JAM Holiday Fair boasts 20 years: Jamestown artists from left: Seth Strickland, Matty Graziano, and Amber Graziano smile from the Graziano’s booth at the JAM Holiday Art & Craft Fair.  PHOTOS BY KIRK C. WATKINS[/caption]

The JAM Holiday Art & Craft Fair returned to the Jamestown Town Hall on December 4, 2022. It has been a local staple for over twenty years.

Kathryn White has been the organizer for the event for the past five years, an event which she says has a purpose. “We try to give the local artists a venue to sell their wares around the holidays,” she said, “and this year, as well, we did two days over the whole weekend instead of just one day.” The event is a fundraiser for JAM for the Arts, Jamestown Area Artists & Musicians (JAM), a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the talented artists in the Jamestown area.

Joy Boston, a local artist who has been showing her wares at the JAM Holiday Art & Craft Fair since the inception of the event, was presenting her latest works. She creates with stonework, sculpture, pottery that’s functional, as well as other related mediums. “I love working with clay and I love making beautiful things that people can use,” she said when asked to explain her dedication to her art, and to the craft fair. As a resident of Jamestown for over thirty years, her artwork enhances many spaces throughout the community.

As for the JAM Holiday Art & Craft Fair, “it’s a good way for people to support local artists, and to buy gifts that artists have made rather than supporting the big corporations,” she said, “I do feel supported in Jamestown, and I try to support other artists.”

Sarah Jane Farmer was exhibiting pottery as well and was accompanied by fellow artist Josh Wexler. Both are artists who work out of the newly formed Jamestown Jade Collective based in Boulder that houses jade carvings, rough jade, pottery, sterling silver jewelry, and crystals.

Matty Graziano also works out of the collective. “I’m a jade carver, I carve jewelry, hustle minerals of all sorts,” he said, as he spoke about his display, “ethically sourced, so I know where all my minerals come from, they come from safe places and good people where the locals get treated right… it’s kinda my thing, my niche.”

For a list of JAM events or for more information on the Jamestown Jade Collective go to: Jamestownjadecollective.com