(Chelsea Update would like to thank Teresa Freed for the information in this story.)
The 40th Annual Chelsea Painters Art Fair will take place this weekend, Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2 at Silver Maples of Chelsea from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. in the courtyard of the facility at 100 Silver Maples Dr.
It’s expected that 25 award-winning artists will display and sell their original fine art and cards in a variety of media, including watercolor, acrylic, oil, pastel, gouache, encaustic and mixed media.
The event is free, wheelchair accessible and is held in a delightful, park-like outdoor setting. In addition, a lovely indoor café overlooks the art fair, says Teresa Freed.
Parking is available near the front door of the main building and you can Walk through the building to the courtyard out back.
A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to the Chelsea Center for the Arts (CCA) and to the Chelsea Community Hospital Auxiliary Scholarship Fund.
Artists will accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express.
Additional information, including map, driving directions and a parking map, is available here or by calling 734-719-0092.
Be sure to stop by the booth of Nancy Feldkamp, the last remaining founding member of the Chelsea Painters.
In addition to it being the 40th anniversary of the art fair, it’s also the 45th year of founding of the Chelsea Painters.
“Let’s just say that my adventure in art has been long and exciting,” Feldkamp said in a press release.
She says her art training began in the early 70’s when she joined a weekly class in Chelsea taught by Betty Maxwell, an Ann Arbor artist.
This group became the Chelsealand Painters and as we progressed in our ability, we chose to be called the Chelsea Painters, she says.
The group’s first art show was on the front lawn of a house on Stadium Boulevard in Ann Arbor and it resembled a yard sale, she says.
The following June, the artists held a show on the Chelsea Community Hospital grounds under the shade of the tall trees.
“We hung our unframed work with clothespins clipped to clothesline strung between trees in the open,” she said, adding, “Our framed works were on easels. We have endured many rainy weekends in June but we have loyal friends who come in spite of the weather.”
Because of construction of the new Chelsea Hospital in the location where the art fair was held for 37 years, the art fair moved to Silver Maples of Chelsea.
