Merchants in Los Alamos are finalizing plans for the first annual Chair Faire on Saturday, July 31, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The Chair Faire is a novel idea that combines an art show of chairs with a flea market, limited to chairs only (stools and benches okay.) The chairs on exhibit might be collectible antiques, or art painted chairs, all worthy of exhibit. Or it may just be time to clean out the garage of its chairs.
Chairs will be lined up along the sidewalk of Bell Street, the main avenue in Los Alamos. The Chair Faire benefits the Olga Reed Elementary School with entry fees used for Chair Faire expenses, and then for donations to the school. A hand-painted Matisse chair has been donated by Connie Rohde from her former art students to the Olga Reed School for a raffle. Raffle tickets @ $5 will benefit the school, and the drawing will be at 3 p.m. in front of the post office. Sponsors for this event are Elite Events Party Rentals, donating chairs, and the Santa Maria Sun newspaper, donating advertising.
There will be four categories where chairs will be judged and prizes awarded. Those categories are: Most Pristine Antique Chair; Most Unique Art Chair; Chair With Most Potential; Best All Around Can’t-Stop-Talking-About-It Chair. Prizes are gift certificates from Los Alamos merchants. Judges are: George Weir for Antique Chairs and Best All Around Chair. For Art Chairs and Chairs With The Most Potential the judges are Kam Jacoby and Vivian Thompson. Judging will take place at noon.
There are a variety of events to add to the sidewalk stroll. In two locations people are invited to play Musical Chairs to live fiddle music. The trio, K.A.T. & the Fiddle, with Kerri Gertz, Alice Green, and Tammie Wrocklage will be performing at two locations beginning at 11 a.m. On the hour they will be across the street from the post office and Ghost Riders Tavern. On the half-hour they will be in front of Gussied Up Antiques, on the front lawn, with fiddling ending at 3 p.m. Elite Events is donating the chairs for Musical Chairs and prizes are gift certificates from Los Alamos merchants.
At Cafe Quackenbush and at The Gentleman Farmer Gift Shop there will be artists painting on site, with Alan Freeman painting on the patio at the Cafe, where he is currently exhibiting a new show in Art Brut Gallery. His colorful and joyful work features local scenes from the area of Los Alamos and slightly beyond. Carol Wood will be painting at The Gentleman Farmer. At Ghost Riders Tavern there will be chair spinning contests, and The C Gallery will feature assorted art inside the gallery all about chairs. At the historic Union Hotel there will be a Chair Faire Happy Hour Garden Concert from 3 to 5 p.m., featuring “Stonehorse,” with Nicolette Birni and Lynni Gilfry.
To enter chairs in the Chair Faire, the entry fee is $10 for two chairs of any kind, and $20 for six chairs. Contact connie@thecgallery.com, call (805) 344-3807, or online at thecgallery.com and click Events for entry form and more information.