The artwork selected and unveiled last week by the crew at the Krasl Art Center in St. Joseph is a striking work of digital art crafted by a Milwaukee-born artist who now calls Lakeland, Florida — the winter home of the Detroit Tigers — his home base. R.C. Fulwiler’s “Endangered Species,” depicts a vintage automobile accompanied by a whimsical image of an elephant bearing the stripes of a zebra. That work becomes the poster image for the 58th Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff this summer, following the poster-reveal party at the Krasl Art Center last Wednesday evening. 
Fulwiler was born & raised in Milwaukee, graduated from Wauwatosa East High School in 1964, and went on to get his BS degree in 1970 from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He taught art in public schools for two years then went out on his own as a freelance artist and inventor. He now shows his work in approximately 40 art shows across the nation each year and will be here for the Krasl Art Fair in July.
The Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff takes place on Saturday and Sunday, July 13th-14th, marking 58 years of one of the nation’s top rated art fairs each year. The world-class event brings together hundreds of artists and thousands of people in Southwest Michigan at the gateway to downtown St. Joseph.
The event will kick off with the more recent tradition of the Krasl Block Party sponsored by Kruggel Lawton CPA’s on Friday, July 12th from 5:00 to 10:00 pm, at the Krasl Art Center with a suggested donation of $5 each. You can enjoy beer and wine, food trucks and entertainment, while meeting some of the exhibiting artists and mingling with the community.
The artist booths open Saturday morning at 10:00 am to launch the show.
For the annual poster selection process, the Krasl Art Center relies on the expertise of their marketing firm to select the poster artwork from an accepted art fair artist. Organizers of the Art Fair say that is done “so we do not show any favoritism to a specific artist, as this is a nationally-known event that has brought artists from almost every state to St. Joseph.” The poster was unveiled by Diane & Ned Wollenslegel from Waterfront Framing and Fine Art in downtown St. Joseph.
The selected artist, R.C. Fulwiler says on his website of his work, “I show images that traditionally fall into the category of photography. Within this category are many sub-categories, for example, landscape, wildlife, portraiture, travel, still life, etc. Many of my fellow photographers specialize in one of these. I don’t, I’m a generalist. I show photographs that explore nearly every aspect of photography. One reason for this is that I don’t go on “photo safaris” and shoot a whole bunch of pictures of one place. I shoot as I live and I try to have a camera within reach at all times.”
Fulwiler, goes on to say, “If I were forced to pick one category to specialize in, I’d have to check the box marked “Other__.” For me, that box would be called ‘photographs of coincidence’ where two or more things are happening simultaneously as random acts of nature, or intentional acts of man.”
We’ll all get the chance to meet him personally when he takes up his booth along the bluff in July. Stay tuned.
