Staff Interview: Courtney Billingsley – Silent Auction Manager

Courtney Billingsley

The Cherrywood Art Fair staff starts working early in the year to bring you the best art fair in Austin. This week the spotlight is on our dedicated Silent Auction Manager, Courtney Billingsley. Courtney is a full-time Event Manager, with a passion for nonprofit organizations and community engagement.


WHAT’s your day job?

Events Manager Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area


WHAT’s your favorite hobby?

My favorite hobbies include planning parties, drinking coffee, golf and chasing my two little kids around.


WHAT are you MOST excited about for this year’s fair?

I’m most excited to see our auction items and children’s & professional art pieces fly off the tables and into people’s homes!


WHAT’s your favorite East Austin hang out?

Figure 8 Coffee Purveyors


WHAT Austin celebrity should come shop at the CHERRYWOOD ART FAIR?

Jen Hatmaker (author and inspiration) should bring her incredible family and check out the unique artists!


IF you could pick any local, family-oriented act (a band, artist, musician, activity, dance team, theatre troop, etc.) to perform at the fair, WHO would it be?

My entire family is entranced by any Acapella group- so creative, it’s a winner for the fair!

Staff Interview: Marketing/Media Manager

Christy Butler



Former creator, publisher and editor of Jewell Magazine, Christy Butler has always been an advocate of shopping local. Currently, she is eager to help Austin businesses with a variety of Marketing and Public Relations efforts through her company Jewell Media. She has been a gung-ho resident of ATX for 17 years.



WHAT’s your day job?

Jewell Media


WHAT’s your favorite hobby?

Cooking is one of my biggest passions; it is one of the few things that can 100% de-stress me. I was never much of a baker until I had kids. You are never loved more than when you give them a warm, home-baked cookie.


WHAT are you MOST excited about for this year’s fair?

To connect with the Austin Artisan community and scratch off every name on my holiday gift list.


WHAT’s your favorite East Austin hang out?

I love to tuck myself away at Sawyer & Co. for meetings and I always jump at the chance to hang out with our friends at Rain Lily Farm. The graphic design studio I work with, Brink Creative, also resides on an Eastside Farm. The Eastside hangout list is really endless!


WHAT Austin celebrity should come shop at the CHERRYWOOD ART FAIR?

Erykah Badu (TX celebrity) – she’s also been know to break out on the spot with a jam for a good cause.


IF you could pick any local, family-oriented act (a band, artist, musician, activity, dance team, theatre troop, etc.) to perform at the fair, WHO would it be?

Cilantro Boombox, Golden Dawn Arkestra, Afrofreque

Volunteers Make The Fair Shine!

Our fair would not be possible without our dedicated volunteers who donate their time year after year to make Cherrywood Art Fair one of the most successful not-for-profit fairs in Central Texas. They volunteer for many reasons but it’s not always to simply help the fair be successful or to gain event experience. More often than not, they volunteer to ensure that proceeds from the fair continue to support Chula League’s Little Artist BIG ARTIST arts mentoring program.

So today, and everyday, we thank our volunteers. We are humbled by their giving hearts, support of local art and dedication to the laBA program!

We hope that you will consider volunteering for the 2016 Cherrywood Art Fair. Please contact our FANTASTIC new Volunteer Coordinator – Carmen James. She can answer general questions or help find the perfect role for you.

WHAT’s your day job?

I’m Literacy Specialist at a Spanish immersion elementary school.

WHAT’s your favorite hobby?

I love sewing and making colorful things, and recently I’ve gotten into printmaking. I’m excited to show a few woodcut prints at the Women Printmakers of Austin gallery for E.A.S.T.

WHAT are you MOST excited about for this year’s fair?

I’m super excited to be involved in the fair this year and to get to know everyone. I’m planning to get some unique Christmas gifts for my family (jewelry? ceramics?), and I’ll definitely make a stop at the German Christmas cookie trailer.

WHAT’s your favorite East Austin hang out?

It’s a tough call, but one of them is Gourmand’s.

WHAT Austin celebrity should come shop at the CHERRYWOOD ART FAIR?

I think Willie Nelson would appreciate the artsy East-side vibe.

IF you could pick any local, family-oriented act (a band, artist, musician, activity, dance team, theatre troop, etc.) to perform at the fair, WHO would it be?

The multimedia storybook Ivy and the Wicker Suitcase by local musician Brian Beattie, which features loads of Austin musical talent, sounds pretty amazing.

Get to know the Cherrywood Art Fair Artist Coordinator

Meredith

Get to know Meredith Kuntzsch, the Cherrywood Art Fair Artist Coordinator!

Meredith came to the great state of Texas to follow where the majority of her best art customers lived. She has exhibited at more than 300 art festivals and fairs, private salons and galleries — winning awards throughout the country. As an artist herself, Meredith hopes to bring a great sensitivity to this role.

What’s your day job?

Artist, (painter, development, lecturer, workshops) and music/fundraiser event production guru.

What’s your favorite hobby?

Music, music, music — being on stage or backstage at event-production gigs — I’m lucky to love my work. But, I’m also a big reader. Always a book in my hand. And forget about keeping me out of Lake Travis. Last but not least, if I had the money, skydiving every week. The higher the better. Wooooo!

What are you most excited about for this year’s fair?

Seeing all the beautiful handmade creations by our wonderful artists and welcoming our repeat and new customers who will be blown away by the talent. Seriously y’all, it’s gorgeous work!

What’s your favorite East Austin hangout?

It’s hard to name a favorite! Eastside Cafe has delicious homegrown veggies. They make memorable, unique dishes with their organic gems. I think I had a daily special made out of the leaves of some sort of tuber in an appetizer similar to a potato pancake. YUM! I also worked a SXSW event at Weather Up where beautifully crafted cocktails flew by. I love walking on those old wooden floors.

What Austin celebrity should come shop at the Cherrywood Art Fair?

Hayes Carll — I should personally assist him at the show. All day. Good shopping ideas for his girlfriend, son and family.

If you could pick any family-oriented act (a band, artist, musician, activity, dance team, theater troupe, etc.) to perform at the fair, who would it be?

I think Oliver Steck is a fabulous musician. He plays with a lot of people including Bob Schneider and teaches music to kids. He’s funny, smart as a whip, and theatrically trained. Oh, and a heck of a nice guy to boot. I should also put in a plug for my family…my niece’s husband, Drew Womack, Grammy award-winner, singer/songwriter and producer. Yep, also a heck of a nice guy!

Meet the 2016 Cherrywood Art Fair Jurors!

Meet the 2016 Cherrywood Art Fair Jurors!

Michael Sieben is a professional designer and illustrator whose work has been exhibited and reviewed worldwide as well as featured in numerous illustration anthologies. He is currently the managing editor at Thrasher Magazine and has a monthly column in Juxtapoz Magazine. He is a founding member of Okay Mountain Collective and cofounder of The Program skateboards. Michael was also a Big Artist in Chula League’s Little Artist BIG ARTIST program.

Jennifer Perkins began her career as a jewelry designer. Her line, Naughty Secretary Club, has since been featured in publications like Elle Accessories, Teen Vogue, Bust and The New York Times. Her home and kitschy interior design aesthetic has been spotlighted by Apartment Therapy, Etsy, CNN, Yahoo Homes and more. As a businesswoman, blogger, and Indie craft pioneer, Jennifer has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, Handmade Nation, Fortune Small Business and Inc. Magazine.

Asa Hursh is the Executive Director of Art Alliance Austin, which focuses on elevating Austin’s art scene and creating more education and access points to connect the public to contemporary art in Austin. Hursh attended graduate school at UT, receiving an MA in Art History with a concentration in Modern and Contemporary Art and an MBA from the McCombs School of Business. He also holds a BFA in painting from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Artist Applications Opening Soon!

Cherrywood Art Fair artist

Applications for Chula League’s 15th annual Cherrywood Art Fair open July 15th, as in tomorrow! We are excited to see submissions of great photos with original, quality art and handmade goods. We’ve made some changes to our application, and have new categories to help you find your place better. Our apply page is full of information to help you with the application process. Here are key things to remember…

1. Take a deep breath, set aside some time to apply. There’s no need to rush, the jurors do not review your work until the application period has ended.
2. Read the apply page, the artist FAQ, AND the Terms. Each of those pages have information to help you submit a strong application.
3. Your photos are everything. The jurors rate your work based on the three images you submit, their category, and the caption (detailing the work). Individual product shots over booth shots are recommended. Be careful when using lifestyle shots, make sure your work stands out so the jurors know what they are judging.
Images should be under 1 MB with a minimum resolution of 133 ppi (pixels per inch)
Optimal size: 1000 x 1000 pixels or 1200 x 800 pixels saved as a maximum quality jpeg
4. Look over our new categories, there may be a change to the category you’ve applied in before:
3D ART (sculpture, wood, metal, etc.)
BEAUTY & SPA (soaps, skincare, candles, hair accessories, etc.)
CERAMICS & POTTERY
FINE ART (drawings & paintings in pencil, pastels, oils, acrylics, watercolors, etc.)
HOME GOODS (décor, frames, glasses, kitchen items, phone cases, planters)
JEWELRY
KIDS & PETS (toys, games, clothes / pet toys & accessories)
PHOTOGRAPHY (color, black & white, digital collage, etc.)
PRINTS & PAPER GOODS (card sets, journals, prints, comic books, posters)
TEXTILES & APPAREL (clothing, hats, bags, purses, belts, scarves, tapestries)
For those of you that sell work that fall into multiple categories, choose the category that dominates what you sell most. We do not penalize artists if they show work in their booth that wasn’t in their category, so long as it is their work and a majority of items in the booth are from the accepted category.
5. This year we have created a Facebook event page for the application period. We encourage you to post application questions there. If you’re not on Facebook, you can email us at: artists@cherrywoodartfair.org