Nature And Memory Shape Edwardsville Art Fair Exhibits

EDWARDSVILLE - An Edwardsville photographer is among the artists who will showcase their work at the Edwardsville Art Fair event Sept. 25-27, 2026, at Edwardsville City Park.

Also included here are other artists who will be present that weekend.

Artist: Jeff Bohnert

Medium: Photography

Location: Edwardsville, IL

Artist Statement: "My work explores the quiet, magnetic pull of places, those fleeting intersections of light, atmosphere, and emotion that most people pass by without noticing. I photograph environments not as literal records, but as invitations: moments suspended between reality and memory. Whether I'm standing in a fog-soaked field, a neon-lit street, or a sun-washed shoreline, I'm drawn to scenes that feel both familiar and slightly unreal, as if the world is revealing a version of itself that exists only for a breath."

Artist: Rhonda Coleman

Medium: Mixed Media

Location: Kennesaw, GA

Artist Statement: "Nature has been my oldest companion. Growing up on an isolated farm in Illinois, the fields, flowers, and animals around me were my social world and the relationships that shaped me. As a child I understood instinctively that this living, breathing landscape was something sacred, God in omnipresent form. That feeling never left me."

Artist: Nick Nihira

Medium: Works on Paper

Location: Bloomsdale, MO

Artist Statement: "My images usually have a little of a dark, comedic twist and deal with themes of rural vs. urban living, solitude, and technology."

Artist: Katherine Pusateri

Medium: Emerging Artist

Location: Barrington, IL

Artist Statement: "These still life paintings explore quiet, everyday moments through carefully arranged objects that suggest ritual, indulgence, and memory. Familiar items, books, glassware, fruit, and nostalgic references like candy cigarettes and candy hearts are recontextualized to feel both intimate and slightly surreal."

Artist: Melissa Hampton

Medium: Jewelry

Location: Saint Louis, MO

Artist Statement: "I create contemporary artisan jewelry in sterling silver and gold using traditional metalsmithing techniques in unconventional ways via hand fabrication, forging, fusing, carving, and stone setting. A bifurcated palette of oxidized sterling silver contrasted with high-karat gold, organic forms, golden arcs, and rugged "v" shaped cutouts are the distinct visual aesthetics of my work."