As a participating artist in the 72nd annual Greenwich Village Art Fair (virtual this year) I welcome you to my website. I consider myself an emerging artist in the Rockford area (or a re-emerging artist at the very least). Let me encourage you to explore the site, especially the menu above with information and gallery tabs. There you will see my 2020 gallery of current work, as well as the topical galleries of work done before January. Enjoy the art fair and your virtual visit to my booth here on the web.
VIRTUAL 72ND GREENWICH VILLAGE ART FAIR: https://www.greenwichvillageartfair.com/ put on by the Rockford Art Museum and Midland States Bank the weekend of September 19th and 20th, with activities, tours, insights and the opportunity to shop with the artists who have been included in this years show.
Why an emerging artist?
Sometimes we, as the public who observe artists working and showing in galleries and fairs we attend, make assumptions that their life has been devoted to making art full time for, quite frankly, the visual age we see in front of us. The additional assumption is then, that the older an artist is the more experienced, accomplished, polished and well known they are. Reality is, however, that many artists work off and on in other careers and their art has had to take the back seat to the immediacy of life challenges and commitments.
Criteria for some might dictate solely seeing emerging artists as dependent on career stage or even age, although truthfully it cannot, or should not since an emerging artist might be 13 or 73 and still be taking that first step into the public eye.
In my case I have been making art my whole life and started towards a career in the arts in my early 20’s but couldn’t pursue it as a vocation. Over the years I have integrated my art into my historical lectures and interpretation roles but am virtually unknown to my region as a contemporary woman artist. As I approach retirement in the next couple of years I fully intend to live the fully integrated life and run my art business. With that in mind, I now consider myself as re-emerging.
Kelly E. James 