SOFA 2011

Long heralded as the nation's premier fairs
for outstanding contemporary arts and design in New York
and Chicago, SOFA's 3rd annual Western edition returns
to the Santa Fe Convention Center with new high-summer
dates in August 2011. Chicago-based The Art Fair Company
announced it will produce two art fairs under one roof
Thursday, August 4-Sunday, August 7, 2011. For the first
time, The Intuit Show of Folk and Outsider Art will share
center stage in Santa Fe with the much-anticipated art fair
mainstay, the International Sculpture Objects & Functional Art
Fair, SOFA WEST: SANTA FE 2011. One general admission
ticket of $15 admits visitors to both fairs and their related
lecture series, special exhibits, and events. Both fairs kick off
with a joint Opening Night Preview Wednesday, August 3rd,
an invitation-only event for SOFA WEST VIP Cardholders.
SOFA WEST 2010 at the Santa Fe Convention Center
reported steady sales, most to new clients from across the
United States. Overall fair attendance climbed from 10,000 to
12,000 between the 2009 and 2010 fairs. An estimated 1800
persons attended the special member preview on 2010's
Opening Night.

"Building on the success of last year's SOFA WEST fair, we are
looking forward to moving from July into the August summer
season in 2011, which is really the high time in Santa Fe. We
will now have a full-season scale of audience, and even greater
opportunities for our dealers in terms of market size: In August,
the opera is in full swing, people are getting ready for Indian
Market, it's the best time to be in Santa Fe," said President of The
Art Fair Company and SOFA Founder/Director Mark Lyman.

Plans are also underway for the SOFA WEST 2011 Lecture
Series, free with paid admission to the fair, and the popular VIP
Program, slated to include an excursion to the Pueblo of Acoma,
tours to private homes and collections, artists studios, and curator
discussions for high-level clients of SOFA WEST participating
galleries and SOFA WEST VIP Cardholders.

Lyman reports an exciting new addition to the SOFA WEST fair:
Douglas Dawson Gallery (Chicago, IL)
specializes in antique ethnographic
art from Africa, Asia, and the
Americas. Strong returning exhibitors
participating in SOFA WEST 2011
include Joan B. Mirviss LTD (New
York, NY) world-renowned specialist
in Japanese contemporary ceramics;
Charon Kransen Arts (New York, NY)
representing foremost international
art jewelry artists; Bullseye Gallery
(Portland, OR) premier contemporary
kilnformed glass dealer; the established TAI Gallery (Santa Fe, NM)
of Japanese bamboo art and textiles; Jane Sauer Gallery (Santa
Fe, NM), dedicated to innovative sculpture in a variety of media; Dai
Ichi Arts, Ltd. (New York, NY) contemporary Chinese and Japanese
ceramics and jewelry; Maria Elena Kravetz (Cordoba, Argentina) Latin
American sculpture; Orley Shabahang (New York, NY) Persian textiles;

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Kristin Carlson

THINK Creative Consulting

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