arts&life

fairs and festivals

H appy

Anniversary!

The Orchard Lake Fine Art show
celebrates 15 years.

ABOVE: A turquoise
and coral necklace by
Barbara Goldberg

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

I

Patty Narozny and sculpture
artist Mauro Pozzobonelle, who
passed away this spring

34

July 20 • 2017

f Patty Narozny could have fol-
lowed through with her first
career choice, she may well
have been an artist. As a 10-year-
old living in Detroit, Narozny
designed macramé hangers and
sold them. She also crafted clay
projects — but those were for
family and not for sale.
At the time of entering college,
Narozny’s dad held a business
outlook and convinced his daugh-
ters to study along those lines.
Narozny earned a degree in cor-
porate finance from Wayne State
University and soon found work
as a comptroller.
Gradually, she was able to find
the next best thing to creating her
own artwork. She was hired to
plan art fairs for different present-

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ers, including the Detroit Festival
of the Arts, before launching her
own events.
This year, Narozny celebrates
her 15th year producing the
Orchard Lake Fine Art Show,
which runs Saturday-Sunday, July
29-30, on the grounds of West
Bloomfield High School. She
also produces four other fairs —
three in Florida and one in North
Carolina.
“I like working with the art-
ists and seeing all the beautiful
art they bring to our shows,”
says Narozny, who oversees the
West Bloomfield display featur-
ing nearly 150 professionals with
diverse talents in a range of media
— paintings, sculptures, ceramics,
photography, glass, wood, jewelry

and more.
“It’s been a very important
honor for this event to have been
voted among the top 100 art fairs
nationwide, over the last 10 years
in a row, by Sunshine Artist maga-
zine.”
Three experienced jurors
choose the participating artists
and award winners. They are
Anne Kuffler, retired owner and
director of Ariana Gallery in Royal
Oak; Les Slesnick, retired artist
and art industry advocate; and
Joseph T. Marks, retired curator.
Narozny has traveled the coun-
try and visited more than 1,000
fairs to get ideas to adapt into her
shows. When she notes special
artistic approaches, Narozny
encourages the artists to apply.

Those who are new to the art fair
circuit often get tips on arranging
their booths.
Jewish artists have been among
the varied applicants selected.
Orna Amrani, who grew up in
Israel and moved to Florida, has
shown her three-dimensional
religious subjects for wall display
over a number of years. Barbara
Goldberg, in her first time with
the West Bloomfield fair, offers
necklaces.
“I like big, bold jewelry,” says
Goldberg, who divides her time
between Ann Arbor and Florida
and is a member of Hadassah,
ORT and the Women’s Cultural
Alliance of the Jewish Federation
of Collier County.
“I’ve traveled the world col-

