Hundreds of community members enjoyed a variety of foods, supported local artisans, got their faces painted and watched live music at Homewood Art & Garden Street Fair June 6 and 7.
The Village of Homewood organized the event that drew nearly 80 vendors, including dozens of artisans and about a dozen food and drink vendors, including Chicago Main Lobster, D’s Cookie Dough Co., Juancho’s Tacos, Primo’s Café & Deli, Rabid Brewing and Twisted Q BBQ.
Musical performers Big Weekend, Not My Dad, Southside Soul Kings and Spaniels Forever entertained the crowds.
Dozens of audience members danced and sang along to Not My Dad’s renditions of “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers and “Livin’ La Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin, among others. After performing “Pink Pony Club,” a 2024 song from the LGBTQ+ pop singer Chappell Roan, Not My Dad frontman Jon Elfner wished everyone “Happy Pride.”
“We love playing the Art and Garden fair,” Not My Dad member Matt Epperson said. “We have a great time, and we love it when everybody is up here dancing.”
Sarah Rivers Armstrong, a Homewood resident and the Wooden Petal owner, sold organic herbal tea, blank leatherette journals with classic literature book covers and wooden coasters and cutting boards adorned with designs.
Armstrong, who’s a gardener, said she developed her tea line after discovering a box of raspberry-flavored tea that lacked raspberry as an ingredient.
To create the wooden coasters and cutting boards, Armstrong said she makes the designs with graphic design software before using a laser engraver to apply the designs to the wood.
Among others, Wooden Petal’s leatherette journals have “Dracula,” “Pride and Prejudice” and “Macbeth” book covers.
“It’s a journal. You want to look at it and be inspired to write,” Armstrong said.
Not My Dad has youngsters rocking early in the band’s set on Friday, June 6. (Eric Crump/H-F Chronicle)
Gams Cottage – Homemade Sweets, a cottage bakery owned by Homewood residents, Amanda Weisenberger and Gary Weisenberger, sold homemade cookies, “I Love Homewood” tote bags and wall decorations with colorful images formed by bottle caps glued to pieces of wood.
Amanda bakes Gams Cottage’s cookies. The cookies for sale at the fair included but weren’t limited to chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and lemon.
Gams Cottage had wall decorations with bottle caps forming images of an American flag, a fish and a pair of sunflowers. Gary, who makes the wall decorations, said he’s been collecting bottle caps for about 15 years, adding that many of the bottle caps in the decorations were provided to him by Lassen’s Tap in Homewood.
Marc Alan Fishman and Matt Wright, co-owners of Unshaven Comics, a Homewood-based comic publisher, sold comic books, graphic novels and small prints featuring Pokémon mashups with other pop culture characters.
“This is as much about selling our wares as saying ‘hi’ to our neighbors,” Fishman said. “It’s not a comic con. So, we don’t treat it as such. This is the kind of show we do for dinner money.”
Crowds line up at food trucks along Martin Avenue during the Art & Garden Street Fair. (Eric Crump/H-F Chronicle)
Blue Pearl Candles, a candle shop in downtown Homewood, debuted a 10-wick lavender candle on a wooden tub at the street fair.
Jaden Schultheis, owner of Yours Truly Bath Co. in Valparaiso, Indiana, was selling homemade bath and body products.
“It’s fun to come up with all the different designs and making different scent blends. So, it’s got its own artistry to it,” Schultheis said.
TJ’s Kettle, a food vendor selling gourmet popcorn and caramel-roasted nuts, also sold replicas of architectural fixtures formerly on buildings in Chicago and Cincinnati. TJ’s Kettle owner Jay Tempco made the garden statues, including but not limited to a lion head medallion, a Celtic ball finial and a theatre mask.
“The original artwork was 120 years old. They were salvaged off buildings,” Tempco said, adding that he weathered the stone to make it look as much like the original pieces as possible.
Valery Lanotte painted attendees’ faces. Ernest Posey drew their caricatures.
Hazel Crest resident Shawn Castle was at Homewood Art & Garden Street Fair with his kids, who got their faces painted.
“We’re loving the music. The food is really good out here. The people are very kind,” Castle said.
“People get to see their neighbors. Kids get to play with their friends from school,” Homewood Village Events Manager Marla Youngblood said. “It’s a fun community event.”