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NEWS / MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
Arts and Crafts Festival brings boost to vendors, city
BY LAURA SATHER
lsather@kansan.com
The smell of homemade candles and the sight of handcrafted crafts filled the Douglas County Fairgrounds Saturday.
Lawrence's Parks and Recreation department hosted the sixth annual Spring Arts and Crafts Festival, and special events supervisor Duane Peterson said it featured both commercial and noncommercial vendors. Participants occupied all 81 booths, and vendors sold everything from steel sculptures to homemade pork skins and dip. Peterson said festivals like these are becoming increasingly popular because of the job market.
"There are a lot of people this time around that have been laid off," he said. "So they're using this as another way of making money."
Ann Dahl, an exhibitor from Liberty,Mo., sold license plate art
at the fair. She said she used to do a lot of woodworking on her own, and she has always collected license plates. Then, about a year and a half ago he decided to start making it all into art.
Dahl takes her license plates, cuts them up and uses a nail gun to fasten the letters and numbers to wooden planks to spell out words. She said she made one of her pieces for herself, and then her friends started wanting them. Dahl makes custom pieces now, but her best-seller is a piece that spells "man cave."
Even though the job market is suffering and the economy has taken a hit, Dahl said she thought the fact that people would spend money on her pieces says something about the importance of art.
"I'd like to think that there's a great interest in art," Dahl said. "People want something unique, and when they come here, they say, I've never seen that before." People are willing to still buy gifts for people they
love."
The festival is economically advantageous for Lawrence, as well. The city only has to rent the space, and participants have to pay a fee to feature their work at the fair, so the city makes a large profit from the event.
Peterson said many of the exhibitors are from out of town, so they will come into town on Friday night, stay in a hotel and eat downtown, which he said also helps Lawrence's economy.
The city hosts three other fairs like this one every year; one in September, one in November and one in December.
Edited by Amanda Sorell
Susan Kiefer, an Olathe resident, talks to customers at her booth of homemade hair accessories at the sixth annual Spring Arts and Crafts Festival. The festival took place Saturday afternoon at the Douglas County Fairgrounds.
For more coverage of this story, check out KUJH's newcast today at 4 p.m.
Aaron Harris/KANSAN
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