The annual Beaux Arts Bizarre continues today.
Shoppers, families and young children strolled through the regal Missouri Theatre for the weekend’s main attraction: original artwork and handcrafted gifts.
The theater is hosting the third annual Beaux Arts Bizarre, which continues today from noon to 4 p.m.
“It’s a grass-roots art show,” said Chad Canfield, a third-year bazaar participant. “There are not many venues you can buy directly from the person who made the product.”
Approximately 50 artists and craftmakers were scattered throughout the theater’s booths, said Leigh Lockhart, the bazaar’s founder and owner of Main Squeeze. Featured items included matted calligraphy, beaded jewelry, handknitted scarves and tie-dyed infant bodysuits inscribed with astrological signs.
Canfield operates a natural soap business, Earth Walk Soap Company, with his wife, Shannon. At the bazaar, an array of washtub and pure olive oil soaps lay across his booth’s table. The scents range from rosemary eucalyptus and lemon basil to three part harmony and citrus passion.
The Canfields work out from their Columbia home. Although Chad Canfield relishes working at home because he gets to be near his two children, the only drawback is not seeing customers on a more frequent basis.
“We don’t have a storefront,” he said. “The arts bazaar is a way to meet the customers one-on-one.”
On Friday afternoon, two belly dancers, Kandi Grossman and Kristin Lierheimer, wiggled through the crowd to the pounding sounds of beating drums. They are members of the belly-dancing group, the DragonFlies of the Moon Belly Dance House.
Koy Espinoza, 22, and his Kansas City roommate, 19-year-old Jason Smith, made their first trip to Columbia to visit their friend, Frankie Medack, who also belly dances.
“If I’m going to spend money, I’d rather give it to someone living this lifestyle, bohemian and self-employed, rather than a corporation,” Espinoza said.
David Spear, a Columbia artist who works out of his downtown studio, Alleyway Arts, is participating for the first time. In the past, he’s participated in the St. Charles Mosaics Festival for the Arts and Columbia’s Art in the Park.
Spear spends most of his time in his studio working on drawings, painting or teaching art to 13-year-old students.
Other times, he is busy at home with his wife and two children.
Spear’s work at the bazaar ranged from charcoal drawings of men playing chess to oil-based caricature prints of President Bush and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
Throughout the years, Canfield said he has seen an increase in artist participation and the number of patrons. He attributes the increasing popularity of the bazaar to the city’s strong population of artists and young families.
“(The arts bazaar) will help Columbia maintain its unique quality as long as it’s not exploited,” Canfield said.
Admission costs $1 and benefits the Missouri Symphony Society’s restoration efforts for the historic theater. Children under age 8 get in free.