74th Greenwich Village Art Fair

Sept. 17 + 18 at Rockford Art Museum in downtown Rockford

The 74th Greenwich Village Art Fair (GVAF) takes place Saturday, September 17 and Sunday, September 18—rain or shine—on the grounds of Rockford Art Museum (RAM) at Riverfront Museum Park, 711 N. Main St., in downtown Rockford, Illinois. The annual outdoor event features over 80 juried artists, live music by local musicians, an artisan marketplace, children's art activities, food trucks, cocktails and more. Established in 1948, Greenwich is the longest running art fair of its kind in the Midwest. Premier sponsors Lon + Dick Behr, Bergstrom Inc, Dean Alan Olson Foundation, Cathy + Rob Funderburg, Joan Stonecipher and Studio Wealth Advisory Group–David Boccignone. 

Admission gates are located at Rockford Art Museum parking lot and behind Burpee Museum of Natural History. Gates are open 10 a.m.– 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, free for children 12 and younger. Tickets are available at the gate (cash only). Ticket proceeds help support RAM programs throughout the year.

Exhibiting at this year’s fair are 80 artists and 5 art collectives from across the nation. Types of artwork represented include paintings, jewelry, sculpture, glass, ceramics, textiles, photography, wood, mixed media, and more. Artists compete for awards on the first day of the fair, where their work will be viewed by 2022 Judge Steven Anderson. Awards, including Best of Show and Judge’s Choice awards, will be presented Sat, Sept. 17. List of exhibiting artists at end of article.

Special events at the fair include live music at Burpee Amphitheater featuring music by regional bands, Art Raffle (announced Sunday, with raffle prizes of original artwork donated by 5 exhibiting artists), cocktails and champagne at Point Bar and Spark Champagne Bar both days and sale of this year’s Greenwich t-shirt designed by artist Jenny Mathews.

Greenwich Main Stage at the Amphitheater at Burpee, features LIVE MUSIC all day by local musicians including Only Us, Tin Crown, Monark, Lincoln Flowers, Freight Train Rabbit Killer, Rockford Youth Symphony, Jesse Fox, Yesterday’s Gone, Mana Kintorso, Micky Torpedo and Prairie Smoke. All sets included with fair admission. 

Local food trucks will be on-site serving everything from bao sandwiches to woodfire pizza and homemade ice cream. Village Pub will also serve grilled favorites, sodas, teas, and LaMonica brands of beer, wine and hard seltzers. Local and regional vendors at the Greenwich Artisan Marketplace this year include Blue Violet Candles, Canine Crunchery, and SAOR Perfumery. Food and drink vendors include We-B-Popp’n Kettle Korn, Citrus Squeezers, Disco Chicken, Ka Bao, Cantina Taco, Bad Humor, Pizza Fresca.

Kortman Gallery Point Bar features signature cocktails, mixed drinks and fine wines and, returning this year, Kortman Gallery also presents Spark Champagne Bar featuring champagne cocktails. Point Bar will have DJs performing all weekend. The RAM Membership Booth is also located near the entrance, where visitors can easily join the art museum or renew their membership for the upcoming year. 

2022 Art Raffle tickets, $5 each or 3 for $10, are available at the GVAF Info Booth. Drawing will be held Sunday, Sept. 19, at 5 p.m.; ticketholders need not be present to win. Exhibiting artists who have contributed their artwork for the raffle include Shawn Barbagallo (ceramics), 
Sharon Cherney (leather), Claudia Darak (jewelry), Jeff Hart (wood), and Kate and Chris Robleski (photography).

Sponsored by Ground Floor Skateboards, the Emerging Artist Booth features local emerging artists selected by the Greenwich Committee.

Kids can make their own take-home art at the popular Creations by Kids tent sponsored by Illinois State Credit Union and in-kind sponsor, Blick Art Materials. Hands-on art activities are $1 each, or $5 for all 6. The Creations tent opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. on Saturday and 4 p.m. on Sunday (one hour before the fair closes). This year we’re excited to partner with our neighbors at Discovery Center and Burpee Museum of Natural History to present even more kid’s activities! Also new this year is a gallery featuring high school art from local schools.

While visiting the fair be sure to stop by Rockford Art Museum; where the feature exhibition The Shape of Light is on view through Sep. 25. This exhibition pairs Studio Glass on loan from Illinois collectors with interesting works from the RAM Permanent Collection. Admission is free thanks to a generous sponsorship from Studio Wealth Advisory Group–David Boccignone.