Art festival fills courthouse lawn
KRISTI NIEMEYER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 3 months AGO
Caroline Antoinette admires an aspen painting by Polson artist Andrea Johnson during the Courthouse Art Festival. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)
Frank Finley, a former art teacher at Salish Kootenai College, said sales were "slow and steady" at Saturday's art show in Polson. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)
Andrea Johnson shared her paintings at Saturday's Courthouse Art Festival while her granddaughter, Scarlet, helped out. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)
Ann Marie Dussault, a former county commission and state legislator from Missoula, checks out a felted bird at Lynn Johnson's booth during Saturday's Courthouse Art Festival. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)
Kristi Niemeyer is editor of the Lake County Leader. She learned her newspaper licks at the Mission Valley News and honed them at the helm of the Ronan Pioneer and, eventually, as co-editor of the Leader until 1993. She later launched and published Lively Times, a statewide arts and entertainment monthly (she still publishes the digital version), and produced and edited State of the Arts for the Montana Arts Council and Heart to Heart for St. Luke Community Healthcare. Reach her at editor@leaderadvertiser.com or 406-883-4343. | August 17, 2023 12:00 AM
At the Sandpiper Gallery’s 52nd annual Courthouse Art Festival, vendors sold an array of creations Saturday, including jewelry, stained glass, paintings, ceramics and photography. Entertainment and a few treats were also on tap during the event, which coincides with a car show and brewfest on Main Street.
Caroline Antoinette purchased a painting of a stand of bronzed aspens by Andrea Johnson, a St. Ignatius native who now lives near Polson, saying the artwork would complement her new curtains.
Johnson’s granddaughter was helping at the booth, where business was “so-so,” the artist said. “It was very busy this morning and then quieted down after the car show started.”
Lynn Johnson, a Sandpiper gallery member, had a flock of felted birds and objects in her booth, which drew the attention of two well-known Missoulians – former county commissioner and legislator Ann Mary Dussault and former legislator Diane Sands.
Johnson, who also owns a cherry orchard and is a musician as well, says she typically only participates in the courthouse fair and a Christmas show in Kalispell.
Frank Finley, a former art teacher at Salish Kootenai College and proprietor of 32 Cuppa of Java and 32 Pairs of Scissors art studio in Pablo, reported some good sales and a “slow but steady” stream of customers.
This was the second of two outdoor art shows hosted by the gallery. The first, the Flathead Lake Festival of the Arts, was held July 22-23 at Sacajawea Park.
