clayton vs. maplewood

This weekend I attended both St. Louis art fairs for the first time.

Friday night, I visited the Clayton art fair, which is the biggest art fair in St. Louis County. I saw some amazing work. I was even able to pickup a nice woodcut print by this artist. While strollers were being pushed by Polo clad suburbanites a more alternative rebellious fair ensued in Maplewood, just a few miles away.

On Saturday I spent a couple hours at my old stomping ground, the Schlafly Bottleworks in the eclectic yet up-and-coming neighborhood, Maplewood. The Shclafly Art Outside is a newbie, this being its third go-round. This fair concentrates on providing a completely local lineup of art & entertainment. Schlafly, brewer of the finest pale ale, had happily sponsored the Clayton fair for many years. About six years ago Shlafly’s privlages and booth location at the Clayton event began to diminish due to the request of the other St. Louis giant brewer, Anheuser Busch. After several years Schlafly was eventully “weeded out” of the Clayton fair and Art Outside was born. The highlights from this years Art Outside include local boutiques KungFu Chicken and Firecracker Press. Two new artists I really was impressed by were the paintings by Josh Crow and the screenprinted wearable art by Lull.

I have always supported the Outside mostly because I know a couple of the participating artists and have had my checks signed by Tom Schlafly in a previous life. I’ve always felt at home at Schafly, so I naturally found myself protesting the “snobs” in Clayton. After visiting the Clayton fair this year I found my Schlafly alliegance fading. What I found in Clayton was top-notch talent and an acceptable amount of yuppie.

The Clayton event is able to attract a higher caliber of artist due to its history, size, and national scope. While I still enjoy the company of the folks at Schlafly, this year’s event felt like a re-run. They have a limited stable of talent, commiting to the purley local theme. In the future I’ll remember to have my expectations set when going to these two events. I’ll go to Clayton to see fresh concepts and great national talent, and I’ll visit Maplewood to go to visit my friends and see what the St. Louis talent has been up to.