70th Annual

Park Forest

Art Fair

Celebrating 70 Years of Art and Community

The 70th Annual Park Forest Art Fair brought creativity, connection, and community spirit to downtown Park Forest on September 19 and 20. Although rain joined us both days, we’re grateful to everyone who came out to enjoy the fair and support our artists!

The weekend featured original artwork, music, food trucks, and activities for families. Tall Grass Gallery welcomed visitors indoors, where strong sales reflected the enthusiasm for art in our community.

Thank you to our participating artists, sponsors, donors, and volunteers who helped make the weekend possible. A special thank-you goes to the high school students who lent their time and energy to assist with activities and welcome visitors.

Purchases of Art Fair shirts and 6×6 artwork, along with generous donations, helped support Tall Grass Arts Association’s exhibitions, art education, and community programming. We also connected with new volunteers interested in helping with future events.

Reaching our 70th year is a milestone made possible by generations of artists, volunteers, and supporters. Whether you purchased artwork, made a donation, volunteered, or simply stopped by, thank you for being part of this year’s celebration.

Keep the creativity going! Visit Tall Grass Gallery and explore our upcoming exhibitions, classes, and events.

Thank You to Our Art Fair Judges

Tall Grass Arts Association extends a heartfelt thank-you to Dan Jarvis and Jessica Smit Mattingly, judges for the 70th Annual Park Forest Art Fair. We appreciate the time, care, and expertise they brought to reviewing the artwork and recognizing the talent of our participating artists.

Dan Jarvis

An artist, photographer, and musician, Dan earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from Columbia College Chicago. He serves as Art Gallery Coordinator for the Robert F. DeCaprio Art Gallery at Moraine Valley Community College and brings more than two decades of experience as a curator and exhibition preparator.

In 2011, while at Columbia, Dan began The Dead Highway, an ongoing documentary photography project examining life along the Lincoln Highway, America’s first coast-to-coast thoroughfare. The project earned an Albert P. Weisman Award from Columbia College Chicago and has been exhibited in galleries throughout the Chicago area.

Jessica Smit Mattingly

Jessica is a figurative oil painter and instructor with more than 15 years of experience. She completed the four-year atelier program in figurative drawing and oil painting at the School of Representational Art in Chicago, where she later served on the faculty, teaching portrait, figure, and still life drawing and painting.

Jessica creates commissioned work and exhibits her figurative paintings in art competitions and exhibitions. Her paintings explore color, light, beauty, mystery, and meaning. She also offers individual instruction and group classes at her studio in Dyer, Indiana.

Thank you, Dan and Jessica, for sharing your knowledge and supporting our artists during this milestone year!

Thank You to Our Musicians and Food Vendors

Art, music, and food brought our community together at the 70th Annual Park Forest Art Fair! Thank you to the musicians and food vendors who were part of our September 19–20 celebration.

Our entertainment lineup included:

  • Jazz Pleasers Duo — traditional and contemporary jazz

  • The RowGers Duo

  • Maine Lee — saxophone and smooth jams

  • KobieKnight — vibraphone

We appreciate these talented musicians for sharing their artistry and adding music to our milestone weekend.

Thank you to our food vendors:

  • Rochelle’s Chicken

  • Abundant Skin & Glow Bar

  • Dulce

  • Wings Galore

  • Danie’s Juice Bar

  • All-Out Smoke Pit

  • TJ’s Lemonade

  • Cousins Maine Lobster

We’re grateful for the time and preparation that went into being part of the fair, especially during a rainy weekend. Thank you for helping make our 70th anniversary celebration a memorable community event!

Thank You to Our Sponsors and Supporters

The 70th Annual Park Forest Art Fair was made possible through the generosity of our sponsors, donors, and community supporters. Their contributions helped us celebrate this milestone year, recognize outstanding artists, and bring art and community together in downtown Park Forest.

We gratefully recognize our 2026 supporters:

Sponsor

Bond Conway Smith Law Firm

Grand Patrons

Richard Renner
Village of Park Forest
Janet & Mel Muchnik
Terry Medhurst
Mary Lubertozzi
Therese Goodrich

Patron

Barbara Sturges

Contributors

State Rep. Jackie Haas
Nate Dutko
State Rep. Anthony DeLuca

Friends

Anne Marie Leofanti
Ellen Grenier Bevill
Diana Cruz
Marcy Marzuki
Cody Accounting Services
Penny Chamberlain
Carole Brejcha
Mae Brandon

Special Thanks to Marcy Marzuki

Marcy’s donation supported the James Marzuki Prize for 3-D Work, named in honor of her father. We’re grateful for her generosity in celebrating his legacy and recognizing outstanding three-dimensional artwork.

Thank you to all our supporters for investing in the arts and helping carry forward a tradition that has been part of Park Forest for 70 years. Your support makes a difference to our artists, our visitors, and Tall Grass Arts Association.