Art Fair on the Square

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Maurice Thaler

Art Fair on the Square

Summer brings not one but two huge gatherings of visual artists to downtown Madison. The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art offers Art Fair on the Square, featuring more than 400 juried artists from around the U.S., three performance stages, a kids' activity area, and much more ringing the state Capitol. The Wisconsin Alliance of Artists and Craftspeople presents Art Fair Off the Square, with about 140 artists from Wisconsin. Both fairs run 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday. More info below and updates at mmoca.org and artcraftwis.org.

media release: Saturday, July 8, 2023, 9 AM–6 PM; Sunday, July 9, 2023, 10 AM–5 PM

The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) will host the 65th annual Art Fair on the Square around the city’s Capitol Square on July 8-9, 2023. The Art Fair showcases the work of more than 400 artists from around the country, featuring everything from grand sculptures to delicate contemporary jewelry, handmade furniture, inspired ceramics, and vibrant works for the wall. 

For more than six decades, Wisconsin residents and people throughout the Midwest have flocked to Art Fair on the Square, MMoCA’s biggest annual fundraising event. The funds raised through the fair help keep the Museum admission free all year long and support world-class exhibitions and educational programming for kids, teens, and adults. Through the Art Fair, MMoCA has helped thousands of professional artists sell and promote their work.

The event draws some 200,000 patrons from around the region and beyond. Live music and dance performances will be featured on three stages all weekend (find the schedule below), and visitors can enjoy international cuisine and locally-sourced fare at booths around the Square.

Participation in Art Fair on the Square is competitive, and finalists are accepted through a jury process. Artists selected for the 2023 Art Fair hail from two dozen US states. Many of the participating artists will be exhibiting at the fair for the first time.

The 2023 Jury Panel includes Angélica Contreras, a Madison-based mixed media artist and recipient of the Forward Art Prize in 2020; Todd Johnson, a local artist who is pursuing his BA in Fine Art at UW-Madison; Jennifer Ridley Hanson, a partner at Slatestone Wealth and a longtime supporter of the arts; Sarah J. Stankey, a Madison-based fine artist and Lead Curator at Arts + Literature Laboratory; and Mushka Yurkew, a multidisciplinary artist and performer based in Madison.

Jurors also review the 2023 artists on-site to select Best of Show winners in each of the thirteen categories. The award-winning artists will be invited back to exhibit at the 2024 fair.

MMoCA selected Greta Sandquist to be the 2023 Art Fair on the Square Featured Artist. The featured artwork, which graces the cover of the Art Fair on the Square program and the collectible T-shirts produced by Wildwood Productions, is titled Edge of the Forest (2023). The original work, in oil and copper leaf on cradled wood panel, will be available for bidding in the Silent Auction Tent at the Art Fair. 

In her artist’s statement, Sandquist says, “This series of oil paintings combines two themes I love—nature and people’s faces. My use of metal leaf provides the alchemy that joins these themes. For ages, metal leaf has been used in iconography to draw viewers out of realism and transport them into a new and unimaginable reality.

“Nature, especially wildlife, has been a theme in my work for many years. I have always felt drawn to animals, and I have a desire to connect and get closer. I want to touch the soft fur of the fox, or to feel the near weightlessness of a tiny bird in my hand. Faces and figures also intrigue me. I fell in love with portrait painting at an early age, and I still find it a sheer joy to see a face come alive when I paint the light in the eyes. I love how, with just a few brush strokes, I can portray endless complex emotions with enough strength of expression that the viewer can feel as though they see themselves in that face.”

Sandquist is based in St. Paul, Minnesota. She will be located in Booth 216, at South Carroll Street and West Washington Avenue, at Art Fair on the Square.

Art Fair on the Square truly offers something for everyone, with an emerging artist block (100 block of State Street); three performance stages; foods ranging from empanadas, fresh salads, and tacos, to cheese curds, brats and beer, fresh squeezed juices and smoothies, as well as vegetarian and gluten-free specialties; and an art projects area for kids (King Street, Saturday, 9:15 AM–6 PM and Sunday, 10:15 AM–5 PM). Shoppers can bid on works from participating artists at the Silent Auction Tent, or stop by the Artist & Craftsman Supply tent on State Street to get inspired with art making supplies.

Entertainment schedule:

Saturday, July 8, 2023

Isthmus State Street Stage (State Street and the Capitol Square): 11:00 AM Julien Kozak, 12:30 PM Billy Joe and the Affordables: A Billy Joel Tribute, 2:00 PM Steven Meyer, 3:30 PM Mideast Salsa

Wisconsin Heartland Honda Dealers Stage at MLK Jr. Boulevard: 11:00 AM Son del Atlantico, 12:30 PM Adem Tesfaye, 2:00 PM Star 67, 3:30 PM Mad City Funk

Waunakee Remodeling Performing Arts Stage (Capitol Steps at North Hamilton Street): 11:00 AM Madison Professional Dance Center, 12:30 PM Kehl School of Dance, 2 PM Breakthrough Dance Company

Sunday, July 9, 2023

Isthmus State Street Stage (State Street and the Capitol Square): 10 AM All That Jazz Big Band, 11:30 AM Corey Mathew Hart, 1 PM Greg Herriges, 2:30 PM CumbiaCachaca

Wisconsin Heartland Honda Dealers Stage at MLK Jr. Boulevard: 10 AM Mad City Jug Band, 11:30 AM Sortin’ The Mail, 1 PM Lily Bethke and The Smoky Nights, 2:30 PM Kat and the Hurricane

Waunakee Remodeling Performing Arts Stage (Capitol Steps at North Hamilton Street): 11:30 AM Studio Dansu Dance Company, 1 PM Madison Contemporary Dance, 2:30 PM Eric De Los Santos Marimba