By Judy Carmack Bross
Residents and artists welcome you to historic Old Town for its Art Fair’s 75th anniversary June 14 and 15.
“We have a record number of 230 artists, eight new gardens added to our garden walk, a community mural project for all to join in, and many new food vendors and musicians as the Old Town Art Fair celebrates our 75th year June 14 and 15. And what has been unique throughout, it takes place on charming neighborhood streets not on major thoroughfares as most fairs are,” Chris Nelson, the Old Town 2025 Art Fair Chair said.
Organized by the non-profit Old Town Triangle Association, the Old Town Art Fair will take place, rain or shine, Saturday, June 14, from 10am-7pm, and Sunday, June 15, from 10am-6pm. The Old Town Art Fair main gate is located at the intersection of Lincoln and Wisconsin streets. Sound and vision artist Chad Kouri has designed the mural with iconography mingling the history of both Chicago and Old Town highlighting neighbors working together and invites visitors to add to its magic.
The Garden Walk–an attendee-favorite each year–offers visitors the opportunity to tour 57 gardens, many of which are private and only viewable during the Art Fair. Organizers provide historical information, fun facts, and anecdotes about the homes, architecture, and past and present residents.
A buyer at one of the early Art Fairs.
Classic Chicago shares vintage photographs of the Art Fair’s past, celebrating this completely volunteer-run project in the historic streets of Old Town, sometimes compared to the streets of Montmartre. The 230 artists come from across the country and were selected by jury of local art professionals, including gallery owners, museum curators, and artists from a record-breaking 700 plus artist submissions.
 |
 |
Nelson, who moved to the neighborhood from California in 2005 and is serving as Chair for his second year after 12 years as gate captain and other posts, is like many residents who love to volunteer: some have been part of the team for 50 years. He told us that among the varied artists there are almost 30 mixed media, 11 ceramicists, 14 digital artists, 36 photographers, 38 painters, 14 printmakers, 27 jewelry makers, as well as sculptors and other artists showing drawings and pastels, works in metals, glass, fiber, stone, wood and more. Something for everyone as guests visit vendor tents on several cleared neighbor streets and duck in to view private gardens, open only to the public during the Art Fair.
“We have more food and beverage vendors and food trucks than ever, from Senegalese cuisine to a Greek grill, hot dogs, our neighbor the Adobo Grill, lemon ice, smoothies, matcha and more,” Nelson said.
Artist Nathan Murrell
Declared a historic district over 40 years ago, Old Town has one of the best displays of Italianate houses, cottages, and wooden two- and three-story homes from 1870-1900, including the historic father-and-son Wacker homes on Lincoln Park West, and modern dwellings by some of Chicago’s most renowned architects. Looking into some private gardens, visitors get a glimpse of structures built before the Chicago fire, former horse barns that served Gold Coast residents nearby, and stately Queen Anne style limestone row houses built in mid-1880s by Daniel Crilly.
Noted for its tree-lined one-way streets that belie that the expanse of Lincoln Park and large thoroughfares like Wells Street are close by, residents know not only the names of their neighbors but also their dogs. At night, often the only sounds you hear are the bells of St. Michael’s Church. That changes at Art Fair time when the neighborhood buzzes with energy and creativity. On Art Fair Saturday, neighbors wake up to artists readying their wares in tents in front of homes built by famous architects from Louis Sullivan to Stanley Tigerman and Harry Weese.
Acting as ambassadors for their closeknit community, many neighbors practically adopt the artists whose booths are outside their homes. Often they share food and hang out way into the evening. The garden parties might remind you of progressive dinners as neighbors try to stop by for at least one more party.
 |
 |
For weeks before the Fair, landscapers and garden vendors line the alleys, unloading countless flats of perennials to punch up the urban oases on view. In one shade garden a book containing Andrew Marvell’s 1681 poem The Garden, always lies open to the verse “While all flowers and trees do close to weave the garlands of repose.”
The Old Town Art Fair poster changes each year and are highly sought after.
A few Art Fairs ago Old Town Triangle Association archivist, David Pfendler, pinpointed the neighborhood’s longtime artistic tradition:
“The presence of artists in Old Town goes way back to the Columbian Exposition of 1893. The city felt that Chicago’s cultural development wasn’t as rapid as that of Boston and Philadelphia, so the powers that be encouraged Lambert Tree to set up the Tree Studios near Michigan Avenue, where artists who had been part of the World’s Fair could both live in and have studios and galleries.
“In the 1920s and ‘30s, that area became too expensive and artists came to Crilly Court because it reminded them of the Tree Studios. In the first 10 years of the Art Fair, at least 126 artists lived within our triangle area between Clark, North, and Ogden, and another 130 within a mile of the triangle.”
The late community historian Shirley Baugher wrote:
“The Old Town Art Fair is one of Chicago’s oldest juried art fairs and one of the first fine art fairs of its kind in the country. The first Art Fair did not begin as an art fair at all. It started as a big neighborhood party, and it was called The Old Town Holiday. The first artists were actually party guests: neighbors, friends, volunteer workers, and a few outsiders. Neighbors served as both hosts and exhibitors. Participants displayed their art on fences and tables on Lincoln Park West and its two adjacent alleys.
“The first fair featured the work of 70 artists, and the term ‘art’ was loosely applied. Exhibitors showed everything from crocheted potholders to high-quality oils and watercolors. It featured only local artists, and now they come from all over the world. It was held for one day only. Neighbors put up their exhibits the morning of the party and took them down at the end of the day.”
While strolling Old Town’s quaint green spaces and artist booths, visitors can enjoy local singer-songwriters, jazz musicians, and folk bands across two music stages. Highlights include Chicago Blues Hall of Famer Donna Herula; Mike Younger, a rising star from Nashville; and Brad Cole and Friends. Additional performers include Bossa Blue, Chicken Dolphin, Dad Rock, Electric Brew, Fifth Star Band, I Guess So Band, Kendra Chanae Duo, Nikki O’Neill Band, North Park Strummers, Raviv, Reverie Stone, Roseloft, Soulbillys, and zfrank.
The Old Town Art Fair also features a dedicated Children’s Corner featuring interactive activities and crafts for kids. For its 75th Anniversary, Children’s Corner entertainment includes face painting by IIImagine Entertainment, arts and crafts tables organized by the Menomonee Club, and performances including the Sean Masterson Magic Show, Mary Macaroni & The Impastas, and Stages Chicago.
Annually, the Fair introduces artists to an estimated 30,000 art lovers over the course of the two-day event. Proceeds from the suggested donation of $12 for adults (free for children) go directly back into local schools, arts, and cultural programs in the area, including historic and architectural preservation clubs; the Menomonee Club; and the Old Town Triangle Association.
The last word remains for the late Paul Angle, Old Town resident, author, historian, and director of the Chicago Historical Society, as it was known at the time, who noted this in the 1954 Holiday Program booklet, “It is hard to walk a block without meeting a first-name friend, and anyone who wanted to bring together a good-sized party of congenial people can do so in a half-hour’s notice.”
That spirit lives on in the Old Town Art Fair today—all visitors are welcome!
For more information, please visit oldtownartfair.org orfollow along on Instagram and Facebook.
