Beaux Arts 2025 Spring Fair at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds -- May 10 and 11.
Saturday, May 10, and Sunday, May 11
Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, 2815 West Locust Street, Davenport IA
An eagerly awaited springtime event taking place over Mother's Day weekend in Davenport's spacious Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, the Beaux Arts 2025 Spring Fair will treat visitors to an outdoor celebration of visual arts and fine crafts on May 10 and 11, with the annual event featuring food, live music, children's activities, and works for sale by dozens of artists and Midwestern vendors.
The Spring Beaux Arts Fair has become a Mother’s Day tradition that draws daily crowds of around 8,000, and this year marks the 71st anniversary of the Beaux Arts Fundraising Committee. The committee was incorporated in 1953 to support the Davenport Art Gallery on 12th Street. The Beaux Arts Costume Balls were used as a fundraising event for many years, and many well-known area artists were listed as initial members, including Isabel Bloom and her husband John, both students of Grant Wood. The fair was established in 1967, making the Beaux Arts Fair one of the longest-running art fairs in the Midwest. Fair attendance and artist participation expanded on a yearly basis. In 1970, to celebrate the new Wiese addition, the Beaux Arts Fundraising Committee started a second fair, making them one of the few bi-annual art fairs. The fairs are held annually on Mother's Day weekend, kicking off the season of outdoor summer events, with the second fair held annually on the weekend after Labor Day.
Presenting finely detailed artworks and gift options in mediums including painting, sculpture, pottery, jewelry, and more, this year's scheduled Beaux Arts artisans and art retailers include: Kent Broadbent; Elizabeth Robertson (Cricket Hill Pottery); Michael & Jackie Blankenship (Turning Blind); James and Andela Thibault (Golden Spiral Jewelry); Wayne and Karen Ruff (Rustic Artifacts Ltd.); Scott Sternberg (Scott's Fine Art); Cheri Olson (Painted Rocks by Cheri); Lois Smith and Kay Wood (Art by Lois and Kay); Mark True (Mark True Photo); Alex Bolton (Creative Clay Creations); Shelly Laffe (Shellae Fine Arts & Crafts); Chris Abigt (Chris Abigt Art); Zanetta Hoele (Tumbled Wire Designs); Val Newmann (Stoneware Pottery by Val); Sloane Wolfe (Creative Wolfe); Jeff Ignatius (Phase Change Photo); Steve and Sandra Gerry (Gerrys); Dan and Deb Fenn (DL Fenn); Alec Rossiter; Carrol Brandt (Glass Mosaics on Natural Stone / Garden Art by Carrol); Leonard & Carolyn Wilson (The Glass Haus); Glen Lowry (Glen Arthur Lowry); Jon Walton (Jon Walton Photography); Mary Campbell (517 Design Studio); May Xiong; Howard Hammel (Hammel Horizons LLC); and Doug Schmidt (Scmidt-Marken Designs Pottery).
Also selling and displaying their works at the Beaux Arts 2025 Spring Fair are: Dale Cantrell; Tom Suter (Tom's Foolery); Noah Sutherland (Sutherland Stained Glass); Vahan Bedeian (Blue Grass Gold & Silver); Eric Gooding (Artisan Jewelry by Eric Gooding); Melanie Brown (Beadazzle); Laura Larabee (L. Larabee Studio); Ken Nickels (Kelevtov Studios); Mick McFerren (Watercolors by Mick); Jim Cronk (River City Pottery); Claire Thoele (Claire Thoele Art & Design); Tina Kiegler (Ziegler Designs, LLC); Thurston Baker (Titania Ceramics); Tang Cusick (Dragonflies and Cards); Doug and Sandra Adams (Twisted Tree Gallery); Jeff and Deana Hargrave (JD Stones); Barbara Weets (Barbara Weets Watercolors); John Kreider (Luna Leatherworks); Judy Baker (Painted Wildflower); Cristina Greenfield (Whimsy Garden Decor); Steve Cole (Wolf Cole Photography); James Smisek (Dream Chimes); Will Beard (Willustrations); Jason Pfitzer (Jason Pfitzer Photography); Petra Hallwas (Petra Photography Art); Lynn Majestic (majesticglassdesigns); Daron Krueger (Daron Krueger Photography); Tina Jones (Hanai Designs); Sharon Lianas (Llanas Sewn Creations); Kyle Shatek; Cindy Pippert; Rachael Schultz (Oreb Lram Fine Casual Jewelry); Brian Lord; Jay Wennersten (Wennerstens Etchings); Breanna Engelhardt (BCE Ceramics); Linda Reese (Added Touch); and Denise Fournier (Bedangled).
The May 10 and 11 Beaux Arts 2025 Spring Fair will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, admission is free, and more information is available by calling (309)706-1434 and visiting BeauxArtsFair.com.
