An Evening with Penrod

One of the biggest and best art fairs in the area (and I think the nation) is called Penrod, and it's always the weekend after Labor Day. At least is has been since I've known about it. It's held on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, so I think it even still grows a little bit each year.

This year they 'expanded' by have an event the night before, called 'An Evening with Penrod' to give a 'preview' of Penrod for the next day. I guess they were calling it a preview since only 150 of the artist were set up. But they were set up to sell! The event, itself, was a 21 and up event with food being served (small plate style) by a lot of the real nice area restaurants (one place was serving up oysters) and free beer and wine. They had a band playing and it was, in general, just a nice evening out (though it started a little muggy). Part of the ticked price included admission to the fair the next day (today).

So Eric and I used the evening as our 'date night' for the week. We showed up fashionably late (after the crowds had entered and there was no wait) and came right into the food area. We grabbed a few different small plates, which were some amazing little samplers these restaurants had worked up. Finally, after grabbing a couple of drinks for ourselves, we wandered through the artists' tents. As always, there were some cool pieces. I'm always drawn into the various photography, which so many artists now print on canvas. There's always a few painters that draw me it, too... depends on the subject or method, though, on how well it keeps my interests. The jewelry is always fun the look at and you always have those few unique artists that just draw a crowd because of the unique aspect of their art.

it was quite a fun evening and, yes, we did buy something. I think we've bought something every time we've gone to Penrod together, even if it's something small. Not because we feel obligated... but just because we always find something. Since we did out art buying last night, we gave our tickets to Eric's parents to use today. They were wanting to go, so it worked out well. We'll probably do the preview night again next year... there's not as much of a crowd and the atmosphere is just more relaxed. Makes a good date night, too.