The fair’s art show is a pleasant diversion from the frenzy.

In addition to its traveling panoply of tricky carnival games, whirling rides, mid-level music acts and on-the-ground entertainment, the Monterey County Fair is a showcase of the the region’s character and industry: wine, livestock, produce, food stuffs and art.

The latter is compiled into a massive art show of 400 works of photography, paintings, graphics, calligraphy, sculpture and drawings, broken down into a dozen divisions, much of it amateur and not juried – meaning if it’s submitted, it goes in the show.

There are a few rules. The submitting artist must live in Monterey County, and the content must adhere to the family-friendly atmosphere. The first line of defense is Sandra Gray, the fair’s official Visual Arts Building coordinator and unofficial curator of that tidal wave of submitted community art. But she has help.

“If it’s objectionable to any [volunteers] putting it up, I take a look at it,” she says.

She’s been the point person at that job since 2011. Before that, she submitted work into the show, but one year a piece of hers didn’t make the cut because they ran out of wall space. But it was then treated unceremoniously.

“It was in the back, in storage. I had to go back there and look for it under a pile of rubble, broken frames and cardboard,” she says. “I was upset about that.”

As a result she’s made it a point to treat all the work with respect.

“It’s a special moment when you see your work on the wall in a large exhibit where anyone can come and see it,” she says.

THE MONTEREY COUNTY FAIR’s art exhibit is open noon-11pm Thu-Sun, noon-10pm Mon, Sept. 1-5, at 2004 Fairgrounds Drive, Monterey. Free with admission. 372-5863, www.MontereyCountyFair.com