A drawing by Jeffrey Cannon, of Austin, Texas. (Submitted photo)

Art in the High Desert isn’t messing around.

The top-end art show opens its 10th year on Friday on the west bank of the Deschutes River in the Old Mill District, bringing 115 artists from 28 states for three days of art viewing and buying — and little else.

“(It’s) keeping focused on one thing. We’re not trying to be a family fair. We’re not a music fair. We’re not a beer fair, a wine tasting. We are strictly about art,” said Carla Fox, co-founder of the festival with her husband, Dave Fox.

A rigorously juried show, it also resists having the same participants year after year. Fifty-six of the artists were not in the show last year or have never been in it before, the Foxes said.

When Dave heard someone comment at First Friday Gallery Walk that Art in the High Desert, “Always kinda just the same artists,” he replied, “No no no. You’re not paying attention if that’s what you think.”

The Foxes don’t just organize and run the annual event, which Carla likens to a growing Audrey II — the man-eating plant from “Little Shop of Horrors” — that is, a beast that demands more and more of their blood.

They’re also working artists, which means they apply to and sell their works at several large art shows elsewhere each year.

They know what it takes to run a good show.

Jury and enforcement

Artists who apply to the show submit five photos of their best pieces, along with a photo of what their booth would look like.

“If you show us a really nice booth, and you show up looking like a slum-dweller, there’ll be words,” Carla said. “A lot of shows do not police like that.”

At some other art shows, they never even see the organizers. Not so at Art in the High Desert.

“We’re all there, and we’re all down and dirty, just like everyone else,” Dave said, referring to the six-member board.

“We’re policing all three days,” Carla said of the festival, which runs Friday through Sunday.

During the jurying process, the jury members, who change from year to year, have the following bullet points on cards directly in front of them:

• Original thought and intent, going beyond the expected, the usual

•  Overall strong concept. Does the art have a concept or voice that reaches beyond the techniques and materials?

•  Craftsmanship excellence

•  Consistency of style and presentation

Ranking highly

Art in the High Desert’s stringent standards appear to work: It ranked 10th for fine art sales in the 2017 Art Fair SourceBook. Scores are based on net average sales in 2016.

“It’s a tribute to the buyers, too,” Carla said.

The Foxes proudly note that AHD is the only Northwest show in the top 10. They also note that virtually all of the festivals ranking above Art in the High Desert are in larger cities such as Fort Worth, Texas, and Denver or adjacent to large cities, like Sausalito, California, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, or Winter Park, Florida, which is part of the Orlando metro area.

Competition is somewhat stiff to get in their hometown show.

Take jewelry, for example.

“It’s the most competitive category — 124 people out of 700 applications were jewelers. And we picked 12,” Carla said. And an artist accepted into the show by way of another medium — say, textile art — can’t decide to also show their jewelry, too.

“Jewelers do not need every other booth showing jewelry,” she said. “The shows have finally heard so much from the jewelers saying, ‘We can’t compete with the wearable people who are bringing in strung-beads to go with their work for $15.’”

No production line art

“We’re really vetting our artists,” Carla said. “We even have signs up at the show that say, ‘We take pride in that the person you’re talking to in the booth is the person who made the work.’”

Don’t put it past the Foxes to shut down a production artist unwittingly accepted to the show.

While they haven’t yet had to kick out artists during the weekend, they have booted them prior to the show.

“A couple of years ago, as late as a month before the show, we figured out one artist, while doing lovely work, it was production work. They had a whole workshop of people making it. It was great work. It’s just, we’re an artist-made show. So we had to call her and say we love your work —”

“Who called her?” Dave said.

“You did.”

“Jesus,” Dave said.

“We called her and said, ‘It’s just not for us. It’s against our rules.’

When it comes to the show, artists must bring works comparable to the five that won them a spot. That means original works comparable to the pieces submitted for jurying.

“Some shows, you’ll get a few originals on the wall, and then, it’s wall-to-wall print bins,” Carla said. “We don’t want that. We want to be selling original art.”

“If they’re starting to be a little naughty, we remind them,” Dave said.

Art in the High Desert’s growth and success over its decadelong existence can be traced to the beginning — the fact that it’s been consistent “in terms of what we want this to be like, in jurying it, and in terms of managing the show,” Dave said. “The more we do it, the better it gets.”

He added, “Artists have been really helpful for us in terms of saying, ‘That show is run by artists. It’s very well-presented, and it’s juried tough.’”

“‘They enforce the rules,’” Carla added.

“‘They enforce the rules, and they’re funnier than hell, except for Dave,’” Dave said.

They are funny.

Just don’t mess with Art in the High Desert.

“(It’s) keeping focused on one thing. We’re not trying to be a family fair. We’re not a music fair. We’re not a beer fair, a wine tasting. We are strictly about art.”Carla Fox, co-founder of the festival with her husband, Dave Fox

What: Art in the High Desert

When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday

Where: 730 SW Columbia St., Old Mill District, Bend; artist’s booths line the west bank of the Deschutes River between Columbia and footbridge.

Cost: Free

Contact: artinthehighdesert.com, info@artinthehighdesert.com or 541-322-6272