Santa Maria Sun / Art

Have a seat

BY SHELLY CONE

Chairs to you Chairs of every shape and size will be on display—and for sale—at the Chair Faire in Los Alamos. Check out fancy seats, like this chair from Douglas Smith of Santa Barbara. PHOTO COURTESY C GALLERY

“People ask me, ‘Should I bring out one or all six?’” said Chair Faire organizer Connie Rohde of C Gallery. “I say bring all six. Clean out your garage.”

Merchants in Los Alamos will be host to the fair—which organizers plan to be an annual event—on July 31 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

The Chair Faire will benefit the Olga Reed Elementary School and is a combination of art show and flea market—if the only items you could find at the flea market were chairs.

Fat ones, skinny ones, tall ones, funky ones—the chairs will be lined up on display along the sidewalk of Bell Street. Exhibited seats will range from collectible antiques to artsy painted pieces. But Rohde said the chairs don’t have to be totally glamorous.

“Something you clean out of your garage may be someone else’s fodder for making an art project,” she explained. “I’m always attracted to junk for how I can reinvent it.”

Rohde donated a hand-painted Matisse chair from her former art students for a raffle. It will be given away at 3 p.m. in front of the Post Office to one lucky holder of a $5 ticket.

Sit for a bit The Chair Faire will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 31 along Bell Street in Los Alamos. The event is a fundraiser for Olga Reed Elementary School. To enter chairs in the Chair Faire, pay an entry fee of $10 for two chairs of any kind or $20 for six chairs. For more information, call the C Gallery at 344-3807 or visit thecgallery.com.

Artists will be painting onsite at Cafe Quackenbush and at the Gentleman Farmer Gift Shop. Alan Freeman will be painting on the patio at the café, where he’s currently exhibiting a new show in Art Brut Gallery. His colorful work features scenes from Los Alamos and slightly beyond. Carol Wood will be painting at the Gentleman Farmer.

Visitors to Ghost Riders Tavern will find chair-spinning contests, and the C Gallery will feature assorted art—all about chairs—inside the gallery. Join a Chair Faire Happy Hour Garden Concert, featuring “Stonehorse,” with Nicolette Birni and Lynni Gilfry, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Union Hotel.

 Chairs will be judged and prizes awarded in four categories: Most Pristine Antique Chair; Most Unique Art Chair; Chair With Most Potential; and Best All Around Can’t-Stop-Talking-About-It Chair. Prizes are gift certificates from Los Alamos merchants, and judges include George Weir, Kam Jacoby, and Vivian Thompson.

Rohde said more than 100 chairs are scheduled to show up so far, and she’s expecting more as the day approaches.

“The goal is to help the school, but it’s also to get people to come to town and stroll the sidewalks,” she said. “I think it’s going to be fun.”

Arts Editor Shelly Cone has three boys who are strong believers in chair art. She can be reached at scone@
santamariasun.com.