A long-running art fair, the Midwest Salute to the Masters, in Fairview Heights, IL, got done in by politics, reports the Belleville (IL) News Democrat:
FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS -- Mayor Gail Mitchell said Friday that politics played a role in the abrupt cancellation of the 22nd annual Midwest Salute to the Arts scheduled for Aug. 28-30. Salute to the Arts organizers said Friday that they have started to plan for the 2010 event, but city officials are still questioning why the event was canceled this year. Organizers initially cited the economy as the main reason the fair was canceled, but said Friday that they were unable to find a replacement after the arts council's director, Sharon Karraker, resigned June 1. The quick story is that after Karraker was not reappointed by the City Council as head of the planning commission that shortly after that she resigned. From what I can gather the event is totally volunteer run and Karraker was its driving force. Her loss, the fair's loss, the artist's loss. Read the rest of
this story here.
Funny thing you should say that about the replacements, Linda. I'm remembering a small hometown event I chaired along with a friend. The "sponsors" (a local volunteer board) was really troublesome to the growth of the fair, so when we pulled out (I'm sure you're not surprised to hear) the event never happened again. It had been a nice event for almost 20 years.
When I received my cancellation notice I called a few people associated with the event and while they would not say it outright, they all alluded to this fact. Too bad for all involved. We have several events in Port that are under the city umbrella. In each case, we have assigned replacements - if the director of the event is unable (or resigns) someone else can carry it through. This should be a wake up call to all municipalities and private groups that hold festivities of any kind.
Too bad though - many of us were looking forward to this one. :-(
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Too bad though - many of us were looking forward to this one. :-(