Prairie State Art Festival brings artists to Arlington Park
For the first time, Arlington Park will host the Prairie State Art Festival showcasing 25 juried Illinois artisans Saturday and Sunday.
Artists will be competing for $10,000 in prize money, with each artist having one or more items with a special horse or horse racing theme on display. The show will be held in conjunction with the 2008 Prairie State Festival of Racing, in which Illinois-bread horses will vie for total purse money in excess of $600,000.
Each participating artist is required to create a donation piece that should reflect horse racing and horses.
Here is a look at several artists who will be showing this weekend:
Brian Sauerland, Palatine
Q. How long have you been an artist?
A. Graduated from the Milwaukee Institution of Art and Design and has been a professional artists for 18 years.
Q. What do you enjoy most about the Prairie State Art Festival?
A. It gives him the opportunity to be apart of a local event and the horse racing aspect of the festival. He also enjoys this festival because there is a lot of energy and enthusiasm about it.
Q. What does your donation piece reflect?
A. His donation piece is a realistic image of a horse profile. He said that it is very representational and captures the essence of the horse. The medium he used was pastels.
Amanda Murphy, Streamwood
Q. How long have you been an artist?
A. Since high school, but has been making a living as a professional artist for two years now.
Q. What do you enjoy most about the Prairie State Art Festival?
A. This is her first year participating in the festival, but she used to live in Palatine and really enjoys the racetrack. She feels that it is a really fun and creative idea to have an art festival at Arlington Park.
Q. What does your donation piece reflect?
A. Her artistic style is contemporary photography. For her donation piece, she is going to go on site to the track and take photos.
Mary and Spencer Watson, Prospect Heights
Q. How long have you been an artist?
A. Mary has been an artist all her life. She has been a professional making a living off her art for about 16 years now. Her and her husband work together.
Q. What do you enjoy most about the Prairie State Art Festival?
A. Mary and Spencer enjoys the Prairie State Art Festival because of all the support, promotions, and positive energy that goes into it. They liked how localized the festival is and they love the track and horses. They are also excited about the prize money.
Q. What does your donation piece reflect?
A. Mary has a couple of unique techniques that she uses when creating art and deciding whether or not to create a flowing artsy piece or a mechanical piece.
If you go
What: Prairie State Art Festival, in conjunction with the 2008 Prairie State Festival of Racing
When: 11:15 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Where: Arlington Park, 2200 W. Euclid, Arlington Heights
Cost: $7 general park admission, includes day of racing; $1 discount if purchased in advance online
Call: (847) 385-7410 or visit www.arlingtonpark.com