Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts 2017

Wayfinding, Mixed Media Mosaic, Patty Carmody Smith

It’s that time of year again: The Minnesota State Fair returns in all its excessively mundane aspects. Last Tuesday evening I went to the Fine Arts Preview, and it was, with a few exceptions, a decidedly underwhelming experience. I'm a sucker for bright, shiny, colorful objects and the 3-D mosaic above (picture is sideways to better fit the blog format) filled the bill on all accounts. Indeed, it seems as if sculpture is always the strongest category, with plenty of whimsy and craftsmanship to wow the crowds:



Not everybody was wowed.

Kyle L. Fokken’s Jack in the Bucket was even more startling:



While Beth Thompson’s hyper-realistic A Summer’s Nap seemed to be the crowd favorite:



And I even met Genie Castro, the printmaking juror, who was as vibrant as her featured work:

Overall, I’d say that the Fine Arts Exhibit has seemed to have lost its luster, with mostly derivative works. Several artists repeated what they had done in previous years. So, in that spirit (dispirit?) I decided to join the crowd, here’s an updated version of a image I posted last year:



Much more from the fair on Monday!

Check out my other Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts reviews.