Exploring Hyde Park Through the 57th Street Art Fair

Aaron: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Chicagoland Guide. I'm your host, Aaron Masliansky. Today, I am sitting in Hyde Park in Chicago, meeting with Cate Sleighton. We're gonna be talking about the 57th Street Art Fair, and Hyde Park, and, just, talk about the history of it, the history of Hyde Park, and everything good that's going on here.

Kate, thank you so much for having me.

Cate: Well, we'll see how it goes.

Aaron: There'll be a test at the end.

Cate: Uh-oh.

Aaron: No. this is such a beautiful neighborhood. grew up on the north side in Skokie. I've lived my whole life up there, but there is such a treasure down in Hyde Park right here where we are. Um, and you know, I've, I've had the opportunity to come by here to learn about it, to go to the museum, science industry and whatnot.

Um, grateful to the University of Chicago. Uh, they've... What a great institution there, too. there, there is so much here and, and how long have you lived here [00:01:00] for?

Cate: we moved here in 2000.

going on 26 years. Um, and yeah, there's a, there's a surprising amount of green space here.

Aaron: Oh, yeah

Cate: We're right next to Jackson Park. We're right by the lake. We take walks, regularly through Jackson Park.

There's the, Wooded Isle, um, which is in itself a remnant of the, 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, which people around here always just refer to as, the Fair or the Expo. Although we are the Fair now.

Aaron: Right, exactly.

Cate: we've been that way for 79 years, so...

Aaron: No, took it over. You took over the name. So tell us a little bit about the fair. it's been going on for 79 years, and, what... Like, how did it start?

Cate: Well, um, I guess just, it- it-- To preface that answer, I have to give you a little bit of [00:02:00] Background, in terms of Hyde Park itself. Uh, Hyde Park has an artist community for many years, several artist communities actually, different satellites.

there was an artist colony, in the old concession stands on 57th Street on the east side of the tracks, the train tracks, the, the Metro line, that, uh, m- uh, you know, people discovered, "Oh, it's cheap. It's not heated, but it's cheap.

"And

they're tiny, but it's cheap." So there was a whole,

It's often referred to as a bohemian, um, group that lived there, and were, quite v- quite active, and it's a really fascinating chapter, of Hyde Park history. At any rate, there was a satellite community, or there were several different art areas, and one of them down the road closer to here on 57th Street, [00:03:00] where the fair started.

So Mary Louise Vollmer in 1948 lived in the little grouping that was basically at the intersection of 57th and Dorchester.

There was a big push for urban renewal in the '50s and '60s here, so a lot streetscape has changed. that artist colony, that was the old concession stands was one of the casualties of the urban renewal, for example. Mary Louise Vollmer was an interesting character.

She, Was a silversmith, and she and her husband moved up to Hyde Park from Kansas City, Missouri, I believe. And, she took, what was then a very inexpensive, spot in a building called Gough House, which little artist community, and, had a little space that she called The Little Gallery.

And she had a little, stove and a little burner, and [00:04:00] she would b-boil some water and make pots of tea, and it became a gathering place for a lot of artists. And she was really big into promoting, young artists in particular. Mm-hmm.

And she, in interviews, she describes how she had this, idea that she wanted to Have a bigger show than just exhibit and sell their work in her little gallery.

At, the time, there were really no galleries, I mean, other than the Art Institute and maybe one or two in the, in the city of Chicago, so this was really a big thing. And

Aaron:

Cate: so they were around. They were, they were around. They were generations, generations of them, and they did some outdoor exhibits, for their own people, and they had, improv and they had stagings and poetry readings and the like. But, Mary Louise Wormer wanted to, um, have a, an exhibit of all the artists that she [00:05:00] represented in her little gallery, and also as a way of bringing together

the

other artist groups in the area and in the city itself.

And so, as this, the story goes, she, um, sat down and she wrote about 100 letters to people that she knew in the arts community throughout the city of Chicago and connected with the Art Institute, and invited them to come,

show their work. And about half of them responded and showed up. This was... The first fair actually was in October, not in June.

It switched to June for the second fair- ... and it's been June ever since. But, so the first fair, I think it was 50 cents to exhibit, and people just showed up, and she, and her husband, strung some, wires, for people to hang their work, just like clothesline thing.

Simple. Ve- very basic. And, uh, [00:06:00] these 51, uh, artists showed up, and they had a fair. And, then after the fair, they all went to have, various after-fair parties, and she and her husband were left to clean up the mess. Oh, my God. And she, she almost said never again. Um, but of course, um, she did.

Aaron:

she made all that money out of 50 cents from all the

people.

Cate: always been... That is one thing that we have been very true to, is her original concept of this is a fair for the artists. We don't take any profit their sales. Yeah. They take all the city takes a, you know, a sales tax, but, uh, we facilitate the fair.

We do it for the artists. We put it on every year, and, we charge a booth fee, which is more than 50 cents. But still,

Aaron: I'm sure not, not a ton.

Cate: But it's a... We're, we're a not-for-profit. We just, we just try to break even.

Aaron: Right.

Cate: It's a party that we [00:07:00] host, here in Hyde Park. We invite this community of artists into our community, and it's magical actually. I walk in on Saturday morning when they're starting to set up. Yeah. And, from Friday afternoon where everything is just the way it always is to Saturday morning, it's like there's this whole place, this community that up on the streets, and it's like a mushroom.

It's just, like, suddenly appeared. And there are people who have, been with us for years, and there are newcomers, and even before people are set up, the people in the neighborhood are walking the streets to look and see who's sh- who's there, and- There's a vibe. It's, it's definitely a vibe, and it's, people walking their dogs, and people with families, and, um, strolling around, and, and they'll be back, once...

come back after the, the art fair opens. Right. But, but even before the art fair opens, there are people already on the streets.

Aaron: They're excited.

Cate: Yeah, [00:08:00] It's very exciting. feeling of anticipation and excitement for the whole event.

Aaron: Yeah.

Cate: music, provided by Buddy Guy's Legends, mostly in the middle of the day but throughout the day during the fair.

we have some food trucks, and we have a kids' area, and so there's a party vibe. Yeah. I mean, it's a low-key party vibe. It's not, like, amplified, house music or anything.

Aaron: Oh, you got blues going, right?

Cate: it's blues. I think this year it's almost all blues, just one jazz group.

Aaron: Well, it's like classic Chicago. what makes the place, the arts, the music, and that's why people get excited, right?

Cate: Yeah, and the other thing that we, we are ... We're a group of volunteers. We all live in the community. ... This is nothing paid and, the admission's always free, and that was one thing that Mary Louise Womer was very adamant about.

She said, "Why should we [00:09:00] charge people to walk on the streets that they own?"

we have never had admission. It's always been volunteer-run. We're all, you know, people from the community, putting it all together.

... I mean, people come from all over. Yeah. And people who have grown up in the area and left will often come back. have grew up here as kids going to the fair, probably moving into three generations at this point.

Aaron: I was talking to my friend Henry, who grew up in Hyde Park, and I, I asked him, I'm like, "Have you ever gone to the fair?" He's like, "Oh yeah, just every year of my entire life."

Cate: Once or twice.

Aaron: Once or twice.

Yeah, once or twice. It,

it's,

it's a staple of Hyde Park. it's June 6th and 7th this year.

Cate: Right. It's always the first full weekend.

57th Street,

we still are in, within the original footprint. we are, uh, 57th Street between Dorchester and Kimbark, between 57th [00:10:00] and 56th, which is in front of the Ray School. Ray School has had a big part in the fair over the years,

for a long time, the fair, after the, after the fair outgrew the area Goff House, and, Goff House was, you know, torn down, the, Ray School parking lot, or playground rather, was used as the location for the fair, and that's at the intersection of Kimbark and 57th Street.

Aaron: Yeah.

Cate: we don't, there's no, building, we do, still wrap around the school and, their, uh, we use their cafeteria as our headquarters during the fair, and, um, we use their parking lot and their, um, softball field and,

We have a, we have had a very nice re- working relationship with them in the past, um, although their PTA used to play a big role in the food court, things kinda fell [00:11:00] apart during pandemic.

Aaron: Yeah, pandemic big shift

Cate: It was a really tough pivot. we started off the year, the planning year, you know, with every intention of having a fair.

And then it became quite apparent that just wasn't gonna happen. And, so we had to pivot to do an online version, and wound up doing it again the uh, year, um, of pandemic.

And, we actually maintained the, online version.

Aaron: How long have you been involved with this?

Cate: Almost the whole time I've been here. we moved here in 2000, and I had, my kids were all in school, over at the lab school, and my youngest had a friend whose mom was on the committee, um, she asked if I was interested, and I said, "Yeah, sure."

Aaron: I had been doing, ceramics for about 20 years before that, [00:12:00] and, we moved here and I didn't have my studio set, ready to work, and, um, you know, still kind of, um, getting used to the area. So it's, it was a nice way to get involved in the community and, or in the community and in, in the art fair.

Sure.

Cate: I've been doing this since, hmm, 2001, 2002.

Aaron: I think that's an important point. You know, people part of communities but aren't really integrated. put yourself out there and be part of the organization

and,

the, uh, the art fair is a great way to do that,

Cate: Well, I garden, and I link into a lot of people just when I'm at my garden 'cause there's a lot of foot traffic, and, you know, I meet the neighbors and, um, yeah. No, I feel very rooted, um, both physically with my garden and just, um, in the community at this point.

Um, but you know, I have-- Again, I've been here 26 years, so- Yeah ... and, and with kids. Kids are a good, you know-

Aaron: Kids are a great way to meet

Cate: I was [00:13:00] listed in her phone as "Jeff's mom."

Aaron: I have a background in urban planning and I help people with housing, right? and it's like it's important to understand the fabric, the history of, how things are. I mean, how has the art fair do you think played into the community and keeping Hyde Park, thriving, even with things that have happened with urban renewal that may have shifted the landscape?

Cate: Well, that's a good question. as far as Hyde Park goes, you know, it was- farmland out here. Right. there are still a few houses that are old farmhouses. I know somebody who's on Dorchester, which is several blocks in now from the lake, who in her deed, I believe it still says, at least 'cause she told me this, uh, that she had, granted in her legal, that [00:14:00] she had access to the lakefront for watering her cows.

Aaron: Wow.

Cate: this is a pre-fire house, so the Chicago Fire.

Aaron: W-was it the O'Leary house?

Cate: Uh, well, there's some con- controversy on that one. Right. The O'Leary barn, yeah. Um, but this is a, uh, uh, I think her home was built in 18... Before 1870 maybe, or 1870-ish.

Aaron: Okay.

Cate: quite a number of houses were built before then.

Not a lot of them are left. Rosalie Villa was one of the first actual I don't know what you'd call it, housing developments um, on Harper Street. it was bought by an, it was put together by a man named Paul Cornell who, had this vision and, you know, this was in the days, this was about 1850.

This was when, uh, you know, it got hot in [00:15:00] the city, and this was, um, he got the line, the train line extended,

and the idea was that these would be homes that, you know, families could settle in. The banker husbands could, you know, work and then come down for the weekends. Um, and that's, that's a very interesting street.

You should, you should learn more about that as a real estate person.

Aaron: Tell me, what is it again

Cate: Harper Avenue. Okay. Yeah. Harper between 57th and 59th. It's called the Halloween Block, if you've ever heard of the Halloween Block in Hyde Park. No. Oh. I mean, I- Another, another institution ... know a little about here.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, you got your homework to do. I got a lot of

Aaron: do. So you're talking about Harper Avenue, and that was like, kind of like that was the start of Hyde Park, where it was almost like a,

bedroom community for the city of Chicago

for-

Cate: it was the first planned development. There were houses here. There were estates here. I mean, there were, um, [00:16:00] uh, uh, there were, there were other people here.

Right. Um, it's just that the... I think that was the first place that there was concerted, a conscious effort to build a set of homes. and then of course, once the World's Columbian Exposition happened, things really exploded. and a lot of the homes in the area, like for example, this town home was built in around turn of the century after the world's fair.

So there was an explosion in real estate development after the fair. but there were homes here before then.

Aaron: Was the university built after the fair?

Cate: The university existed before the fair.

Aaron: Okay. And what made people-- Like, what's the history of that? Like, how did they decide to come here and start the university- Yeah

in this area?

Cate: Uh, okay. Well, you have heard the term Windy City? Yes. All right.

Aaron: And it's not about the, the weather.

Cate: not about the weather, no. The reason it's called Windy City is that, uh, Chicago and [00:17:00] St. Louis were in competition to host this World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, and, uh, there was so much hot air- um, from all the boosters, Chicago boosters, that the press, and I think pretty sure it was the St.

Louis press

Aaron: I would think so

Cate: I think so. Uh, d- d- uh, decided that, uh, yep, that's the Windy City 'cause there's just so much hot air.

Aaron: They did us a favor

Cate: Yeah, I don't know. Um, it, it's not that windy. I mean, it is actually windy when you get... I'm always surprised, or used to always be surprised how windy it gets when you walk towards the lake, and that's only about half a mile from where we're sitting.

Aaron: Right.

Yeah. So that's, I mean, so all those different types of things happen. I mean, it's, um, it's interesting to just see the development of it. And, I mean, Hyde Park like continues to have just out, you [00:18:00] know, stretched, um, influence. You, you know, President Obama, you know, lives here. And I mean, does he still come back here to

Cate: No, not very much. He, uh, he's actually... His house is actually in Kenwood. Yeah. Um, but he has roots, he has roots in-- Well, he taught at the University of Chicago. He was our local, um, state representative. Uh, actually, was it U.S. senator? I don't know. Um, f- I forget. That's terrible. Um-

Aaron: Well, I think he was short, for a short period

Cate: For a short period of time

he represented here. Yeah. and then he ran for, president. And yeah, the Obama Center is actually opening, um, two weeks after the fair. Grand opening is Juneteenth.

Aaron: hosting a huge party. Um, yeah, What do you think of the building?

Cate: I think w- time will tell. I think they've done a lot of really great plantings that are not mature that will [00:19:00] soften everything.

but, uh, right now it's kinda sitting there by itself. There will be more development, I'm sure. I know there's a big hotel planned, uh, for basically not quite across the street, but, uh, it's a very large complex and it connects in the lagoon area that was part of the... Which is part of Jackson Park, which is where the World's Col- Columbian Exposition was located in 1893.

So it all intertwines. and the Museum of Science and Industry actually was Not in its current incarnation, but that was the Fine Arts Palace that became the Art Institute, um, from the World's Fair.

But it was, um, you know, a more permanent version, um, because the, all the other buildings were, um, they call it mast.

It's plaster and sawdust or something.

Aaron: Right. [00:20:00] That was their way to do it cheaply and, and, uh,

Cate: Yeah ... quickly. Quickly. Yeah, yeah. And it was here, and then it was gone. Um, and but Hyde Park existed before then. the university had been founded, uh, several years before then. Uh, obviously has grown a lot since then.

and Hyde Park has transformed over the years in various waves. And you mentioned, or we-we're talking about urban renewal. In the 1950s and '60s, um, there was concern that, the university was basically concerned that, you know, people don't wanna live here anymore because, you know, things are getting kinda run down.

this is post-war. a lot of homes-- This home, was, had been, converted into a rooming house, and then subsequently, during or as part of that renewal, was reconverted back into a single-family home, like many of the others in the [00:21:00] area. And a lot of the homes were just basically condemned and torn down.

a lot of the... Some of the apartments that you see, across the street from here are, were built after those homes were torn down. there was a great, there's a painting by one of the, m- uh, early artists in, from the art fair, uh, called "The Doors." It's Gertrude Abercrombie, who's having a big, um, retrospect- Well, she's been long gone, but there's a big retrospective of her work in, uh, the Milwaukee Museum right now.

Aaron: I have not had a chance to go see. But she did a painting called "The Doors," and apparently the, when everything was being torn down, all these gorgeous hardwood, solid hardwood were taken out, and they were, used them to create a temporary barrier behind the, um, the empty lots. Hmm.

Cate: And, um, so this, "The Doors," this painting that she had [00:22:00] done, uh, is a, you know, kind of a record of that time.

So a lot of stuff was torn down. Goff House was torn down. The artist colony, the old concession stands were torn down. new construction went up. we had a little s- or Hyde Park Shopping Center and Kimbark Shopping Center were constructed, um- And, you know, the art fair survived all that.

and, you know, kept, kept on going without pausing, throughout all of that.

Aaron: Do you think that the art fair is the thing that connects the history of Hyde Park and the, the vibe or, uh, you know, as we talked about, um, throughout all these different changes that have happened over the years and what will continue to be, and I'm sure what will happen around the Obama Center?

Cate: I think it's a thread.

Aaron: Yeah.

Cate: obviously I think it's an important thread. Of course.

Aaron: I would hope so

Cate: but [00:23:00] yeah, I think that, uh, there are, um- There are other, the Hyde Park Garden Fair, for example, is another kind of homegrown, um, local institution, um, that happens every year that started as sort of an antidote to all of the new construction.

It's like, well, let's, let's, let's let people buy some plants and put them in their gardens and make it pretty again.

Aaron: Yeah. That helps beautify

Cate: They buy everything. Yeah. And the university has been a constant. it's a,

lot of the community, a lot of the people that live in the community are connected one way or another with the university.

Not everybody, but-

Aaron: Did you come here for the university?

Cate: Yep.

And many of my neighbors are connected with the university and have been connected with the university, [00:24:00] for... that brought them here and kept them here It, that does form part of the character of the community.

I don't know if you've walked around at all, but we have a lot of bookstores. It's

Aaron: very intellectual. Yeah.

Cate: and the artists tell me that one of the things they like about coming to our fair is that they really like the people- Yeah ... that come to the fair. And part of that is just that's our community.

that's who, Hyde Park's a little kooky.

Aaron: Well, that's, kooky is interesting. You know, it's, it's not boring. H- how many people would you say come to the fair every year?

Cate: Ugh. I, you know, the number that gets, um, put out there is about 20,000 f- over the weekend. Yeah. I don't know how that figure was reached, and I do know that, especially locals, will come more than once.

So if they're getting double counted, I don't know if that or not. But, [00:25:00] the, and people come, Old Town Art Fair is the weekend after, um-

Aaron: There's a lot of the same artists that go back and forth?

Cate: Some of the artists-- Well, all of the artists, almost all the artists do what, what's called the circuit- Mm-hmm

or a circuit. They, uh, the cycle of the rhythm of their, their life is based around, making work in advance. You have to make what you think is gonna sell, but also what makes you happy.

Aaron: Sure.

Cate: And you have to make enough of it, and then you get out there and you, um, go from fair to fair. Now, when the art f- our art fair with the 57th Street Art Fair started, it was one of the first fairs in the country.

But now there are year-round fairs all over the country, so many of our artists ha- will have already done fairs. They will be doing more fairs. Some of them come to our fair, and then they go to [00:26:00] Old Town the following week. Some of them go up to Milwaukee. There's a, um, lakefront, uh, fair up by the museum there.

Uh, there's Wells Street. There are lots and lots and lots of fairs, um, now. and, um, but we were the first one in Chicago anyway.

Aaron: No, that's definitely something be, have some pride for. to keep it going for 79 years through everything, I that's not easy. No. what, what goes behind the scenes in the fair?

what are you working on typically to make this happen?

Cate: Oh.

Aaron: How long are you wor- is it, like, the, a couple months before you start working on

it? Or is it, like, the day

Cate: Or does it- It's almost all year. Yeah. I-- There are-- August is quiet.

Aaron: Get a little bit of a break

Cate: a little bit quiet. no, it's a cycle that, we meet monthly starting in September.

We have-- We try to do a, kind of a postmortem,

uh,

you know, a- uh-

Aaron: Lessons learned

Cate: [00:27:00] learned ... lessons learned, um, meeting after the fair, but that usually doesn't happen till July 'cause everybody's so burnt out by, by, by the, by the time the fair's over. Yeah. Um, but no, we, we, we, um... It's, it's pretty much a year-round thing, and that work depends on, you know, what stage of things.

Uh, but there's a lot of planning. There's-- I mean, it, it looks magical, but it is a lot of work.

Aaron: Oh, for sure. what are some of the things that you're, like, excited about this year? Is there-- Is it-- I assume every year there's a little something new, right?

Cate: right?

Well, one of the things I'm excited about this year is that, we always do, newcomer awards.

and this year-- A- And people don't always accept our invitation when we invite them because, they have multiple r- various reasons why they, you know- Sure ... it doesn't fit into their plans, or they have another show that they're committed to that weekend. you know, if they're, if you're planning a circuit, you wanna ma- have it, you know, wanna do a lot of zigzagging around the country.

You wanna kind of make something logical. [00:28:00] So at any rate, sometimes, sometimes we, um, we get one of our artists, our newcomer artists. This year, we awarded four newcomer awards winners. Oh, wow. And we-- They're all coming.

Aaron: Oh,

Cate: That's awesome. Which is great. It's so exciting. it's always really cool to see, work that we've only seen in slides in person and meet the people who make it.

'Cause that's another part of the show is that you're-- It's all original art Made by the people who are there showing the art. Yeah. So you get a chance to talk to the people and ask them questions about their work and their process and, just whatever question you happen to have.

Aaron: And I think that's such a g- great way to learn. I mean, have you seen people, like especially young people, come to the art fair and then it inspires them for a lifetime of art?

Cate: I hope so. There's an interview on that, um, on the-- There's a person on the, in the, m-m the clip on our, uh, website, [00:29:00] um, that is a jeweler who grew up coming to the fair and, uh, got inspired and became a longtime exhibitor- Yeah

um, at the fair. Um, we have-- I do notice a lot of, um, a lot of new people, a lot of young people are going back. You know, there was this sort of arts and crafts movement. There've been a lot of arts and crafts type movements in historically, uh, and you know, there was a big resurgence in the '60s. Um, and a lot of those people are kind of aging out of the system, but there's a whole new crop of artists that are coming in, um, that are, you know, from the same sort of, "I wanna make something with my hands."

Mm-hmm. "I wanna, I want to do art, um, and make a living at it." And that's really encouraging to see. And they're bringing in a whole new vibe of, [00:30:00] you know, or aesthetic, which is exciting, you know? So, so a lot of people who've only been with us for a few years are, you know, just it's nice to see them grow and, and come and hopefully make a lot of sales 'cause, you know, they're coming back.

They must be making some sales.

Aaron: starving, but s- main- be still be artists.

Cate: Yeah.

Aaron: Well, I think, you know, you look at what's going on in the world, you talk about like artificial intelligence and things like that, and like what are people going to do?

And one of the things, a, a common theme that I keep hearing is like the resurgence of the humanities. Yeah. And I think, you know, people appreciate when people do art, make artwork, and express themselves through music and art and, and the like. So I think these types of fairs are very important for the future of humanity and, you know, society.

Cate: Yeah, I think that that's a good point. I, I agree with that. Um, and I think that [00:31:00] a lot-- that's where a lot of the artists are coming from too.

I think that they're just I- it's a, You know, one, one of the first arts and crafts movement was a, an anti-industrialization in, in the industrialization era, William Morris and the like, Where

it was just "No, well, we could do something besides factory produced."

Aaron: Mm-hmm.

Cate: and back to crafts.

You know, let's do tradition. we've had... You know, printmaking was a very small category for a long time, and now we've got a lot of printmakers, which is very nice, and I think that's part of the kind of hands-on, I'm gonna do something that I can do that is original and that a computer isn't doing.

Aaron: It's tactile.

Cate: Yeah.

Aaron: You know, I think that's so important to be able to see and touch and feel and make what was physically there.

Cate: Yeah, and you can touch a lot of the stuff at the art fair. I used- Yeah ... I did ceramics for a long time, [00:32:00] and I, I always like to pick up a pot and look underneath it.

Aaron: Why? What do you find

Cate: underneath

it?

Oh, because, you know, how did they do the foot? How, What is it sitting-- How is it sitting? I wanna look at the glaze. I wanna touch it. I wanna pick it up and feel how heavy it is. I wanna use my fingers to feel how thick or thin the walls are. I wanna look at the glaze. I wanna see-- I wanna experience it.

Right. And all the- And you can do that, you know? And textiles, you know, people have these great textiles, and a lot of it's wearable, you know? Try it on. Um, I don't think that the painters really want you to touch the paintings.

Aaron: no, I don't think But

Cate: do want you to come up right and close and look at it.

You know, look at it from the side. Look at the texture. 'Cause, you know, a photograph of a painting, as nice as it can be, is not the painting itself.

Aaron: No, you're missing

Cate: something. You're missing a lot. Um, so, uh, you know, there's that. Um, I mean, there's different ways of experiencing the art, and also being able to talk to [00:33:00] the artist, talk to the creators- Right

who were right there. Um, and, you know, you get in conversation with them and, And then if you come back year after year, you come back and say hi to your friends.

Aaron: Right. That's, I think, one of the key points. Ha- do you ever exhibit your work, your ceramics?

Cate: I have not for many years. I-- The only art fair I have done actually is the Ann Arbor Art decades ago when I was a member of the Ann Arbor, uh, Potters

Aaron: It's a beautiful town

Cate: It's a beautiful town. It's a huge, huge set of fairs now. T- um, and- Uh, it was-- And I think it was only two or three fairs, not four fairs when we lived in Ann Arbor. Um, but, uh, but yeah, I, I have not worked in my studio. Actually, it killed my hands. Oh. So, um, [00:34:00] yeah.

Well, what a great way to be able to continue to do the, to make the art happen by leading this 57th Street Fair. Yeah, facilitating everybody else's. with it again, this is- Huge ... you know, this is Mary Ann W- Mary Louise Wilmer's, spirit still with us. It's like, "Here, let's, let's give these people a chance to, you know, show their art, sell it."

Aaron: Yeah. No, she lives on.

Cate: Yeah, she does.

Aaron: Absolutely.

so the fair is gonna be, June 6th and 7th, very soon. And, I know the website is 57thstreetfair.com, so you can have all the information there, um, about when it is.

But tell us, w- if you're trying to plan for the day, when should you get there? Should you come both days, one day? What's the s- what's the best ideas?

Cate: Well, it depends what works for you.

Sure ... come back more than once. we have, the s- fair opens at 11:00 on Saturday, runs till 7:00, 6:00? 6:00. Sometimes p- the artists stay open longer. We don't tell them they have to shut [00:35:00] up their bo- their tents. and then it's 10:00 to 5:00 on Sunday. music tends to start around 10:00-ish and run until about 3:00.

we got kids activities that'll run about the same time the music's running. Oh, yeah, we didn't-- we have some cool activities planned for kids.

Aaron: Yeah. What are those?

Cate: Well, uh, we have, uh, in partnership with the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, they're doing a big activity based on our poster, which this year is a shot from the Point, the Promontory Point, and, I believe the theme is: what does the Point mean to you?

What do you like to do at the Point? Addressed to kids, not to adults. Right. and then, the Ancient Cultures Museum at the university, approached us and wanted to know if they could have a table, and so they're bringing some artifacts, some activities, [00:36:00] um, in addition to the activities that, one of our members has, been working on for the last couple years.

Aaron: You know, it's just hearing about all these different things and, everything that's going on here in Hyde Park almost makes me, wanna take a staycation here-

for a couple days and just explore this area. You know, I go... I'm in Evanston a lot. I think there's a lot of similarities with the, university towns and whatnot, but it has its own distinct character here, for sure. And there's so much I feel like that people can really appreciate and learn and enjoy, uh, in Hyde Park.

Cate: Yeah. There's a lot, there's a lot of... I mean, it's not, it's not-- There are not as many, you know, like, not a lot of places to go out to. I mean, there are- Sure ... some. Um, keeps us happy. I mean, there's enough for, for around here.

It's very walkable. We don't have a car. We walk everywhere. Um, there's great places to walk just right in the neighborhood. Um, [00:37:00] the Cherry Blossom Festival's become a really big thing.

Aaron: When is that?

Cate: Uh, well, when the cherry blossoms bloom.

Aaron: Whatever that is. Yeah. Uh,

Cate: What, what are the dates? Uh, well, it's April-ish. Okay. Um, they, uh...

Believe it's the park Um, uh, Department of Parks and Rec has planted, done the planting, but they put in an, a few hundred trees around the lagoon behind the science museum, and they keep putting more and more and more. I don't know how many hundreds there are now. But they have planted different varieties that bloom at different times so that there's always a sequence.

So it's not all one variety blooming at the same time. But, um... And, you know, some years we don't have blossoms, and some years we have a ton of blossoms. Some years we have a quick bloom, gone, and some years we've had, uh, just goes on forever. Which is great. Uh, last year was that, was, [00:38:00] was, like, just on and on and on.

It was great.

Aaron: I think it helps you appreciate, you know, the years that there aren't as many and then the years that there are, um, when you have it, right?

Cate: Yeah, but then we were so spoiled by last year that this year was disappointing. Yeah.

Aaron: Uh, it's the, the only, um, down

Cate: No, I mean, it, it was, it was still great this year.

But more, more- Yeah ... they're, they're touting it more as a destination to come and, um, which means it gets real crowded.

Aaron: Oh, yeah, I'm sure

Cate: When... It's okay if you're local. You can walk, you know, and you can go there during, you know, times when other people aren't here, but-

Aaron: Yeah. No, it's a, it-- I think it's a privilege to live down here. It's-- There's so much, uh, to do. Um, well, this is great. I'm, I think the fair is gonna be amazing. again, it's 57thstreetartfair.com for more information. but, thank you so much for taking the time to share everything with me, the history, and there, there's so much more that we could

Cate: do- Yeah.

Well,

Aaron: to.

Well, uh- But yeah, go ahead.

Cate: No, apologies for [00:39:00] being so rambly in here. But, yeah, there's a lot, if you're interested in learning more about art fairs. There's a great book that one of our former artists wrote called "Clotheslines to Canopies." It's about the history of art fairs. It's just a little volume.

Aaron: And I'll link it, uh, to, um, to that in the show notes as well

Cate: Yep. and then, yeah, I mean, there's, uh, Hyde Park is a... I mean, we like it. It's pleasant. it's a nice place to live. It's nice, it was nice to raise kids here

Aaron: I'm sure. Well, this is wonderful. Thank you so much, and, uh, thank you all for listening.

Cate: All right