The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society has chosen its poster for the 2022 fair. Like all the fairs that have come before, the poster, designed by Vineyard artist Saundra LaBell, will assuredly be omnipresent come August. From T shirts to totes, and a variety of poster sizes for sale, LaBell’s artwork will be forever part of the event’s history; seen and appreciated by thousands.
LaBell’s poster stood out from the 31 submissions in the longstanding tradition of the poster design contest, according to a press release.
In an announcement by the Ag Society, LaBell, now a mother of two, recalled her own memories of the fair, and all the excitement that came with it. “We always looked forward to the fair for the entire summer as kids. The anticipation grew and grew while the days dripped by until we were standing in that line … That was always the peak of excitement for me,” she said. Upon entering the fairgrounds, the “blur of rides, cotton candy, and livestock blend together in my memory so that it’s hard to distinguish the fun of one fair from the next year’s fair.”
Now taking her daughters to the fair, LaBell gets to experience the childlike excitement again.
“It’s so much fun to hear them list which rides they want to do first, and which animals they’re most excited to see,” she is quoted as saying in the release.
These feelings of childhood innocence and untethered excitement are what influenced her design, LaBell explained. The moments waiting on line, leading up to passing the threshold into the four-day-long festivities.
“All of the different families and individuals waiting with their own expectations and lists of what to do first. We might look different, or be waiting in different constellations of people, and have different priorities of what we should do first, but we’re all excited for the very best day of the summer … that’s what I wanted to capture.”