Celebrating a 42-year legacy

POLSON – For the 42nd straight year, the lawn of the Lake County courthouse came to life last weekend, as it hosted the Sandpiper Art Festival. The annual art exhibition attracted 89 vendors and hundreds more customers who came to browse their wares, while enjoying music and food.

Marla Robbins, a Hot Springs resident who serves as president of the Hot Springs Artists Scoiety, was one of many enthusiastic visitors drawn to the lawn. Robbins, who typically has a booth of her own at the event, said that the show provides a low-risk, high-reward opportunity for local artists to test the waters of the art business.

“I think people like it because it’s not a lot [of money] to have a booth… It makes it easier for the average person to be a part of it,” said Robbins.

But the show is not just focused on the well-being of the artists in attendance. Each year, a sizable chunk of proceeds from the show are used to fund the Polson-based Sandpiper Gallery’s scholarship program which helps a number of local students pursue artistic opportunities in college.

“This goes to such a good cause,” said Polson’s Charlie Fudge, who has sold his beautifully crafted wooden bowls at the show for the past 23 years and serves on the Scholarship Committee. Fudge thought that his appearance at last Saturday’s show might be his last hurrah. It was reassuring, he said, to know that his sales support not only himself but also young art students.

According to Paula Craft, a volunteer at the non-profit gallery who helped coordinate the event, about half of the artists at this year’s show were from the area between Missoula and Kalispell. Others came from as far east as Forsyth and far west as suburban Seattle.