By Hank Beckman
The annual La Grange Craft Fair returns this weekend, continuing a nearly 50-year La Grange tradition that is rated among the best craft fairs in the Chicago area.
“We’re very happy to be the welcoming guests to the 49th Annual La Grange Craft,” Cathy Domanico, executive director of the La Grange Business Association said. “This year we’ll feature more than 175 craftspeople and artists from around the region. There is truly something for everybody. Special discounts will be offered by several of our local stores and restaurants making it a perfect weekend in La Grange.”
LGBA is helping Craft Productions organize the event, but Domanico made it clear that Craft Productions was doing the heavy lifting, hiring all the vendors and basically running the fair, while LGBA is helping to promote it.
Sponsors of the craft fair are Chiro One and Chicago Tent.
As usual, La Grange-area artists will be a strong presence.
La Grange Park resident Dorn Cheske and her husband will show their special brand of jewelry made from various items they find in their travels around the world.
They repurpose vintage (pre-Euro) coins from European countries like England, Ireland, and Italy into bracelets, earrings, and pendants.
“We love to rediscover vintage things,” Cheske said.
The Cheske’s also use vintage silver spoons, knives, and forks to create their custom, one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry.
“We can redesign them into beautiful bracelets,” she said.
Both metalsmiths, Dorn Cheske said that as artists, the husband and wife team looks at various objects with their own unique perspectives.
“When I see a house or a coin I see something different,” she said, while emphasizing that they also strive to provide value to customers. “Our prices are very reasonable.”
Dorn Cheske said that she started her career in corporate marketing before becoming a full-time metalsmith, primarily working craft fairs, including the highly rated French Market in Wheaton. But she said that the La Grange Craft Fair was her favorite.
More Top Picks Phones
“I’ve been doing this full time for years,” she said.
Another local vendor will be Den10 Studio, den10studio.com
The product of a La Grange Park family of four, the pieces available can best be described as eclectic. “Art For Your Lifestyle” draws on pieces inspired by the Denten family’s experiences in Southern California and its roots in the Midwest.
Karyn Denten is a graphic designer and fine art painter, husband Matt is a creative director, daughter Annie is a photographer, and son Noah contributes as an illustrator.
“We all come together with our different styles,” she said. “Each of us contributes our own talent. Every thing we do is made by us, and we want people to come and see that we’re a creative collective as a family.”
Another La Grange Park resident, Brian Horan, will be showcasing his photography at the craft fair.
A 30-year practitioner of the art form, Horan’s work can be previewed at myeyeontheworld.etsy.com. His website reveal portraits of art, animals, and iconic public buildings, including Buddy Guys Legends, Duke’s Bridgeview Beef stand, and the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove.
The La Grange Craft Fair will run Saturday and Sunday, July 15-16 — from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day — at the corner of La Grange Road and Harris Avenue.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.