© 2024 Michigan State University Board of Trustees
Public Media from Michigan State University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

East Lansing Art Festival Draws Crowds Once Again

East Lansing Art Festival 2018
Katie Cook
/
WKAR-MSU
East Lansing Art Festival 2018

A different location and a little bit of rain didn’t keep the crowds away from the East Lansing Art Festival this year.

 

 

Thousands filled the streets, taking in the roughly 170 booths, where art of all kinds was displayed. Everything from ceramics, sculpture, and even bonsai trees, to paintings and photography.

Darren Jones is an abstract painter from Chicago, this is his third year coming to the East Lansing Art Festival. Jones described his process for creating his mixed-media paintings.

“I use a combination of beach sand, industrial staples, plaster, shredded papers, so a lot of texture gets built on and then I layer all the coloring. Most of my work has anywhere from 20-30 layers of color and I actually do it by hand so no paintbrush, I blend the colors on my hands and then spread and blend that way.”

 

Of course there’s always a lot of jewelry to see at the festival too. Meg Tang is a jewelry maker from Kalamazoo.

“I love East Lansing, I went to Michigan State and I wanted to start in May with a show in Michigan,” Tang said. “My style is lightweight, modern, clean-line jewelry, I use sterling silver predominantly which is refined and recycled and sustainable.”

Many in the crowd were not only looking at the art, but finding things to buy to display in their homes, like paintings, photography, wreaths, and decorative garden stakes.

A variety of musical acts on three different stages kept everyone entertained all weekend, and of course, we can't forget the food trucks. The Blue Owl coffee cart kept people caffeinated with their hot coffee and cold brewed nitro coffee.

 

“We've run out of hot coffee three times. They're bringing me another batch right now,” says Owner Nick Berry.

Over at the children’s art activities area, kids made crafts and Dream World Studios taught kids a dance routine.

And while a little bit of rain did make an appearance, it didn’t seem to spoil anyone’s fun.

 

Related Content
Journalism at this station is made possible by donors who value local reporting. Donate today to keep stories like this one coming. It is thanks to your generosity that we can keep this content free and accessible for everyone. Thanks!