Sisters celebrates 'Art in the Park'

The cluster of little white tents brought the ambiance of a public market to Sisters Creekside Park last Saturday and Sunday. Some 85 vendors gathered for Sisters Art in the Park, an annual event that is always held during the second weekend of June to coincide with the Sisters Rodeo.

Metal sculptures, ceramics, wood work, recycled wind chimes, watercolors, oils, jewelry, musical instruments, concrete garden art and much, much more were offered for sale.

Event promoter Richard Esterman, a Sisters resident and photographer, organizes two fairs in Sisters each year, last weekend's event and the Sisters Arts and Crafts Festival on the fourth weekend in July. For each event Esterman features a silent auction and donates 100 percent of the auction's proceeds to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions with the goal of enriching the human experience by providing hope, strength and joy. For additional information about the organization visit http://www.orwish.org.

Esterman offers exhibitors a discount on the cost of their booths for donating items to the silent auction.

"Not all of them do that. The ones that do do that, I get their items. Whatever the retail is, we start the bidding at half the price," Esterman said.

After an item receives its first bid, Esterman places it on the auction block for a 30-minute period and it is sold to the highest bidder. Esterman anticipates Saturday and Sunday's silent auction raised approximately $500.

In addition to organizing his two arts and crafts shows in Sisters each year, Esterman works internationally as a photographer. He returned earlier this year from a shoot in Machu Picchu in Peru and in the Amazon.

Between 3,000 and 5,000 people wandered through Esterman's show during the weekend.

"Right after the parade we always get a big rush over here," he said.

More than 50 of Esterman's 85 artists and craftsmen had not previously exhibited in Esterman's shows in Sisters.

"I like to get a good mix. I don't want people to come and say 'oh, it's just the same thing.' ... I travel all over, and when I do travel I look for different artists, so it's not the same thing you've seen at other Saturday markets," Esterman said.

New vendors this year included Bella Folia that crafts colorful leaf sculptures for the home and garden. Some are creatively designed as water features. Located in Beaverton, the three women crafters sell their work mainly from their homes. For additional information, contact them at [email protected]

The non-profit organization called "The Music Project" from St. Helens offered hand-crafted violins. The group has crafted violins for the last 25 years with the goal of encouraging people to play the violin. Group spokesman and master violin maker Bill Mehess is currently training three apprentices in the art of violin, viola and cello making. Approximately 70 hours go into the crafting of each violin. Mehess brought 33 violins to Sisters and sold all of them.

It will now take several months for the organization's volunteers to craft enough violins to attend another arts and crafts fair.

Ward Wells from Ellensburg, Washington displayed his three-tier hanging planters.

"They are made out of recycled wood. All the wood we use is what they call fall-down or scrap from construction sites," Wells said.

Offerings were as varied as the creative minds that crafted them. Attendance was steady and many attendees went home with something new to adorne their homes.