The North Carolina State Fair is in full swing from now until October 23rd here in Raleigh. Some of the great things about the fair, other than the food, rides and games, are the diverse displays of arts and crafts from people all over our state.There are fine art displays from professional artists, amateur artists and student artists from elementary school to high school. In fact, some of our Banks Road artists have work on display, so be sure to go check that out in the Kerr Scott Building!!
Visual fine art is usually defined as artwork such as drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, etc. In the past these are the types of art that are often displayed in galleries and art museums. The "fine arts" are usually art meant to be looked at but not used. Throughout history though, people have used their creativity and skills to make things we use everyday beautiful and unique. This type of art is called craftwork or sometimes just crafts. Craftwork could include pottery, furniture, blankets or clothes (these are often called textiles), needlework, etc and they are just as creative and can express just as much as the fine arts. You can find wonderful craftwork on display in several places around the fair and in some places you can even buy these crafts to take home: The Village of Yesteryear, Commercial Building and Education Building.
Some of the other creative things you might find at the fair but might not immediately recognize as art or using art skills are:
-cake decorating- some of those cakes look more like sculptures than cakes!
-face painting- it takes some creativity to do those elaborate face paintings
-Caricatures- you know, when they draw your portrait but they make your head way bigger than your body and they make you look a little funny
The Fair website has some great, downloadable scavenger hunts to get kids involved and interested in the exhibits and competition displays, so check out the Fair website.
Link to the Fair website:http://www.ncstatefair.org/2011/index.htm
Link to Fairgrounds Map: http://www.ncstatefair.org/2011/General/GetToFair.htm?tab=2#TabbedPanels1]]
Don't forget to click on the highlighted words in the text for links to more info!
