This Saturday and Sunday, the Copper Country Associated Artists will be hosting its 63rd Annual Eagle Harbor Art Fair at the St. Peter’s By The Sea Church and its grounds.

The art fair is put on each year to showcase a wide variety of artists from Copper Country and across the country and their works which will be available for purchase.

The CCAA is a community-based art organization which gathers to assist fellow artists hone their craft as well as provide outlets to sell their products with the upcoming fair being one of their largest events. The fair will provide most of the funds for the nonprofit organization for the rest of the year.

“Artists have a certain personality,” Chairman of the Eagle Harbor Art Fair Linda Dodge said. “They have a way of sharing or trying to get a point, idea or feeling in their art and they hope when you see that, it touches you.”

Over 70 tents will be standing this year, showcasing the artists and their work. The artists primarily hail from Michigan but also come from all over the country including states like California, Texas and Minnesota.

The fair will have a mixture of many different mediums of art such as photography, oil paintings, wood carvings and clothing.

Regular returning artists will include Californian Peter Kendzia, Eric Davis and duo Joan and Dick Bonner. Kendzia makes musical instruments, which he will play and sell. Davis is a ceramic artist from Kalamazoo with ties to the Keweenaw, and the Bonners create oil paintings on driftwood. Aside from many returning artists, eight or nine vendors will be new to the fair.

Each year, the CCAA selects a featured artist for the fair to showcase. The 2024 selected artist is Hancock resident Donna Lenard. Lenard is an avid watercolor painter who also has a talent for drawing. She began drawing birds when she moved to the Upper Peninsula in 1993, but also explored her artistic skills when living in her lifelong dream home of Fairbanks, Alaska. While in Alaska, Lenard joined the Fairbanks Watercolor Society, where she honed her watercolor skills. Lenard’s booth will be near the back door of the church’s undercroft.

Dodge brought up how unique it is to interact with the artists.

“You can feel their enthusiasm and their joy in what they’ve created and the fact that you are interested,” she said. “It’s also a chance to look or maybe find that special birthday present or Christmas present or a gift for yourself if you do have an empty wall in your home. And there are things that are affordable as well.”

Aside from the artists, there will be vendors which will lend support to the Eagle Harbor area. Local firefighters will put on a hot dog roast, and the local EMT service will host a bake sale to raise funds for battery packs on Saturday morning. During the fair, all Keweenaw County Historical Society sites will be open for observation and interactions.

Dodge wanted to make those attending the fair this year aware of the potential rainfall that would be occurring during the event. Regardless of the weather, the fair will continue, but she encourages attendees to dress appropriately for the possible precipitation.

The fair will be open on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.