4-H animals are not the only things being shown at Richland County's Fair and Rodeo. In the Commercial Building, artists and craftsman of all ages and abilities are bringing their work to be seen and judged. (Photo by Jaymi Mozeak)
Amid the rodeo, performances, booths, displays, and 4-H animals it can be easy to miss the other exhibits. In the middle of the commercial building on the far east side of the fairgrounds is Department E, Fine Arts and Crafts.
The Fine Arts and Crafts department includes five different classes within five different divisions of all kinds of creations. Division AA is for professional artists, BB is for artists ages 17 and older, and CC is for artists ages 13-16. First place for these divisions is $5, second place is $4, and third is $3. Division DD is for artists ages 8-12 and EE is for artists ages 7 and under. First place for them is $3, second place is $2, and third place is $1. Class 1 is for drawings and paintings with mediums from oil paint to crayons with many different subjects to choose from. Class 2 is handicrafts. Those would be woodcrafts, jewelry, metal craft, pottery, bisque ware, leatherwork, papercraft, glass art, string art, and a miscellaneous craft section. Class 3 is rubber stamping and has a large variety of themes. Class 4 is physical scrapbooking and class 5 is digital scrapbooking with many different themes. More information can be found in the 2022 Richland County Fair and Rodeo Premium book or by contacting the fair office at 406-433-2801.
Leann Pelvit is the superintendent of the Fine Arts and Crafts department. She has helped out at the fair and rodeo in this way since 1997. She has lived in Sidney her entire life and was approached by the fair manager at that time while she was working at Ben Franklin, now Ribbon and Rail, and trained that year to see if she wanted to be the superintendent of the department. She loved it. As superintendent of the department, Pelvit preps the space for entries, hangs the framed entries, answers questions, keeps the judge's book, sorts the entries, decides what to put in the fair book, and sits in the commercial building at the department. Someone must be at the department display from the moment the building opens until closing. Pelvit said, "I really enjoy working with everyone. The variety and excitement that comes with the little kids is worth sitting there the whole day."
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