Works with a personal touch

IF the increasingly epic scope of Sunset Junction, with its attendant traffic hassles and entrance fees, has turned you off the chaotic street fair, consider heading northwest for the inaugural Barnsdall Arts Market. The open-air art market, conceived as a family-friendly way to pass a casual Sunday afternoon, will feature about 40 vendors hawking paintings, sculpture, pottery and ceramics, woodwork, textiles and homemade crafts.

Banish all thoughts of paint-by-numbers pastels and Thomas Kinkade-esque sunsets. All the art at this fair is handmade and locally produced. “There will be no massive reproductions,” assures Julie Rasmussen, coordinator for the event. “We’re featuring work done by local artists who have created it themselves.”

Rasmussen, a gallery promoter and artist who last year joined the Barnsdall board of directors, says she and the other planners also hope to draw attention to “the hill.” She’s referring to Olive Hill, home to the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre (which is hosting its summer Shakespeare festival), the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House and the Junior Arts Center.

If Rasmussen has any fears that potential attendees might prefer Sunset Junction to her little old neighborhood festival, she doesn’t show it. “It’s a different thing that Sunset Junction is doing. We’re just down the street, so hopefully people will notice us and, on the way there or on the way back, stop in to check it out.”

Barnsdall Arts Market, 4814 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Free. (323) 661-7299, www.barnsdall.org.