 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23; and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24.
For more information, go to artonthesquare.com.
This story was originally published July 24, 2021 at 6:01 AM.
