A few words picked at random, an audience and a blank canvas. That’s what local artists will be given this weekend at the first ever Art Fight at The Market.

On Sunday, Sept. 3, artists will compete at The Yard, a market space for local makers, in Manilus, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. They’ll have four hours to create a piece based on a given theme. Admission is free and open to kids.

Ellen Freightenburgh, manager of The Yard, said her inspiration for the event came from a brewery in New Mexico. She would like to hold a series of Art Fight events in the future.

The competition is pulling contestants from all mediums of art: tattoo artists, painters, graffiti artists, mixed media collage artists and chalkboard artists to name a few.

“I’m really looking forward to working side-by-side with local artists that I admire and also allowing the public to be a part of the creating process” said Kara Cook, an upcoming contestant and collage mixed-media painter.

Cook explained the difficulties of creating a mixed media piece on the spot as a collage artist. The shortest time she has created a painting was 5 hours. It takes her an average of 10-30 hours. This will be Cook’s first time attending an event at The Market as a competing artist.

To prepare, she plans to lay her materials and images on the board and hope that they align with the scene chosen. She plans to devote the 4 hours to strictly painting.

Among the artists will be rows of tents with local vendors selling crafts, food and drinks including specialties from Ironwood Pizza.

For every $5 spent on food and beer, Market goers will receive a ticket to vote for their favorite piece. The winner will receive a $50 Ironwood Pizza gift card and the top ten art pieces will be auctioned off at 3 p.m. to close the event.

In 2013, John Freightenburgh worked to transform The Yard, once the Hale Lumber Yard in the 1800s and more recently the site for the Hollowick Candle company. Some of the original barn structures still remain.

The Yard is family-owned. John started Ironwood Pizza, which operates out of The Yard and owns the space; his daughter Ellen is the manager and handles logistics; and his son Jeff runs a motorcycle shop and an art shop at The Yard where he sells original pieces. He will also be participating in the Art Fight, contributing a chalkboard piece.

“I don’t think there’s been something like this around the Syracuse area,” Jeff said. “You’re going to be able to see a lot of progress in a short time, with a lot of different styles.”

The Art Fight is part of The Market, a series of weekend events at The Yard. Events take place every Sunday from Memorial Day weekend to Oct. 22.

“I think the artist community is definitely still underserved in this area, so it’s good to give them that space to get out there and show people what they can do and getting people to support local art and different crafters,” Ellen said.

Published on September 2, 2017 at 11:11 pm

Contact Rori: rhsachs@syr.edu