St. Charles show a magnet for Fox Valley art lovers
Art lovers throughout the Fox Valley made their way to downtown St. Charles over the weekend as the St. Charles Business Alliance offered its 27th annual Fine Art Show, a juried display of more than 100 artists.
The two-day show ran Saturday and Sunday at its usual location in downtown St. Charles on Riverside Avenue between Main Street and Illinois Street.
Jessica Reitsma of Oswego was one of the early attendees on Saturday and said her favorite art form is photography.
'I love it. It's my favorite – mostly things with nature. I probably have 10 or 15 things scattered around the house,' Reitsma said as she shopped with her mother Teresa Stanis of La Grange. 'The thing I'm drawn to most is water and waterfalls.'
St. Charles Business Alliance Director Jenna Sawicki said the actual total of 112 artists at the event 'is the most we've ever had since I've been here, which is 11 years.'
'We're really excited to utilize more space and be able to showcase all these really creative artists that are coming to St. Charles,' she said. 'We're using more of the footprint behind one of the buildings and while we don't have a cap on the number of artists, we want to make sure the show flows and we have a good mixture. We want to make sure all of our artists are of a certain caliber.'
While most of the artists at the show were from the Midwest, Sawicki said there were others 'that we pull from Florida and Pennsylvania' and other places.
Weather permitting, the show draws around 20,000 people over the course of two days, she said.
'People come to get a sense of community and we definitely pull people from the Tri-Cities but this also pulls people from Chicago because we do have such talented artists,' Sawicki said.
The show also included an activity area for kids where they could paint a car as well as artist demonstrations.
Artist Tina Birkhoff said this was her first year displaying her work at the event and was very excited to be at the show over the weekend.
'I do watercolor flowers and I've only done three official art shows so far,' she said. 'I love the area and to be here is quite a blessing. My stuff is very bright – it's like Georgia O'Keeffe. My paintings take anywhere from 25 to 45 hours to do.'
Stanis said she and her daughter have come 'at least three times before,' adding that 'we might be looking for a birthday present for my daughter since her birthday is in June.'
'Otherwise, we're just browsing,' she said. 'I've bought earrings here and a lazy Susan for my daughter. I love ceramics. I love all the art and seeing all the art and wish I was artistic. I've been going to art shows for 20 years.'
Maxine Wrobel of Winfield was at the show on Saturday and said she had already 'bought an awesome print over there and the title of it was 'Don't Talk to Me.''
'It's like a surly owl with a cup in its claw. It's perfect for me,' she said with a laugh. 'We've been coming for 20 years. I just like to look at everything and see what's new – what's the hip new thing and what everyone is doing. This is literally on the calendar every year.'
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Chicago Tribune
27-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
St. Charles show a magnet for Fox Valley art lovers
Art lovers throughout the Fox Valley made their way to downtown St. Charles over the weekend as the St. Charles Business Alliance offered its 27th annual Fine Art Show, a juried display of more than 100 artists. The two-day show ran Saturday and Sunday at its usual location in downtown St. Charles on Riverside Avenue between Main Street and Illinois Street. Jessica Reitsma of Oswego was one of the early attendees on Saturday and said her favorite art form is photography. 'I love it. It's my favorite – mostly things with nature. I probably have 10 or 15 things scattered around the house,' Reitsma said as she shopped with her mother Teresa Stanis of La Grange. 'The thing I'm drawn to most is water and waterfalls.' St. Charles Business Alliance Director Jenna Sawicki said the actual total of 112 artists at the event 'is the most we've ever had since I've been here, which is 11 years.' 'We're really excited to utilize more space and be able to showcase all these really creative artists that are coming to St. Charles,' she said. 'We're using more of the footprint behind one of the buildings and while we don't have a cap on the number of artists, we want to make sure the show flows and we have a good mixture. We want to make sure all of our artists are of a certain caliber.' While most of the artists at the show were from the Midwest, Sawicki said there were others 'that we pull from Florida and Pennsylvania' and other places. Weather permitting, the show draws around 20,000 people over the course of two days, she said. 'People come to get a sense of community and we definitely pull people from the Tri-Cities but this also pulls people from Chicago because we do have such talented artists,' Sawicki said. The show also included an activity area for kids where they could paint a car as well as artist demonstrations. Artist Tina Birkhoff said this was her first year displaying her work at the event and was very excited to be at the show over the weekend. 'I do watercolor flowers and I've only done three official art shows so far,' she said. 'I love the area and to be here is quite a blessing. My stuff is very bright – it's like Georgia O'Keeffe. My paintings take anywhere from 25 to 45 hours to do.' Stanis said she and her daughter have come 'at least three times before,' adding that 'we might be looking for a birthday present for my daughter since her birthday is in June.' 'Otherwise, we're just browsing,' she said. 'I've bought earrings here and a lazy Susan for my daughter. I love ceramics. I love all the art and seeing all the art and wish I was artistic. I've been going to art shows for 20 years.' Maxine Wrobel of Winfield was at the show on Saturday and said she had already 'bought an awesome print over there and the title of it was 'Don't Talk to Me.'' 'It's like a surly owl with a cup in its claw. It's perfect for me,' she said with a laugh. 'We've been coming for 20 years. I just like to look at everything and see what's new – what's the hip new thing and what everyone is doing. This is literally on the calendar every year.'
Chicago Tribune
10-03-2025
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St. Patrick's parade, activities set in St. Charles
The St. Patrick's celebration in St. Charles set for Saturday is more than just the annual parade downtown, organizers said, with a variety of activities planned. The celebration starts at 11 a.m. Saturday with an opening ceremony at First Street Plaza in downtown St. Charles near Gia Mia and McNally's Irish Pub & Kitchen. It will feature performances from Irish dancers and bagpipers, along with a complimentary face-painter to get people into the spirit of the day, officials said. Following the opening ceremony, visitors can take part in a St. Patrick's-themed scavenger hunt. To participate, individuals will need to locate shamrocks hidden throughout the downtown. There will be 10 shamrocks hidden within the route of the parade – Sixth Street and Fourth Avenue. Once located, the participant will need to take a photo of themselves with the shamrock, scan the QR code and submit the photo along with the form found on The form will be available online starting March 15. The more shamrocks that are found, the more entries participants get, organizers said. On March 18, three winners in the scavenger hunt will be selected to win a 'pot of gold' valued at $400, officials said. The St. Patrick's Parade will begin at 2 p.m., stepping off at Sixth Street and traveling down Main Street to conclude at Fourth Avenue. Attendees will also have the chance to capture their time at the St. Patrick's Parade by visiting the photo opportunities around town, officials said. Many businesses will also be hosting special sales, promotions and events in honor of the day. For more about local deals taking place during the St. Charles St. Patrick's Parade, go to St. Charles Business Alliance Executive Director Jenna Sawicki said the annual St. Charles tradition of the St. Patrick's Parade is a special one. 'The St. Charles St. Patrick's Parade has been a favorite community tradition for over 20 years,' Sawicki said in a press release about the event. 'It's the perfect opportunity to gather with friends and family, support our amazing businesses in town, and of course, enjoy all the Irish-festivities that the day has to offer.'
Chicago Tribune
14-10-2024
- Chicago Tribune
Scarecrow Weekend an autumn tradition in downtown St. Charles
Barbara Witte of Elgin and her niece Ashlyn Simon of Batavia elected to visit St. Charles Friday afternoon to enjoy Scarecrow Weekend, a community festival that both say they come to 'all the time.' 'I've been coming for years and I love all the different scarecrows and activities and just the fun,' Witte said as she and her niece walked through the plaza on First Street. 'I'm sort of surprised at the growth of this. It just keeps getting bigger. Seems like it gets bigger because more businesses are getting into it and people in the community itself.' Halloween decorations, lots of family attractions, food, music and more were on display over the weekend as the St. Charles Business Alliance offered the 39th annual Scarecrow Weekend from Friday through Sunday. Before the event, organizers said as many as 60,000 people could visit St. Charles during the three-day festival, a number that Jenna Sawicki, executive director of the St. Charles Business Alliance, said represented last year's total, adding 'that's a good number for us.' 'We took over this event in 2019 as an organization and it has always been a three-day event with us,' Sawicki said before the event's opening on Friday. 'Our goal is to showcase the city as a whole and who we are as a community,' she said. Highlights this year included over 120 scarecrows – the 'most we've had since we took this over,' Sawicki said. The scarecrows were made by a host of groups, businesses, political candidates and not-for-profits in the area. 'We have business and schools and Scout groups and we're just thrilled that the community continues to get involved in this. It has continued to grow,' she said. First Street Plaza was one of the showcases of the weekend. 'This is the first time we've been able to highlight First Street with its completion this past spring and so we get to utilize the plaza – it's beautiful and a great community meeting space that will have live music and a photo opportunity down there along with the library that is doing a character meet-and-greet,' Sawicki said before the event. 'This will be great way to showcase the businesses there as well, and First Street is in the middle of the footprint of this event.' Riverside Avenue saw a rock-climbing wall added this year, courtesy of local Boy Scouts, as well as other activities including magicians, pumpkin carving, face painters and balloon artists that were scattered throughout the downtown. Ashlyn Simon, 14, who attends Batavia High School, said she 'wasn't too old to enjoy the festival,' adding that 'it's fun and I like walking around and seeing all the scarecrows.' 'I've been coming for three or four years and, for me, probably one of my favorite things is the games,' she said. 'All the free stuff, too.' Alexa Sonne of West Chicago came with her children and said, 'I've been coming here for many years every fall.' 'There's a lot of kids' activities and I bring my boys and they love it here. There's a lot to do,' she said.
