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• Saturday's Stockholm Art Fair features more than 100 artists
• Pulitzer Prize winner speaks at Saturday's Pigstock

STOCKHOLM -- The 36th annual Stockholm Art Fair will be held this Saturday in a park on Lake Pepin.

The art fair began 36 years ago with a few local artists and crafts people bringing their wares to Stockholm's Village Park - pots, jewelry, candles and wooden crafts, even kittens to give away.

It has continued to be run by area artists, and has grown into an event with 106 juried artists, live regional music all day long and some out-of-the-ordinary local food choices as well. Every so often, there are still kittens to be given away.

The one-day fair is always held on the third Saturday in July from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain or shine, and has become a "happening" in the area which people from a wide surrounding area look forward to year after year.

The ambiance of the small town of Stockholm (population 89) with its many small shops, the high quality of artwork, good food and excellent music make it a popular summer experience.

More than 100 juried regional artists will display and sell their work, which includes pottery, wearable and two-dimensional fiber, metal and clay sculpture, paintings, drawings, plus a wide variety of jewelry, glass, wood, leather and photography.

Attendees will find the World's Greatest Bath Boats, handmade cookie cutters, original paintings and unique photography choices, needle-sculpted figures, garden art, hand-painted clothing and more!

Each year, an area artist creates the poster, and the posters from the previous years are displayed at the information booth just inside the park.

This year's colorful design is a mosaic tile mural by local artist Barbara Andersen, who is one of the founding members of the art fair. She received her bachelor's degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and is a partner with Art Gannett in both marriage and in forming Little Plum Pottery near Pepin.

They have both worked with a highly acclaimed German Potter - Wendelin Stahl - whose approach to ceramics, and glazing in particular, captivated Andersen.

A highlight of the art fair is the excellent quality of original regional music played onstage the entire day. This year, the focus is on several established musical artists, including:

Noon, Patchouli, Maiden Rock. Folk music superheroes, powerful, lyrical modem acoustic music.

Artists are juried to be accepted into the art fair, and also are juried during the fair by two guest judges who present a Best of Show and three Merit Awards each year.

The actual "ribbons" are artist-made as well, often by a previous year's award winner. In the past few years, the one-of-a-kind ribbons have been made of fiber, clay, batik or were mixed constructions.

They are displayed at the Information Booth near the entrance to the art fair and are presented to winning artists at 2 p.m. onstage.

Food choices are numerous and varied, such as grilled portabella mushroom sandwiches, wild rice bratwurst, Greek food, locally raised organic chicken and beef on pita bread, homemade ice cream, Thai chicken wraps, honey-lime-mint fruit salad, fresh plum pie (baked by Little Plum Lutheran Church) and locally roasted coffee.

This year, A to Z Produce will sell crepes, salads and their famous wood-fired bread.

For children, The Lake Pepin Art and Design Center will offer some fun children's activities as well in the park near the music stage.

HAGER CITY -- Two internationally known journalists will travel to Paul and Trudi Schaefer's Windbeam Farm Saturday for Pigstock, a daylong gathering for peace.

"This is an opportunity for people to get a different aspect on issues that seem to be contentious. Both sides need to be known," said organizer Bill Habedank of Red Wing.

Habedank sought out the "pinnacle" speakers of the seventh annual event through the Internet. A scheduled book tour made the engagement possible.

Keynote speaker Chris Hedges, 52, of New Jersey, served as a foreign correspondent in more than 50 countries and worked for 15 years as a reporter with the New York Times. He speaks four languages and was a war correspondent in Bosnia and Kosovo and also covered terrorism while based in Paris.

In 2002, Hedges won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism. His newest book is "Empire of Illusion."

Helen Benedict, a novelist and professor of journalism at Columbia University in New York, specializes in the Iraq war and women's issues. Her book "The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq," was published in April.

Benedict will be a member of a 10:30 a.m. panel led by Gulf War veteran Chante Wolf and members of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Benedict plans to be at the event all day.

Hedges will speak at 1:30 p.m. Then he will join a panel discussion at 3:30 p.m. with former FBI Sept. 11 whistle-blower Coleen Rowley, Electronic Iraq and Lebanon co-founder Nigel Parry, and writer and activist Jeff Nygaard.

Music begins at 6:30 p.m. Junkyard Empire, a jazz, alternative rock and hip-hop band; Nigel Parry's band Pocket of Resistance; Roger Culbertson and Jo Schubert of the Twin Cities, and Bill McGrath of Northfield, Minn., will perform.

Sometime during the night, Habedank will sing a new campfire peace song he penned the lyrics for, set to the music "The Wings."

He said "If you're curious about what a peace event is," this is a good opportunity to find out. "We're not crazy people."

The event runs from 9 a.m. until the evening campfire burns out at N2934 750th St., a former pig farm. Primitive camping will be available both Friday and Saturday.

Advance tickets are $25, $40 for couples; or $30 and $50 at the door; $10 for students; children may enter free. No one will be refused entry for inability to pay.

The event is sponsored by Red Wing Veterans for Peace, Chapter 115. The authors' books will be available for purchase.

For information, contact Habedank, (651) 388-7733, habedank@charter.net; Paul Schaefer (715) 792-5127; or David Harris (651) 388-5863, or visit the Web site www.pigstockwi.com.