DU QUOIN — After lighting one of his paintings on fire to awed gasps from the gathered crowd, spray paint artist Nathan Bassett talked through his process and the history of the form. His presentation to a student group on August 30 was one of several new art and entertainment additions to the 2024 Du Quoin State Fair.
Bassett, who also calls himself the Rattle-Can Ninja of the Midwest, described his role as live performance art. He creates unique artworks at rapid speed, generally filling a canvas in less than five minutes, using bowls, cans and paper to create geometric shapes.
His student audience, visiting for Kids Day at the Fair, had a lot of questions, and his main advice was to practice. He said he has made hundreds of paintings over the course of his career.
Bassett, who performs and sells his work at fairs and festivals across the state, said that the Du Quoin State Fair has a unique atmosphere.
“It’s more of a county fair on steroids,” Bassett said. “Because it is much bigger, but it’s got that small town feel to it with some of the activities, and that highlights the area.”
Art as a process was also a theme in the larger community involvement project from Wander Community Art Studio. The project invited fairgoers to take part in a large scale mural on the fairgrounds.
As a nonprofit that focuses on making art accessible for kids of all ages, studio owner Nicki Rathert said that partnering with the state fair was the perfect way to connect to more of the local community — but the level of engagement was still surprising.
“It was so much more fun than I even anticipated,” said Rathert.
The mural piece is now complete, and discussions about where it can be showcased in the community are ongoing.
Rathert stressed that Wander’s mission to engage the community in the arts continues outside of the fair, and the studio offers free and low-cost programs for all ages at its location on Main Street in Du Quoin.
She said she’s already excited to get involved in the fair again next year.
Also new to Du Quoin this year: wrestling. Lenny Mephisto, owner of Pro Wrestling Epic, said the response has been huge, leading them to bring out an additional set of bleachers for audience members at last week’s debut.
Mephisto said their popularity is due — at least in part — to their range of colorful characters, which include Herzog the Viking, the Jet; and the King of the Sky, Eagle Eye, who wears a mask in the ring.
Mephisto said he didn’t want to stop entertaining the people after 20 years of wrestling, so this is his way of continuing for another 20 years.
Du Quoin is the biggest fair where they have performed so far.
The 2024 Du Quoin State Fair continued through Labor Day — Monday, Sept. 2.
