Holiday arts and crafts show starts tomorrow, Nov. 1

The Vendome Events Center will be buzzing starting at 10 a.m. Friday morning, Nov. 1, running until 6 p.m., and again on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the 2024 edition of Weiser’s Holiday Arts and Crafts Show.

 Always a great place to kick off the holiday season, the annual event is sponsored by the Four County Art Guild and Friends of the Library.

 Inside the festive event, sight-seers and shoppers will find the place filled with the unique handiwork of scores of  local clever and talented artisans, as well as drawing more from a wide radius beyond our immediate borders.

 Head librarian at Weiser’s Public Library, Timbra Long said the list of vendors for this year’s show was filled within a month after she sent postcards out with the November dates before Memorial Day. As of now, 48 vendors, plus members of the Four County Art Guild will feature distinctive and one-of-a-kind creations

 “In June and July, the spots were all filled, and no one has canceled,” Long told the Signal American last week. “Usually I have four or five cancel by now, and I have probably 10 to 15 people on a waiting list.”

 Long said shoppers will find everything from handmade quilts to homemade soaps, pottery, scrapbooks and sewing crafts, custom vinyl and decor, woodworking, knives, authors and books, jewelry, home grown and processed honey, and specialty gluten-free baking mixes.

 A former president of Friends of the Library, as well as a member of the Four County Art Guild, Long said organizing the event had come along with her librarian job.

 “Pat had always done it,” she smiled. “If I had time to do any watercolors or cards of my own, I could have a booth, too, but I can also do a spreadsheet.”

Pick up a piece of local art

 Nine Four County Art Guild members will have their work on display and for sale at this year’s show.

 First organized 47 years ago, the Four County Art Guild began its drive to encourage art education and developing artists. 

 Current president of the Art Guild Kathryn Wirt described the group’s purpose as promoting and supporting the arts in Malheur, Payette, Washington, and Adams counties.

 “We meet the first Thursday of each month, except in July, at the Weiser Public Library,” Wirt told the Signal American.

 Through the individual $20 annual dues paid by members, along with funds raised at the annual Arts and Crafts Show, the organization contributes to Weiser’s schools, judging and awarding student artists. The group gives awards of recognition to graduating art students during Weiser High School’s annual end-of-school assembly, and has more recently established the Weiser Student Art program to display student art at Weiser Classic Candy.

 The booth rental proceeds and a basket raffle at the upcoming Arts and Crafts Show fund the contributions to the schools, and silent auction proceeds at the show go towards workshops, paint outs, and the sponsorship of Washington County Fair art division ribbons.

 Art Guild members work can be found displayed in several businesses throughout Weiser, including Weiser Classic Candy, Dude’s Kitchen, Umpqua Bank, Zions Bank, Second Chance, Legends on Main, Ruszonis, Weiser Public Library, and right here at the Weiser Signal American newspaper office.