The event will take place in person for the first time in two years
The Wyoming Art Show returns to an in-person event this spring, bringing together hundreds of artists and art lovers along Worthington Avenue. “We’re so excited that we’re back in person,” says Becky Miars, a member of the Wyoming Art Show Committee. “Some of our artists did really well in our virtual art show last year, but there’s nothing like having a live event where the artists can talk to the people and the people can talk to the artist and hear what drives their creations.”
The show will take place on Sunday, May 15, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Miars says the organization expects to have more than 130 artists set up tents and sell their wares. The show will also include the Imagination Station tent where young children can take part in hands-on art activities, a scholarship competition for high school senior students, a juried art show inside the Civic Center, and a slideshow of Wyoming school students’ art also inside the Civic Center.
With the live art show returning, Miars says the Art Show Committee is ramping up its fund-raising efforts. It costs between $12,000-$14,000 to put on the show. The Committee also funds a variety of art-based needs and events in Wyoming and surrounding communities, such as the Wyoming School Music Association and Wyoming Art Show reception that is held in the spring to celebrate the work of Wyoming High School seniors. Donations to the Art Show also support scholarships for students who will study fine arts in college, the purchase of art supplies for local students, and the commission of murals around Wyoming.
“It’s amazing how important art is to Wyoming, and we want to keep that tradition going,” Miars says. “But we can’t do that without donations. In 2020, we didn’t ask for any donations, and in 2021, we did well for it being a virtual show, but we didn’t get what we normally get in donations. So we really, really need to catch up.”
The return of the live art show is exciting for Barb Stewart, a Wyoming fiber artist, who began selling her art at the event six years ago. A retired social worker, Stewart learned to sew as a young girl and later became inspired by a neighbor who quilted. Today she makes art that uses quilting techniques with bold lines and bright colors. She credits the Wyoming Art Show with helping her develop her second career as an artist.
“The Wyoming Art Show was my first experience being in an art show,” Stewart says. “I was super interested in being in it, because I knew the quality of art in the show was really wonderful. I wasn’t sure if they would accept me, but I threw my hat in the ring and I did get accepted and it’s just been a super experience since then.”
For more information about the Wyoming Art Show, to donate or apply to participate, visit wyomingartshow.org.
