21 August 2024
Amanda Forrester / [email protected]
Brighton is hosting a new street art fair this weekend featuring some of Michigan’s best artists.
The Guild of Artists and Craftsmen has teamed up with Brighton Chamber of Commerce to bring the Brighton Street Art Fair to the city from August 23-25.
According to the Guild of Artists and Craftsmen website, over 75 artists will participate.
“Located on Main Street in the heart of downtown Brighton, this newly renovated streetscape provides an attractive setting for an art fair,” the website states.
Allison Buck, senior director of marketing and partnerships for the Guild of Artists and Artisans, told WHMI’s Morning Drive with Chuck and Madison that the organization has been hosting art fairs for over 50 years.
The guild hosts several art fairs each year, including the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, Buck said.
All participants in the art fair are artists from Michigan.
“They come from all over and are selected by a panel of judges,” Buck said. “Other artists review their work, look at pictures of their work as well as their still photos, evaluate them and give them a score. They are selected based on their score.”
The event will also offer activities in which children can participate during the fair.
“The Guild will also be doing hands-on art activities with kids, David Zinn will be there doing chalk art and we will have live music, so all kinds of art there,” Buck said.
Mike Monroe, one of the artists participating in the art fair, has been active in the local art scene for decades.
“This has been my full-time job for over 30 years. I don’t remember what year I did my first show, but I was 16, down in Brighton. There were probably only 20 artists back then. It’s grown exponentially. Sometimes there were up to 100 artists.”
Monroe, who sits on the board, said the guild is trying to grow the art fair and exhibit “the best of the best.”
When asked how children can pursue a career in art, Monroe said, “I think the best thing a child can do if they’re interested in it is to learn as many styles and different techniques as possible and try to talk to people who do this professionally.”
For more information about the Brighton Art Fair and other events organized by the Guild of Artists and Artisans, visit their website at https://www.theguild.org/.