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Arts & Entertainment

Schlafly Art Outside Showcases Artists' Work

Schlafly hosted the annual alternative art fair, featuring local artists, music and food.

Local and regional artists gathered on the weekend of Sept. 10 to showcase their passion and work at the seventh annual Schlafly Art Outside festival in downtown Maplewood.

Rows of artist booths and tents ran along Southwest Avenue and in the parking lot of Schlafly Bottleworks. Many of the artists participating in the festival expressed a love for the city's thriving artistic community.

"I've done really well here," said O'Fallon artist Wm. Kyle Davis. "People actually buy art — unlike some shows, which are mainly social events. Maplewood is artistic. It's an interesting place."

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Amy Van Donsel, a mixed media artist, hasn't attended many art fairs, but made a point to participate at Art Outside.

"I like the alternative nature of this festival, and I like how this art fair focuses on local artists and building a community," Van Donsel said.

True to the unique nature of the show, artists showcased their wares in a wide range of mediums, including paintings, drawings, pottery, hats, collages, textiles and even typewriters.

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Artist Tim Jordan exhibited his unique pieces made up of antique typewriters cut and melded, some of them fused with glass. Jordan also plays the typewriter as a percussion instrument and has won the "Best Work Least Likely to Be at an Art Fair" prize for five years in a row at the Maplewood festival.

In addition to scoping out local artists' booths, festival-goers watched live cooking demonstrations from professional chefs, participated in arts and crafts tables and listened to live performances from local bands.

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