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Featured Artist
Meet our 2021 feature artist: Judy Oxford
The 69th Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival of 2021 is proud to announce Judy Oxford as the featured artist.
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Judy Jackson Oxford grew up in Fairhope in the Fruit and Nut section of town where she now resides again. She dedicates her painting for the 2021 Festival in memory of her mother, Rae Bernhardt Jackson.
Rae was an artist and served as chairman for the festival not once but twice and continued to serve as co-chair many ears as needed in the 1980s. Oxford’s mother’s family lineage dates back to the original Fairhope settlers.
As unusual 2020 year has brought changes to the Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival volunteers and decisions for March 2021. The decision to base the show on Alabama artists and look for artwork that was reflective of Alabama yet expressing Fairhope’s Mobile Bay charm was thought to be a challenge. It was not much of a challenge for the talented and deep-rooted Fairhope artist. She stayed true to her style, incorporated the elements necessary to reflect the festival’s Alabama theme and produced a jaw dropping beautiful sunset that says Fairhope, Alabama. In researching the Yellowhammer, the Northern Flicker, she found that there was a substantial sighting of the birds in the Fruit and Nut part of town this past fall.
Judy graduated from Fairhope High School and attended Auburn University, majoring in Visual Design. She returned to Fairhope four years ago and serves on the board at Eastern Shore Art Center. Over the years she has won several Best of Show awards and has had two individual shows at the Eastern Shore Art Center. A great article on Judy was featured in the June 2018 issue of Mobile Bay Magazine that features one of her great musical pieces of artwork inspired by the Excelsior Jazz Band. Judy’s art revolves mostly around the seascapes o the picturesque Mobile Bay view with its draping moss, classic piers, breathtaking sunsets and charming scenes of life on the bay. Her artwork can be viewed at the Gallery By The Bay on Fairhope Avenue.
