CHESTER COUNTY _ Art is Everywhere in Chester County.

The two-day tour of 47 local studios and 100 artists takes place on Saturday, May 16 from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, May 17 from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. 

There are not many annual events that live up to the motto, “Engage with the Arts.”

The annual Chester County Studio Tour, held May 16^th and May 17^th,  is especially well-organized and fine-tuned to do just that – engage patrons and artists in the places where art is created.

The tour has been described as  the region's first and only annual tour designed to showcase the diverse art work found in "Andrew Wyeth's country.” For this year’s tour, there will be a considerable expansion –  100 artists in 47 studios across Chester County. But the idea of showcasing the talent of the county is still the same.

Many of the artists are grouped together at each stop, highlighting the diversity of mediums professional artists work in today, such as paper, porcelain, metal, clay and steel. This year's participating artists will be creating one unique 6- x 6- inch piece of original art and selling it for $75. Chester County Studio Tour wants to make art affordable for everyone and wants to show that art can be everywhere. Whether this is your first time buying original art or you are a seasoned collector, the tour now has something for everyone.

Visitors are encouraged to design their own self-guided tour with the catalogue, you can simply download a map or catalogue from  ChesterCountyStudioTour.com  and head for the studio closest to you. However, for those collectors looking for a specific kind of art or who want to take the scenic route from studio to studio, the web site offers links to specific routes such as the sculpture / ceramic and the landscape/ Plein Air (outdoor painting) tours.

The studios are scattered throughout Chester County, tucked away in the alleys of small towns or in flower-filled neighborhood back yards and townhomes.

For these artists, it seems, almost any structure will do - the former living room of a contemporary home, a structure that resembles a pool house,  or a former bedroom - as long as it gives them plenty of light and enough room to work on their large sculptures or paintings. All of these studios are working studios, many of them will feature artists demonstrations, or works-in-progress , enabling the visitor to get a rare glimpse into how a professional artist creates.

If You Go: 

The Chester County Studio Tour is free and open to the public. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday May 16^th and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 17^th.

More information can be found at www.chestercountystudiotour.com.