Where the Heart Is

The 19th annual Heart of Broken Arrow Arts & Crafts Fair and Art on Main will be held September 22, 2012 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Circle on your calendar Saturday, September 22, the date of the 19th annual Heart of Broken Arrow Arts & Crafts Fair and Art on Main. Downtown merchant Laurann Farris says that this year’s Arts & Crafts Fair will kick off at 9 a.m. at Central Park Community Center, located at 1500 S. Main St. in Broken Arrow. Admission is free, and the event will feature vendors with huge imaginations and a variety of items for everyone in your family. There will be door prizes and sidewalk sales ­downtown, with the event ­concluding at 4 p.m.

    The Heart of Broken Arrow Arts & Crafts Fair is sponsored by the Broken Arrow Main Street Merchants Association with the goal of ­promoting downtown Broken Arrow. Be sure to visit the Community Center, plus the downtown Art on Main that will be on exhibit in front of stores of participating downtown ­merchants. There will also be the usual activity at the Farmers’ Market.

    The Broken Arrow Arsenal soccer team will be serving breakfast and lunch at the Community Center to raise funds for their team. Team ­members pass out menus at booths, help vendors unload their merchandise, take food orders and deliver to exhibitors at their booths. There will be a dining area for patrons attending the show.

    Blue Star Mothers are ­provided a complimentary booth and will be selling patriotic items. Your cash donations are always welcome to help cover the cost of mailing boxes, assisting military personnel, veterans and their families.  

    Vendors and artists will be displaying a huge variety of arts and crafts with items made of clay, fabric, wood, metal, glass, and lots of imagination – all appealing to any family member. Items for pets will be available, including embroidered dog collars with your pet’s name, your name, and contact information. You will see unusual jewelry items – including some made from guitar wire, guitar picks and fishing tackle, plus ­handmade Peruvian jewelry and scarves.

    Broken Arrow resident Brandi Alltizer creates beautiful hand-painted children’s murals for both boys and girls. Her ­creations are designed to hang on walls, are colorful and ­fanciful, and feature subjects varying from space ships and robots to lovable animals.

    Don Muttoni, another Broken Arrow resident, known affectionately by his seven grandchildren and others as Papa-Don, loves kids and loves to make wood items for them. Some of the creations on display by ­

Papa-Don include a locker bench made of three-quarter-inch plywood, woofum sticks, toy chests, and toolboxes. All of Papa-Don’s creations are sturdy, utilitarian, and painted in cheerful, bright colors. He also builds chalkboards that fold down into desks, a great addition to any child’s room where space is limited.

    The Arts & Crafts Fair will also include exhibits of Native American items, as well as items crafted of clay, beads, and even bottle caps. There will be school spirit items, ribbon dresses, and fantasy bow holders like castles, crowns, Cinderella, Snow White, and other whimsical items.         

    Be sure to check out the many wood-crafted items. One exhibitor makes log hauling trucks, garbage trucks, fruit trucks, tow trucks, auto ­transport trucks, and horse ­trailers. There will also be tutus and bows, ­feathered headbands, crocheted items, decorated flip flops, ­multiple quilted items, and homemade purses and clutches.

    If you’re interested in ­exhibiting at this year’s Heart of Broken Arrow Arts & Crafts Fair, there’s still time to reserve your booth as long as space remains available. Exhibitor set up times begin Friday, September 21 at 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. and again Saturday, September 22 at 7:30 a.m. Doors are open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

For more information, contact

Heart of Broken Arrow Arts & Crafts Fair

(918) 251-1591

Art on Main

(918) 994­-4473