Buffalo Park Improvement Association: Art at the park

Buffalo Creek has been known for a lot of things: fire, flood, illegal farming … but on the first Sunday of the month, June through December, a festival turns the focus to art, antiques, food and friends.

The Art, Antiques and More Festival in the Buffalo Creek Community Center on Highway 126 has been so successful that it will be open additional weekends in November and December to accommodate the holiday spirit, whether that means shopping for presents or spending time with neighbors. Both activities are highly encouraged.

On Thanksgiving weekend, the festival will be on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The festival will continue its expanded schedule on Dec. 5-6 and Dec. 12-13. It’s always open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The newly repaired community center hosts a full bazaar of sellers and a full parking lot of shoppers’ cars. Local artists and vendors present everything from original artwork to dollhouse miniature cookie jars. The sellers agree that business has been very, very good.

The community center was damaged and knocked 40 feet from its foundation by the 1996 flood but now is better than ever. Restoration efforts have produced a modern building with a satellite dish and woodsy charm.

Artist Audrey Fryer from Lakewood loves the atmosphere of the renovated building as much as people love her minis. Fryer handcrafts dollhouse miniatures, and the most popular is a tiny cookie jar with tiny cookies and even tinier chocolate chips.
“I like the people and the atmosphere here, and everyone likes my minis,” Fryer said.

Josey Moran, 89, sells her son’s drawings and carefully reads from handwritten notes. The drawings that her son Mike has created lie in rows across the table, and Josey points toward one of her favorites. She draws shoppers to the images with stories and references to Beatles lyrics, and her pride in his work and his imagination is plain to see.

Barisha Cohee is the organizer and coordinator of the Art, Antiques and More Festival. She loves the area and thought the building would make a great gallery. Cohee, whose favorite art form is complicated mosaics, wanted to create a gallery that could be sustained by local artists. They all work together to create this monthly event.

“I came up with the idea, and the artists made it happen,” Cohee said.

More than 25 artists participate in the festival, with most booths inside the building. Some artists set up booths outside near the entrance when the building is overflowing. Artists who can’t attend can sell their work through a co-op set up to provide artists with a way to get their work to the sale.

A portion of the artists’ sales goes to the Buffalo Park Improvement Association. The BPIA, pronounced, “Bippee,” is a loosely organized group of Buffalo Creek residents who support their community with civic and social events.

The festival and local residents are getting ready for the holidays in this small town’s big way. Just follow the abundant signs along Highway 126 from either U.S. 285 or Deckers. Either way, visitors will find art, antiques and more.