It's the other outdoor art show in Mystic.

And while it hasn't hit the 53-year mark, the Meet the Artists & Artisans is having a rather impressive run, thank you very much. It's hitting its 37th year with this weekend's event.

The show all came about when painter Denise M. Curt saw that Joyce Olson Resnikoff - whom she knew from childhood, when Curt's grandparents were close friends with Resnikoff's parents - had opened Olde Mistick Village.

Curt contacted Olson, explaining she had been running an artists and artisans show in Milford and was interested in staging a similar one at Olde Mistick Village.

So it began, with two shows a year, one in July and one on Labor Day weekend.

"It's much more personal and intimate than a gallery. You're actually meeting the people who are creating the pieces," Curt says.

Many of the artists not only display their work but also demonstrate the process - painting and sketching on the spot. So visitors can ask how they developed something and then actually see it happen. A woodcarver creates on site, so visitors can see the plain wood at the start and then watch as, say, a bird emerges.

The sheer variety of artists and artisans is striking. A mural painter is part of this year's line-up. One metal sculptor creates recycled pieces but also designs imaginative coffee tables and fountains. A musician makes his own wooden flutes.

Among this weekend's notable participants is Phillip Chagnon, the painter from North Haven who won the Best in Show prize at this summer's Mystic Outdoor Art Festival. Curt says he has been exhibiting at the Meet the Artists & Artisans Show for probably 20 years. He's one of quite a few people who do both Mystic shows, according to Curt.

One of her inspirations for the Meet the Artists & Artisans shows was, in fact, the Mystic Outdoor Art Festival. She had thought Milford, where she lives, needed an event similar to that. She started the Meet the Artists & Artisans there before expanding to Olde Mistick Village.

Besides the artists and artisans, the Olde Mistick Village show has something else going for it: location, location, location.

"It's a charming area," she says. "It's just a lovely venue."

The artists set up on the grass-covered knoll, shaded by apple trees, with the quaint village right there and then Mystic Aquarium beyond.

"It's a wonderful spot for people to visit. They can do a number of things in that one area, so it makes it very pleasant," she says.

Meet the Artists & Artisans, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. and Sun. and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon., Olde Mistick Village, Coogan Boulevard, Mystic; free admission; (203) 874-5672, meettheartistsandartisans.com.