A woman who was to show off her artworks at a Chicago art fair was upset to discover most of her pieces stolen.
Lydia Cash is one of over 100 artists who set up tents at last weekend's annual Edgewater Fall Art Fair. It takes a lot of effort to transport the works, so artists generally leave their works intact overnight.
Cash placed her works in a tent near the Granville Red line stop Saturday, but she discovered eight of her paintings weren’t there the following morning.
“I can't even really quite describe it,” Cash said. “I felt very, very shaken. I felt very violated.”
Police are reviewing surveillance from the scene to look for clues.
Edgewater Artists in Motion said in an email that they are "very sorry" the artworks were stolen.
"The Edgewater Fall Art Fair had security in place overnight, as we do every year, with the amount of manpower that had been recommended to us by our security service provider, based on their experience with this type of events," the organization said. "However, it would be impossible to keep a close watch on all tents for an event this large."
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"Ms. Cash told us (after the fact) that her tent was left open as she did not have a cover for it and therefore her paintings had remained in full view," the statement continued. "She had done the same when she participated to our Art Fair last year."
Cash said she isn’t upset with art fair organizers; she just sad that it happened.
One of Cash’s friends set up a GoFundMe to help the artist recover her financial loss. The paintings were worth an estimated $3,410.
