The 60th annual Uptown Art Fair will showcase over 150 local artists who specialize in different mediums on Aug. 3 and 4.
The fair is usually hosted outdoors on Hennepin Avenue but has been moved to the Bachman’s Floral, Home & Garden Center in Uptown this year due to construction in the area. Many of the artists will have their own booths showcasing their artwork.
Brit Sigh, owner of Midnight Run Studio, creates outstanding illustrations and paintings and has even created style guides for action figures from Marvel and Disney. Several of his works will be displayed at the Uptown Art Fair.
Sigh said art has been a life-long passion for him as he wanted to be a comic book artist when he was a kid.
“I’ve been doing it all my life,” Sigh said. “I had a lot of outside noises telling me that you don’t make a lot of money as an artist, I didn’t realize you can actually have a career in it, so it took me a little while to actually get back to art, to actually really lean into it, to really go full-force toward it.”
In his work, Sigh often depicts Black youth as heroes in futuristic, fantasy settings. He said these kinds of works are underrepresented in the art community.
“I didn’t see that kind of stuff growing up, and I still don’t see a lot of it in contemporary art so it’s my focus, to focus on kids and their imagination and the endless possibilities,” Sigh said.
Local Oil Painter Anna Stark creates hyper-realistic paintings reminiscent of pop art. Stark, a mother of three, began painting in 2020 and is now displaying her work at the Uptown Art Fair.
“One day, I was sitting down with my four or five-year-old daughter,” Stark said. “We just had a cheap set of paints, we started painting and it just snowballed from there. Over the last four years, with thousands of hours of practice, I went from having no talent to developing a skill for this realism painting.”
Stark said given the realistic nature of her paintings, people are surprised they are not photographs.
“When people look at my art, sometimes they walk right past my artwork, they just think they are photographs and not very exciting if it’s just like a picture of a Pez dispenser,” Stark said. “But once they stick around and they learn that it’s an oil painting, they’re like ‘Oh my gosh, wow, that’s a painting.’”
While her paintings are done with realism in mind, Stark said that she also tries to invoke a sense of nostalgia within her artwork.
Stark said her kids seeing her improve as an artist is a motivating aspect of her art career.
“Part of the journey is just showing them that I had no talent, and now I have gained this skill, and now I am showing it and sharing it with the world and bringing them along on my journey, and just having fun and spreading joy,” Stark said.
Amanda Black of Black Loon Studio creates and sells prints inspired by Minnesota’s nature. She will have pieces available for purchase at the Uptown Art Fair. After graduating with a degree in photography, Black pursued printmaking, with much of her artwork inspired by time spent outdoors.
Black said showing her artwork at events like the Uptown Art Fair is a rewarding experience.
“I often hear stories,” Black said. “I have an image with three bears in the trees, and people will show me pictures of the time they saw bears climbing a tree, and I just love doing that.”
The Uptown Art Fair is spotlighting the amazing Twin Cities art scene by displaying the great works of Sigh, Stark, Black and many others. It is shaping up to be one of the coolest art events this summer. For local art connoisseurs, this is sure to be a highlight of the summer.
