The popular art show and collectible sale has been postponed due to concerns over the Delta variant of Covid, Martha’s Vineyard Community Services announced.
Chicken Alley Art Show Arrives
In this age of free range chicken-raising, throw an egg in the air anywhere on this Island and odds are you’ll hit a fellow chicken farmer, one might think a reference to a place called Chicken Alley speaks of some storied Shangri-la where golden eggs roll freely from the barnyard.
Reality, however, speaks to a place of no chickens but plenty of golden eggs, metaphorically at least.
By MEGAN DOOLEY
Nestled among the framed paintings and portraits on display at the Chicken Alley Art and Collectibles sale, which was held on August 15 to benefit Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, a large poster stood out for its bright yellow background, bright red lettering, and striking image of a pouncing tiger, claws and teeth bared.
It was a 1940s Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus poster, and a rare find among the similarly unique items that made up the show.
The ninth annual Chicken Alley Art and Collectibles Sale is this Sunday, August 15, from 1 to 5 p.m. under the tent at 38 Lagoon Pond Road in Vineyard Haven.
At this popular summer sale, the Thrift Shop is transformed into an art gallery extraordinaire, with oil and watercolor paintings, drawings, collages and prints by artists well-known and unknown. Vintage clothing and jewelry, as well as collectibles of all varieties, are snapped up in this once-a-year sale.
Sandy Pratt and Dolly Campbell, manager and assistant manager of the Martha’s Vineyard Community Services Thrift Shop, are cutting prices in an attempt to clear as much merchandise from the store as they can. They need to make way for the yearly Chicken Alley Art Show.
The event, in its eighth year, was conceived by Olga Hirshhorn, whose late husband Joseph Hirshhorn founded the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.
Anyone who’s ever stumbled upon a hidden gem in the Thrift Shop has experienced the thrill of finding treasure amid the stacks of books, games, clothing, kitchen utensils and other odds and ends. The annual Chicken Alley Art Show, set for this Sunday afternoon and now in its sixth season, offers customers the opportunity to purchase the finest art and craft items culled from the shelves over the past year. The proceeds from the event have grown from $3,000 to $40,000 in five years, with all earnings benefitting Martha’s Vineyard Community Services.
