By MAGGIE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
Whip out your sewing machine, dust off your camera, and sharpen your pencils! Once again it is time to begin preparing for the juried exhibits at the Clark County Fair!
This year’s fair will be held April 11-15 and at this point, there is plenty of time to prepare entries for the Fine Arts building. There is sure to be plenty of room for the creative and crafty mind. In fact, building organizers welcome entries of all kinds and encourage residents all across Clark, Lincoln, and Nye Counties to come be part of the fair.
There is a spot for just about any kind of art or creation that you can come up with. Whether you do needlework, drawing, cooking, growing flowers or vegetables, designing, photographing, or any other type of art, this is a great time to showcase your talent while being part of the community effort to put on a great fair.
This year’s theme for the building is “Remember When…” and the different departments in the exhibit will be decorated in a way that will take visitors on a trip into the past.
A wide variety of departments are exhibited in the fine arts building including fine arts, home arts, home science, industrial arts, science, photography, creative arts, and horticulture. So there will be many different vignettes of days of the past for visitors to view.
No department is complete without entries in it, though. Although there is usually a good showing in some departments such as photography, there are always others, such as sewing, that are in need of more. Every entry is guaranteed a ribbon, making it a fun way to let others see your talent.
The country store will once again return under the direction of Tosha Rawson and Rhonda Pulsipher. The store will sell a variety of crafts and yummy treats.
“We’ve been searching and practicing and trying out new treats this year that people will love,” said Fine Arts Building director Robin Maughan said. “We’ve been searching all kinds of recipe books and are really excited about what we will be offering.”
Maughan explained that they are also looking for consignment crafts to sell in the store. So if folks would rather sell their works of art or creations than enter them in the fair for judging, that is a great option as well. More information about submitting items for the country store is available by calling Maughan at 702-278-0704.
Even though the weather has been a bit chilly lately, it is not too late to get horticultural entries into the ground with enough time for them to grow and mature in time for the fair. Maughan particularly encourages people to enter horticultural items.
“We are always looking for flowers, garden produce, and other horticultural entries,” she said. “It’s a great exhibit and something that people of all ages can do. There are so many different options on what you can grow and enter that we’re really encouraging people to participate.”
More information and a complete list of departments with sections and classes for hundreds of different entry types can be found on the fair’s website at ccfair.com under the Exhibits tab. The exhibitor’s handbook, also under that tab, explains the rules as well as submission dates and pickup points across the Las Vegas valley.
Most local exhibits will be accepted at the Fine Arts Building on Saturday, April 7, or Monday, April 9, from 10am to 6pm. However, there are some notable exceptions. Exhibitors are responsible for familiarizing themselves with times, dates, and rules. Some exceptions include perishable foods, which will be accepted on Tuesday, April 10, from 12-4pm; and horticulture entries, which will be accepted on Tuesday, April 10, from 8-11am.
Now is the chance to show your talent and get involved with the fair. Take a look at the exhibitors book and you may be surprised to find that there’s a category for things you love to do. Your work of art, no matter how small, may be just the perfect creation that the exhibit needs.
“I would especially encourage people to bring things in to enter,” Maughan said. “It’s an easy way to be part of the fair by having your stuff on display. The ribbons are there and now all we need is for people to come in and win them!”
