Rotary Arts & Crafts Fair promises to amaze, will also honor Ikki Matsumoto
What once was a President’s Day weekend pancake breakfast will celebrate its 31st anniversary this year as the Rotary Club of Sanibel-Captiva’s annual Arts and Crafts Fair.
The Rotary Arts and Crafts Fair will take place Saturday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sunday (10 to 4), Feb. 15-16, at the Community House lawn on Periwinkle Way.
According to the fair’s website, the event began as a pancake breakfast in 1981 when George Brauch and Jack Slagle bought a couple grills, rented out the Community House and invited all to come out for some pancakes. The men began fielding requests for local artists to exhibit their work during the breakfast. A few years later it morphed into one of the premier art shows of the islands and one of the largest charity fundraisers the Rotary Club offers.
“A lot of Rotary members have been working for months to prepare,” said Rotarian Robert Monk, chairman of the committee organizing the show. “We spend a good deal of time trying to acquire the artists.”
This year they had a record of over 350 artists apply for the show. Over 100 artists made the cut and will display their wares on the Community House lawn. They will offer unique gifts, wearable art, sculpture, paintings, photography, wood working, painted furniture, jewelry and more. Many local businesses also donated items for the annual silent auction. Various items include memorabilia, weeklong beachfront stays and pieces donated by many artists.
Rotary tries to keep an emphasis on local art, according to Monk.
“We’re happy to have our prominent local artists, Luc Century, Katie Gardenia, we have at least a dozen Sanibel artists. It’s important to us that we don’t displace the local art. They have shops and galleries here.”
They will continue this tradition by honoring the late Ikki Matsumoto with a special award given to the top overall piece in the fair. According to Monk, prizes are awarded in various categories each year, but the Matsumoto award will stand above all.
“He’s always been a great help to our club,” Monk said. “He donated art work for our T-shirt sales, he would win prizes and give them back, tell us to give it to somebody else who needs it,” he laughed. “We wanted to do something special to honor and thank him for everything he did for us.”
A special piece of Matsumoto’s art will adorn the Rotary Fair’s T-shirts again this year. While they never can predict how many people will turn out, they average over 6,500 annually. According to Monk, who has organized the show for several years, they hope for 10 thousand this year. At the end of the day, he just loves seeing the fruits of his club’s labor.
“It’s a fairly large event for Sanibel, something people look forward to every year,” Monk said. “At the end of the day it’s rewarding to see us put something together that so many people will come to.”
Proceeds from the fair will be used to meet community needs, fund local scholarships, and for human service needs worldwide. For more information and to view the artist lineup, visit sanibelartfair.com.