Solid sales and crowds at 3rd annual Western edition of the Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair

SANTA FE, N.M.- The 3rd annual Western edition of the Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair; SOFA WEST: Santa Fe and its new Spotlight Presentation of The Intuit Show of Folk and Outsider Art enjoyed a successful run August 4 – 7 at the Santa Fe Convention Center. Mark Lyman, President of The Art Fair Company and Founder/Director of SOFA fairs in New York, Chicago, and Santa Fe, said, “It was a very upbeat fair despite the country’s political and economic turmoil. Dealers reported the right crowd and significant sales were achieved.” An estimated 10,000+ attended SOFA WEST through the weekend.

The Intuit Show of Folk and Outsider Art Joins the Mix!
Expanded by 25%, SOFA WEST 2011 seamlessly integrated The Intuit Show of Folk and Outsider Art into the fair this year, which was organized in partnership with Chicago’s respected Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art. As seminal Intuit dealer Carl Hammer of Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago observed, “The best of both outsider and contemporary art has commonalities in conceptual strength.” Intuit dealer Bonnie Grossman of The Ames Gallery, Berkeley, CA, reported a good show and observed, “People weren’t making a distinction between outsider or not, just enjoying the varied show.” Garth Clark of CLARK + DEL VECCHIO of Santa Fe agreed: “Intuit is perfect material for Santa Fe; it’s such a wonderful match.” Jack Lemon of Landfall Press, Santa Fe, said, “Combining the two shows–I must say, I’ve been awestruck, it’s been such a nice addition.” Aron Packer of Chicago’s Packer Schopf Gallery said, “People kept asking us if this was the Intuit section–they were definitely excited to be here and glad we were, too.”

Opening Night Preview -The Right Crowd
SOFA WEST and The Intuit Show started out strong on Wednesday evening August 3rd with an estimated 1500 attending the Opening Night Preview over the course of the evening. State and local officials front and center for the ribbon-cutting included New Mexico’s Senator Peter Wirth; David Coss, Mayor of Santa Fe; Monique Jacobson, Secretary, New Mexico Tourism; Santa Fe County Commission Chair Virginia Vigil; Rebecca Wurzburger, Santa Fe City Councilor; Chuck Zimmer, New Mexico Arts Commission; and Kirk Ellis, Chair of City of Santa Fe Arts Commission.

Kicking off Opening Night for the third straight year was the prestigious Museum of New Mexico Foundation with a 5 – 6:30 pm FIRST LOOK private preview for its major donors and business partners. John Easley, Executive Director of the Foundation said, “It was a wonderful evening. Attendance was excellent and the fair was a real draw for our members.”

Manhattan’s Asian Art dealer Joan B. Mirviss was told on Opening Night by a very important Santa Fe collector that, “everyone who should be there, was.” She sold five major ceramic sculptures by Sakiyama Takuyuki and one by Kato Yasukage at the opening. Other dealers agreed. “The Museum Foundation crowd was extremely responsive, interested, and impressive. A fantastic audience,” said David Eichholtz of Santa Fe’s David Richard Contemporary. Jerry Austin of London’s Flow Gallery said, “We were very impressed with the quality of the crowd and the number of people—it was actually much like New York, so I am very delighted.” Intuit Show dealer Carl Hammer said the Opening brought, “A nice group of people who were very complimentary; it was a great showing.” Intuit’s Russell Bowman of Russell Bowman Art Advisory, also of Chicago, said, “There was lots of interest. I’m very pleased with the crowd.”

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