Muskegon’s Lakeshore Art Festival Moves Up in National Ranking

MUSKEGON – The Lakeshore Art Festival ranked #27 in the nation and 1st in the state of Michigan for Classic & Contemporary Craft Shows by the Sunshine Artist Magazine. This ranking was up from #83 position in 2015. Sunshine Artist Magazine, known for high-quality content for the fine art and craft industry, ranks the nation’s most-profitable fine art and craft festivals based on subscribers’ sales performance each year resulting in – Sunshine Artist Magazine 200 Best!

“Our goal when reinventing the art festival was to focus on quality exhibitors that appealed to local and regional guests,” commented Lakeshore Art Festival Director, Carla Flanders.  “Based on survey results and national, recognition we are doing just that! Being one of Sunshine Artist Magazine 200 Best and Art Fair Calendars Best Small Town Festival signifies that the artists are happy with the event and guests are buying their handmade products. It’s the best of both worlds!”

The 200 Best rankings are obtained via ballots from Sunshine Artist subscribers. Subscribers are asked to list their 10 most-profitable art and/or craft show appearances from the previous year, indicate their income range at each and note whether they consider themselves to be fine artists or craftspeople. The results are tabulated using a weighted scale designed to ensure that smaller fairs can compete against larger festivals for high placement.

“Lakeshore Art Festival organizers continue to jury high-quality handcrafted artists into the show with an extensive jury process. This combined with an easy to navigate footprint and creative art engagement for guests to enjoy has been a recipe for success,” commented Cindy Larsen, Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce President.

A goal at Lakeshore Art Festival is to engage guests in art; Activities have included, Children’s Lane, Street Performers, Professional Chalk Designs, Community Canvas and much more. New in 2017, the festival added a wine and craft beer tent in the park, a live Kayak Painting, Student Art Showcase, Chalk the Walk and Color Muskegon.

In addition to enhancing engagement efforts, the Lakeshore Art Festival continues to run an environmentally friendly event. As part of the program, food vendors utilize compostable or post-consumer serving-ware, tons of waste are diverted from landfills through recycling and composting efforts and an environmental education booth is hosted in the Children’s Lane. A new program in 2017 allowed guests to fill up at a water station instead of buying water bottles.

Major sponsors for the Lakeshore Art Festival include; DTE Energy Foundation, The Muskegon Museum of Art, Arconic, ADAC, Betten/Baker, Meijer, Mlive/Muskegon Chronicle, Nichols, Hines and Staples.

Artist and exhibitor registration for the 2018 Lakeshore Art Festival will begin in October. Visit www.lakeshoreartfestival.org

 

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