Sandie Bacon
Artists on the Bluff
www.artistsonthebluff.org
Don’t miss the 19th annual Artists on the Bluff 2019 Summer Arts Festival! This independent outdoor art show highlighting local artists is June 15 & 16 on the Lake Bluff Village Green. With live entertainment, food, and a children's crafts tent, it is sure to be a lively community event!
Lake Forest / Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce: What was the inspiration for starting Artists on the Bluff?
Sandie Bacon: Artists on the Bluff has been around since the year 2000. I was working with Steve Ragsdale, Barbara Trentham and Kay Wolf, and we just had this vision of wanting an artist community. The thought was that artists were not connected to one another. So, it was a way to get artists to get together and to also get the community involved. Since then, we’ve had several community leaders serve as president, including Cathy Sturgis, Amy Ackley, Pat Falligant and Kristin Ashley.
LFLBC: What is the vision for Artists on the Bluff?
SB: We’re still a group of artists that get together and we do community things…like the Art Fair that is coming up June 15 & 16, Father’s Day weekend. We’ve also done murals at the train station. We have a gallery at The Gallery in Lake Forest where we have a themed show once a month. It’s such a nice business model. The menu is based on the artwork that is on the wall, so the food brings in a lot of customers to see the art. We have monthly meetings where we bring in artists…we had Mark McMahon in last month to talk about his work and the business of marketing. We have brought in water colorists and oil painters, sculptors…all different kinds of people. We also have meetings where we talk about how to make an artist’s statement, or how to work together, etc.
LFLBC: What is one thing you want people to know about Artists on the Bluff?
SB: Art is a great thing to bring community together. We really are community, and art is like a common language that we all speak.
LFLBC: What local businesses or organizations do you partner with?
SB: Almost all of them here in downtown Lake Bluff...Be Market, Flotstone, the Lake Bluff Library, the Lake Bluff History Museum. Lake Forest Bank & Trust is one of our sponsors. We’re part of the Chamber’s ArtsLink group, so we are involved with all those non-profit creative organizations and do fun things together.
LFLBC: How do you give back to the community?
SB: We do the Art Fair which gets all the local businesses and community involved. Oh, and Phillip Ross, who is our designer, has done all the Village stickers and logos. We’re also going to do an exciting project next year celebrating the Village’s quasqicentennial, (125th Birthday). We’ll be having and installation of fiberglass dogs placed all around town…so that should be really fun!
6.10.2019