Couple makes St. Peter’s art show their masterwork

With less than a month to go before the 58th annual St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Art Show, Jeff Whipple and Scott Samples are surprisingly relaxed.

There is still a lot of work to be done before the artists and the crowds show up Saturday, July 6. But, they seem to have things well in order.

“All permits have been granted, insurance [secured], paperwork [completed], [and] the artists have all been selected,” Whipple said. “It is a lot of work, but we have 57 years of experience to build on.”

Whipple and Samples have been members of the St. Peter’s congregation since 2018.

They are now in their second year of co-chairing the premier event at the historic church on Second Street. They started as chairs for the silent auction, which Whipple said is about half of the show.

They said, this year, there will be 122 artists in 119 booths filling the streets around St. Peter’s; 109 vendors are returning from last year.

“We only had 10 open booths, but 40 people applied,” Samples said.

Samples is in charge of what happens outside: working with the city on permits and parking, working with M&T Bank to secure its parking lot and arranging shuttles from Cape Henlopen High School.

“The artists are being asked if they’d be willing to donate an item to the silent auction. We’re getting items together for the raffle. That’s where we’re at now,” Whipple said.

The St. Peter’s Art Show is a juried show. That means each artist must meet a set of strict requirements: The work must be an original design by the artist. Things done by machine or somebody else’s work are not allowed. Artists are juried two years in a row.

“We don’t allow consumables, like candles. We don’t allow crafts. It’s an art show, not a craft show,” Samples said. “We’re both quilters and we can’t be in our own show, because quilting is a craft.”

The art show is a fundraiser for the community. All proceeds go to beneficiaries, not the church. 

Whipple said the church makes a fixed-amount pledge to each organization. There is enough reserve to cover the standard pledge for two years, even if there is no show. “That was a great help during COVID, because we didn’t have a show in 2020,” Whipple said.

Nonprofits Community Resource Center and Primeros Pasos Early Childhood Learning Center are the primary beneficiaries and will split about $22,000.

The St. Cecilia Music Guild will be selling raffle tickets.

Whipple said the Lewes Fire Department will also have a table on the church patio this year.

“We’re allowing them to fill a boot or whatever they want. We will be donating money from prior art shows toward replacement of a fire truck,” Whipple said. He said the fire department will get about $1,500.

Things really start to pick up the week of the show.

“Tents and tables arrive. This year, it’s Wednesday. Normally it’s Thursday. Thursday night, we put out no-parking signs. Friday, we start setting up the silent auction. [The vendors] start arriving at 5 a.m. the morning of the show,” Whipple said.

The show ends at 3 p.m., but Whipple and Samples said there is no time to exhale. “We have to get everything packed up and get the vendors off the streets by 4.”

Then they will get started on next year.

For more information on the St. Peter’s Art Show, go to stpeterslewes.org/art-show.