COLUMBIA — Friday at 5 p.m., Boone County National Bank closed its doors for the preparations. Volunteers emerged to clear phones and papers from the front desks, and the bank lobby would soon become a gallery.
After the lobby was cleared, 162 local artists delivered their artwork for display. A team of 40 volunteers hung and arranged the 262 paintings, sculptures and ceramic pieces.
The 49th annual Boone County Art Show takes place this weekend in the Boone County National Bank's downtown lobby at Broadway and Eighth Street. The show is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
"People come out of the woodwork for this show," said Julia Helvey, co-chair of the Boone County Art Show.
Julia Helvey and her husband, Bill, have co-chaired the show for the past 35 years and are both longtime members of the Columbia Art League.
"I'm the paper-pusher, and he is the artist," Julia Helvey said of her husband and herself.
Julia Helvey said the volunteers make the short, two-day time frame for the show workable.
"It's the cultural mecca of local art," she said of the annual show.
The show is the largest of its kind in mid-Missouri and the biggest indoor show of the year, Bill Helvey said.
"The judges are always amazed at the number of pieces that come in from such a small area," he said.
Preparations began in the spring for the fall show. Plans are already in the making, Julia Helvey said, for a revamping of next year's 50th Boone County Art Show.
Art Show organizers moved the show date in 1992 from Columbus Day weekend to coincide with Columbia's Festival of the Arts, which is held the last weekend in September. Festival organizers hoped the art show would enhance the festival as a whole.
Both professional and non-professional artists, including students, teachers, Art League members and artists, participate in the show, which is co-sponsored by the Columbia Art League and the Boone County National Bank.
Jo Mueller, director of the George A. Spiva Center for the Arts in Joplin, was the judge for the event. Winners were chosen Friday for each category.
The award ceremony will take place at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.