2010 Art HooHa Press Release

November 26, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hard to believe, but it’s almost time to get your HooHa on again.

HooHa? What … huh?

That would be the annual Art HooHa, a three-day art tour/shopping bombananza. The event – which takes place from 6-9 p.m. Dec. 3 (Friday), 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Dec. 4 (Saturday) and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Dec. 5 (Sunday) – is an off-the-mall-grid opportunity for the public to shop for one-of-a-kind art, fine crafts, jewelry, clothing and hand-made/repurposed items throughout Urbana at open studios, home shows and galleries.

“The HooHa started with a single home show I hosted in 2002,” said Jill Miller, an Urbana artist who otherwise markets her unique batik clothing designs and home accessories online, in galleries and at art fairs.

“I'd just moved to a house (the old Parasol House) with an open floor plan – perfect to ‘set up shop’ for the holidays,” Miller said. “So, I called a few artist friends and we had a ‘Hooey Holiday Home Show.’ ”

After she realized how many artists lived and worked in the area known as Urbana’s “Old East End,” Miller invited others to collaborate the following year by opening their studios and homes on the same weekend.

And with that, Miller said, “The Old East End Art HooHa was born!”

But why call it a “HooHa”?

“Because it's silly,” Miller said. “And because art should be fun and enjoyable, and accessible to everyone.

“I want people to come check out the studios, the artwork, and meet the artists in a relaxed atmosphere, without feeling intimidated … and how can you feel intimidated by a HooHa? Art doesn't have to be taken so seriously all the time.”

The HooHa, she added, is a decidedly un-snooty opportunity for veteran art consumers and wannabe art-appreciators alike to visit a home, studio, gallery or other location and have a cookie, browse, shop, then move on to the next spot.

Over the years, the event has expanded to include locations throughout Urbana. New destinations on this year’s tour include the Champaign-Urbana Potters’ Club (open Saturday and Sunday only); Shared Space: An Artist Co-op; Wind Water and Light Gallery; and The Wooden Hanger.

Artists participating for the first time this year include Anna Barnes, who crafts scarves, jewelry, lamps and other fashion and household items from reclaimed materials; painter/printmaker/mixed-media artist Lisa Kesler; and jewelry designer/artist Mete Sarabi. All three will be located at the Hooey Batiks Open House, 905 S. Lynn St., along with Miller and polymer-clay jewelry artist Georgia Morgan.

Other participating home-based and studio artists include Anna Flanagan, Felice Kaufmann, Melissa Mitchell and Gail Taylor of the Wild Wimmin Craft Collective, and Barrie Bredemeier of Glasslake Studio. Heartland Gallery also will be a featured stop on the tour.

Barnes, Flanagan and Mitchell are among this year’s artists offering funky, upcycled wares created from materials acquired at the I.D.E.A. store, a new earned-income enterprise venture of the Champaign-Urbana Schools Foundation (all proceeds benefit the foundation). The store, located at 28 E. Springfield Ave., Champaign, accepts donated items from the public and area businesses that might otherwise be discarded and re-sells them for creative repurposing by artists, crafters, educators, students, recyclers and other resourceful individuals.

“I love this place,” Mitchell said. “It’s like a thrift store for artists. You never know what kind of wonderful objects and materials you’ll find there from one time to the next. I always manage to discover something to fuel my imagination.”

For a complete list of Art HooHa venues and locations, artists and written descriptions and representative photos of artists’ work, visit the Art HooHa website: http://www.arthooha.com.

For more information, contact Miller at jill@hooeybatiks.com.