During the 2026 Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival weekend, a downtown event venue on Bancroft Street set out to offer visitors something a little different from the rows of white tents lining the streets. The Apiary Art Show, a curated, gallery-style exhibition, was planned for March 20 through 22 at Apiary, a Fairhope event space owned by Allison and Daniel Bebee, in partnership with mixed-media artist Camille Cornett.
The show was built around a simple idea: bring a more contemporary, interior design-driven exhibition to one of the most beloved art weekends on the Gulf Coast. Twenty artists were selected for the indoor show, with pieces chosen by a jury of interior designers and local creatives.
A Partnership Born From a Venue Search
The collaboration began with a booking inquiry. Cornett, who had moved to the coastal area about three years earlier, had shown her paintings at her home during the 2025 festival. For 2026, she wanted a larger space.
“I was looking for a venue to rent this year and reached out to Allison in hopes of booking Apiary, and the result is our collaboration to expand on Arts and Crafts, and bring a more contemporary, interior design-driven exhibition to the festival,” Cornett explained.
For Allison Bebee, the timing made sense. “We have been very busy with weddings and rehearsal dinners, but our venue couldn’t be booked logistically during the festival, so this is the perfect use of the space,” she said. “We like to host public events, and we held our first in November, Holiday Hive – an upscale Christmas market. We want to be more than just a private event space.”
“Confined and Refined”
The organizers designed the Apiary Art Show to feel more like a gallery than a street fair. Plans called for:
- Fine art, photography, sculpture and mixed media
- Twenty jury-selected artists, each bringing 25 to 40 pieces
- Wine and cocktails served to guests
- Free admission
- Hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday
Cornett described the concept as “confined and refined, a curated presence like a gallery.” The show was meant to be calm, welcoming and inspiring, inviting visitors to slow down and take their time with each piece, a contrast to the bustle of the outdoor festival.
Apiary’s location, at 85 North Bancroft Street, placed the exhibition right in the middle of the festival footprint in downtown Fairhope.
The Business Behind Apiary
Apiary is the newest venture for Allison and Daniel Bebee, who also own Gulf Coast Events and Rentals, Belforest Pointe and Venue 31. Together, the couple has built a portfolio centered on hosting celebrations across the Eastern Shore, from weddings and rehearsal dinners to corporate and private gatherings.
Allison Bebee grew up in Louisiana and studied dance at the University of Alabama, where she met her husband. After they married, the couple moved to his hometown of Fairhope, where she has raised three daughters and helped build four businesses.
With Holiday Hive in November and the art show in March, Apiary has signaled that it wants to be part of the public life of downtown Fairhope as well as a spot for private events.
An Artist Who Found Her Medium on the Move
Camille Cornett’s path to Fairhope also started in Louisiana. She graduated from LSU with degrees in fashion and business. She began painting after her husband, an engineer, took a job that moved the family to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Another move for his work, this time to a job in Theodore, brought them to the Gulf Coast, and they fell in love with Fairhope, settling there in 2023.
Today she is a mixed-media artist whose work has become a favorite of gallery owners and interior designers. A mother of two sons, she balances family life with a growing art career, and her own work was part of the Apiary show.
Fairhope’s Signature Art Weekend
The Apiary Art Show was designed to complement the Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival, one of the oldest and most celebrated outdoor art festivals in the Southeast. Held each March since the 1950s, the festival fills downtown Fairhope with hundreds of artists and craftspeople from around the country and draws large crowds over a single weekend. Visitors browse paintings, pottery, jewelry, woodwork, photography and more, while restaurants and shops downtown enjoy one of their busiest stretches of the year.
The festival has also become a magnet for satellite events. Galleries, shops and venues across downtown and the surrounding area host their own exhibitions, pop-ups and receptions, extending the reach of the weekend beyond the official booths. The Apiary show fit squarely into that tradition, offering an indoor, curated alternative for visitors who wanted a quieter experience.
Fairhope’s Growing Arts Community
Fairhope has long had a reputation as an artists’ town. Founded in 1894 as a single-tax colony by reformers who believed in shared community values, the city on the bluffs of Mobile Bay has drawn writers, painters and craftspeople for more than a century. Today it is home to numerous galleries, the Eastern Shore Art Center, a monthly downtown art walk and a steady stream of creative newcomers.
That influx includes people like Cornett, who arrived as a transplant and quickly found a place in the local art scene, and entrepreneurs like the Bebees, who have looked for ways to give artists new spaces to show their work. Their collaboration at Apiary reflects a broader trend in Fairhope, where event venues, shops and restaurants increasingly double as places to discover local art.
For those interested in future events at Apiary, including public markets and exhibitions, the best source of information is the venue itself. Dates for the 2027 Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival are typically announced well in advance by the festival’s organizers.