Sturdivant Hall was filled with some of Selma’s most talented artists and craftsmen Saturday for the sixth annual Artisans Fair.

Tables were covered with Christmas ornaments, paintings, hand drawn pictures, candies, jams, jellies and everything few and far between.

Sturdivant Hall board member Patty DeBardeleben, who started the fair six years ago, said the fair is a great opportunity to show off Sturdivant Hall and all it has to offer.

“The main object is to not only raise money for the house, but to get people into the house to see it and enjoy it,” she said. “I’ve lived in a lot of different places, and I’ve never lived in a place that is as fine as this and is accessible to the public.”

The fair is a fundraiser to help raise money for the historic building, but it also gives arts and crafters a chance to share their work with the community.

“I think Selma is definitely an artist colony. We have so many talented people here, and this gives people an opportunity to see what all the creative people are doing in Selma,” DeBardeleben said. “We try to have a good mixture of things to buy and a good price range from very inexpensive to the more expensive, so that there is something for everybody.”

Lauri Cothran, just one of the many artisans at the fair, had a table set up with her work for the first time this year. Cothran makes ornaments with stained glass windows from some of Selma’s historic downtown churches.

“I’ve done the arts and crafts for a long time, but this is my first year to get to do Sturdivant Hall,” she said. “I’m so excited.”

As an artist herself, Cothran said it is amazing just to get the chance to show off her own work and see others’ work in Selma.

“I have lots of friends who are artists here, and they are amazingly talented,” she said. “We have such amazingly talented people in this town. To have them in one spot like this really gives you an opportunity to see it. You might have friends that do this, that or the other, but you don’t necessarily get a chance to see it except when there is something like this.”

Terry Johnson, who works with fused glass, decided to take part in the fair for her second year in a row.

“I love Sturdivant Hall for one thing, and they have some really super people here displaying all their talents, and I like to be part of it,” she said.

DeBardeleben said Saturday’s crowd was a good sight to see and will help Sturdivant Hall continue to be a beautiful place for people to see in Selma.