Sunday was "Grand Old Day" in Saint Paul. The weather was a bit cold and clammy on Grand Avenue. Still, hearty folks bundled up for one of the great "people shows" in Minnesota every year, even though there were fewer to see and be seen than on sunnier years.
It was not the "grandest" weather day in Edina, either, but it was considerably grander than Saturday when Mother Nature decided to throw half an inch of cold water on the once-a-year art show that tented over blocks of the pavement centered at 50th and France.
Wisconsin artist Tom Feyrer brought his pottery 7 hours down the interstates. He was not prepared for the sudden June chill. "Yesterday? I carried around my long underwear. I couldn't find a place to put it on, it was so cold. Rain, it was dead, very few people came."
Art Show Executive Director Rachel Hubbard could only sigh. "Yeah, yesterday was kind of a bummer for everybody, but you know, we still had people that came down. It was amazing, so thank you to those people."
California artist and cork maker Fred Albrecht dismissed the Saturday drenching. "Compared to last year? Nothin!" Albrecht remembered the gale of 2008. "Horizontal winds, large hail, I'm in Ice Water up to my knees, the booth is that way (he waves to one side) , the tables are filled with that much (several inches) hail. I think it's a rather mundane weekend, if you wish."
Cool as Sunday was, the day played a drier tune for the droves of art faithful. They made up for lost time, swelling the weekend's attendance to an estimated 70,000. It was down from the normal 80-90,000, but averted Saturday's threat of disaster. The day was finally fit for man and beast, the streets were safe for strolling in sandals and the artists were painting a profit.
Benson, Minnesota's Mimi Alexander admited Saturday was "miserable", but says a lot shoppers came to buy. "The really serious art buyers, they'll come out in the rain."
That proved fortunate, since that first weekend in a Minnesota June is unpredictable.
(Copyright 2009 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
