An Art Show With A Curve

The seventh annual Girlie Show, an art show and party featuring exclusively female artists and designers, will be rocking into town on Friday, November 5th and Saturday, November 6th at the Farmer’s Public Market Building in Oklahoma City.

Friday night’s event, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., features an energetic party atmosphere, with music from local DJs, cash bar, and food from more than 15 local restaurants. Saturday is a laid-back setting, open from noon to 5 p.m., and showcasing local music talent live throughout the day. New for this year’s Saturday show will be the addition of a networking and social area in the upstairs loft area of the building. Area businesses and organizations that feature products or services focused on women’s interests will be at the show all day, providing an opportunity for attendees to discover a variety of local goods and services.

During both days, the show’s 42 artists, designers and crafters, selected by jury, will showcase and sell their work – a unique and wide-ranging mix of fine art, handmade goods and designs, fashion, and anything that falls into the category the show’s founders, Erin Merryweather, Dawn Tyler-Harth and Marilyn Artus, describe as “mixed she-dia”. “We really encourage people to challenge the definition of art”, Artus said; “this is a unique concept in terms of art shows. We provide an opportunity for those who feel their work doesn’t necessarily fit into a fine art gallery, but don’t just fall into the craft show category, either. And the guys love it just as much as the girls!”

While a majority of the artists are from Oklahoma, The Girlie Show has featured artists from all over the U.S. – with girlies coming for the 2010 show from Washington, Montana, Arkansas, Texas and more. There are 40 artist booth spaces available, but even with some spaces shared by more than one artist, the selection process is a difficult one as more than 100 artists submitted applications this year.

Tickets to Friday night’s event are available at Shoe Gypsy, Blue 7, Velvet Monkey Salon/Plaza District and New Leaf/Casady Square in Oklahoma City, The Paper Lion in Edmond, and Mel’s Kloset in Norman. Friday night tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Tickets to Saturday’s event $5, or admission is free with a ticket stub from Friday night. Attendance at last year’s Friday night event exceeded 1800 people and more than 800 came on Saturday.

For more information, visit www.thegirlieshow.net

(Information provided courtesy of Dawn Taylor-Harth)

Girlie Show Fact Sheet

• The Girlie Show is an art show featuring all-female artists and crafters.
• The show’s first year was 2003.
• It began as a way to provide a show that wasn’t a craft show, but wasn’t a “stuffy” fine art show, either. The founding members felt like a lot of handmade items fell into that “no man’s land” and there wasn’t a show to promote them.
• The original founding team consisted of Erin Merryweather, Marilyn Artus, Dawn Harth and deShan. (deShan left the show in 2007).
• The first show was held in the basement of an architectural firm downtown and featured 20 artists. About 800 guests attended.
• By the second year, the show moved to the Farmer’s Public Market (okcfarmersmarket.com) building in OKC, allowing 40 artists. The attendance that year jumped to over 1200.
• Since then, the show has remained at the Farmer’s Public Market building and attendance continues to climb.
• In 2006, the show grew to a two-day event. Friday from 8-midnight and Saturday from noon to 5.
• The show’s tagline is “An Art Show With A Curve”.
• The show is juried, requiring an application and photos of work to be submitted for review.
• There are no limits to what sort of creations can be found at The Girlie Show, but all works must be handmade by the artist/crafter. No commercial products are allowed.
• The show’s committee began a scholarship program three years ago, awarding one Girlie a $1000 scholarship. Qualifying applicants can be of any age, but must be attending school for art or design. The winner also gets a free booth at the show. This year’s winner is Anne Vieux – an art student from OKC. Some of her work will be showcased at this year’s show.
• Friday night’s event features a DJ, food tables from 10-15 local restaurants, a cash bar and a private VIP room for top sponsors.
• Saturday’s event is a little more casual and family-friendly. Live music is featured all day long from local female musicians and bands.
• This year’s show features artists from all over Oklahoma, as well as artists coming from a variety of different states, including Montana, Arkansas, Washington, Illinois and Texas.