The Krasl Art Fair for 2022 is coming together as Krasl Art Center announces several details about this year’s program. Among other things, it’s announced this year’s jurors, a events director, and the number of artists who will be showing off their work. Krasl gives us the full details:
Planning for the 60th Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff, presented by 1st Source Bank Wealth Advisory Services, has been underway since October when artists were able to apply for the nationally-renowned event. On February 22, five jurors virtually reviewed and juried 426 applicants to determine the final 172 artists invited to the anniversary event. Invitations have been sent, and the acceptance messages began pouring in as plans for the 60th Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff (KAF) continue for July 9 & 10, 2022.
Tickets to the event will go on sale Sunday, May 1. Advanced ticket purchases encouraged.
Daily admission:
- General Admission (guests age 11+): $5
- Children age 3 – 10: $3
- Children under 3 receive complimentary admission; ticket required.
General admission tickets are good for one day of the event, and same-day re-entry is accepted.
- Day-of tickets: Walk-up cash only (QR codes will be provided for credit card sales).
- Collector Experience packages start at $130 ($65 for existing KAC members) and includes an all-weekend pass plus special benefits. Limited availability.
- Complimentary ticket information will be available and announced when tickets are on sale.
As the largest fundraiser for Krasl Art Center (KAC), proceeds help make free year-round exhibitions possible.
Returning this year is the Friday night Block Party. The community is invited to socialize with participating artists, enjoy live music, artmaking activities, and a cash bar. Celebrate the Art Fair’s 60th birthday at the return of this popular event! Tickets are as follows:
- Guests ages 11+: $5
- Children age 3 – 10: $3
- Children under 3 receive complimentary admission; ticket required.
- KAC members receive complimentary tickets to the Block Party as thanks for their continued support of KAC’s mission to ‘Inspire Meaningful Change and Strengthen Community through the Visual Arts.’ To renew your membership or join for the first time, visit https://public.krasl.org/web/membership.
Be the first to know all event details by signing up for email updates at krasl.org/art-fair/tickets.
Sponsorship by local businesses supports the careers of artists through this high-quality event. KAC thanks 1st Source Bank Wealth Advisory Services for their Presenting Sponsorship of the 2021 and 2022 Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff.
Meet KAC’s New Event Director: Jamie Balkin
In January 2022, Jamie Balkin started a new professional adventure as the Director of Events for Krasl Art Center. Her career in marketing and communications began in 1995 as a student at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN, receiving a degree in communications and a minor in marketing.
Balkin brings her experience in several career fields to the Art Fair. She worked with the Cornerstone Alliance and Chamber of Commerce from 1995 – 2013. From 2014 – 2021 Balkin served as the Director of Marketing for Wightman, an engineering, architecture, environmental, and surveying firm.
Balkin currently serves as a city commissioner for Coloma. Her experiences bring strengths like strong organizational skills, the ability to work with diverse individuals to accomplish complex goals, flexibility and the ability to work under a tight deadline, and finding creative avenues in order to accomplish goals, to her new role leading the Art Fair and annual events at Krasl Art Center.
Meet the Jurors
Every year, a unique panel is assembled to select artists to the Krasl Art Fair. Jurors are selected based on their careers, relationship to the arts, and expertise in their respective fields. Jurors review and score each artist’s application, allowing for unbiased acceptance year to year. Artist personal information including name, race, gender, and addresses are not shared with the panel to eliminate any biases in selection. From the images, jurors rank the artists on a 1-7 scale to determine a final score.
Krasl Art Center is pleased to introduce the five jurors whose efforts resulted in the finalists for the 2022 Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff presented by 1st Source Bank. You will see jurors during the fair* to select the 2022 Best-of Category winners, so please thank them for their service in helping create a spectacular show!
Jessica Hightower
Profession: Krasl Art Center Teaching Artist; Communications Specialist, Pokagon Band of Potawatomi; Artist.
Education: Two degrees in graphic design, with over 10 years of professional experience.
Bio: Jessica Hightower is an artist and professional graphic designer born and raised in Benton Harbor, MI. Hightower has been painting for many years, but she turned to this art form in 2020 to express herself boldly. Her paintings reflect the beauty of people of color—not just the tones of their skin but the expression of their auras. Using color, facial expressions, and hand gestures to convey emotion in her painting, Hightower wants the audience to connect with the art; to be able to come up with a story of their own.
Nicolina Holt
Profession: Nicolina Holt Photography; Notre Dame University – Office Coordinator for the Art Department; Krasl Art Center Teaching Artist.
Awards: Awarded the Dean’s Merit Scholarship for MFA in Visual Arts at Lesley University. Inclusion in a variety of juried fine art shows.
Bio: Nicolina Holt is a fine art photographer in Southwest Michigan. She earned a B.F.A. in Studio Art with a concentration in photography and graphic design from Michigan State University and is in the process of completing her Visual Arts M.F.A. from Lesley University. She has worked not only as a fine artist, but also a photojournalist and photography instructor. Nicolina’s photography explores societal norms and power structures and how they relate to women. Her work has been exhibited at Woman Made Gallery, ARC Gallery, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Bridgeport Art Center, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Holland Arts Council, Old Courthouse Arts Center, and more.
Vincent Leman
Profession: Furniture designer, Dust Furniture.
Relationship with Art: Some formal collegiate art training, lifelong exposure to the craft, and self-development through practice.
Bio: Vincent Leman grew up in his family’s custom cabinetry business – where he learned the craft of woodworking. Leman has applied his own artistic perspective to cabinet building and created a distinct style of curved, abstracted furniture. Using formal engineer training, he turns abstract concepts into reality.
Kristin Perkins
Profession: Managing Member, Kristin Perkins Glass Jewelry LLC
Awards: Best of Jewelry, Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff 2021; Second Place, Toledo Art on the Mall 2021; Second Place, Carmel International Art Fair 2019
Bio: Kristin Perkins is the sole designer and maker of colorful, contemporary glass and sterling silver jewelry line. Her passion for creating jewelry began in 1984 when she enrolled in her first jewelry making and design class. In 1999, she learned to blow glass at a local studio and found glass to be the perfect material to include in her jewelry designs. She has been evolving her glass and silver jewelry line ever since. Kristin sells her jewelry at art fairs, online, and through a number of galleries. Kristin is a member of the Board of Directors at the Michigan Guild of Artists and Artisans.
*As the 2021 KAF Best of Jewelry award winner, Ms. Perkins will not be jurying the final award winners during the fair.
Kevan H. Truman
Profession: Retired 3rd-grade teacher. Currently, a volunteer and docent at Krasl Art Center.
Relationship to the Arts: “My relationship with art has been a 50+ year adventure. My “training” is in the form of teaching third grade for over 30 years. Art was an integral part of my teaching. I took my students to the Art Institute of Chicago each year so we could learn more about Chicago/Illinois history through art.”
Bio: Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Truman has lived in six of the Great Lake States. Saint Joseph, Michigan, has always been his home away from home. He taught third grade in a northern Chicago suburb for over 30 years with an emphasis in gifted education and is now retired. As a lifelong patron of the arts, Truman enjoys being surrounded by artistic expressions. He has taken extracurricular art classes as a child/teen and art classes in college. During a sabbatical at Northwestern University, Truman enjoyed multiple art and art history classes. Finally, as an adult, he continues to explore my artistic knowledge by being a docent at Krasl Art Center and by taking art classes
