Bed-Stuy Art Fair Set For 6-Day Run In June

BED-STUY, NY — For three summer weekends, Bed-Stuy's Fulton Park will be transformed with art displays and performances for the 65th annual Fulton Art Fair exhibition.

With a focus on African, African American, Caribbean and Central and South American culture, over a dozen artists will feature their work over three June weekends at "Brooklyn's oldest Black visual arts event," organizers said.

The exhibition, titled "On the Fence," will be on display from 12-5 p.m. on June 10-11, 17-18 and 24-25. The fair will feature a wide range of attractions, from spoken word performances to children's activities, and the art exhibits will be judged.

The festival boasts over a dozen artists, including two who have exhibited at the Bed-Stuy festival since 1958 — Otto Neals and Emmett Wigglesworth, artists whose works are dotted all over Brooklyn.

Both artists have murals on display at Kings County Hospital, according to Fulton Art Fair Inc.

Trained at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, Neals' 1995 "Peter and Willie" sculpture sits in Brooklyn's Backyard. The Brooklyn Children's Center displays another of Neals' original bronze sculptures, and the artist painted a 20-foot mural for Kings County Hospital.

Wigglesworth, originally from Philadelphia, has also been commissioned to paint murals by the Brooklyn Children's Center, MTA and New York Cultural Council.

Joining the two festival veterans is Brooklyn native Gloria Braxton, who has taken awards and even first place placement at previous Fulton Art Fair exhibits.

Brooklyn native and painter Alethea Sapp-Jimenez will also display work at the park, and four-year Fulton Art Fair veteran Willie Lee Harley — who previously worked with NYC's Housing Authority.