It’s the 39th East Lansing Art Festival By DANYELLE FREEMAN

Ceramics by Justin Teilhet (vase, top photo) and sculptures by Eric Joseph (as in photo above) can be seen this weekend. Both come to the E.L. Art Festival as invitational artists.

It’s that time of year again. Temperatures are over 60 (well, they were), birds are singing, flowers are in bloom and the 39th Annual East Lansing Art Festival is just around the corner.

This piece by Kathleen Conover (above) offers a taste of her 2-D mixed-media works that will be on display this weekend. Also featured at the festival will be paintings by Lars-Birger Sponberg (check out photo below). Both are festival invitational artists.

The festival is Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19, and will feature outstanding artists from more than 30 states and Canada in 15 different categories, ranging from painting to digital art.

Attendees can shop at one of the 230 artist stalls, listen to live music playing on two stages (see other story), participate in educational art activities for the whole family, or take a break in the food court.
The East Lansing Art Festival first took place on June 6, 1964. That festival, titled “Greenwich Village Days,” invited artists to exhibit on the sidewalks outside the businesses along Grand River and M.A.C. avenues.

The selection process is a little more rigorous these days. Artists must complete an application and submit slides of works and displays months in advance of the festival. Artists are categorized based on the type of medium they use. A jury of local experts in that medium considers slides of each artist’s works anonymously. Only the top artists are selected to represent the category in the festival. (For more details on selection, see accompanying story.)

This year’s festival of 230 artists breaks down like this: one-third of the artists will be returning artists, one-third are new artists and one-third are invitational artists. Invitational artists are those artists who won an award or received top scores from the on-site jury within the past three years.

Artists will sell their works in booths throughout the downtown area. There will be ceramics, fiber, leather, painting, photography, digital art and on and on. There is something available for everybody’s price range.

“If you don’t have any money, you can still come. You don’t have to buy anything,” said Leslie Donaldson, festival coordinator. “You can get inspired.” Families will enjoy the free, educational arts activities, including the Chalk Art Fest, face painting, Museums-to-Go and Guild Demonstrations. The guild demonstrations feature potters, doll makers and woodcarvers as well as the lace makers, quilters, porcelain painters, basket makers, knitters and woolgatherers.

Funding for the East Lansing Art Festival comes almost entirely from fund-raising efforts, Donaldson said. The festival is supported by artist fees, sponsorship funds and proceeds from T-shirt sales as well as individual donations. The City of East Lansing and local businesses offer in-kind support, from cleaning streets to providing parking and shuttle transportation.

“It is a unique festival because it is community-based,” Donaldson said. “We do have some grant money, but there aren’t many festivals who are supported through local businesses and corporate donors.”

	“If you don’t have any money, you can still come. You don’t have to buy anything. You can get inspired.”
	– Leslie Donaldson, festival coordinator

Volunteers make this festival work. The volunteer group known as the Friends of Our Festival (FOOFs) is open to anyone who wants to make a contribution to the festival. All it takes is $25 and a desire to get involved. According to Chris Metzger, known as The Queen of the FOOFs, there are hundreds of volunteers to provide help, such as booth sitting, directing traffic and stage set-up.
“If you want to volunteer, they can find a place for you,” Metzger said.

One advantage to being a Friend of Our Festival is getting to attend the applause party at the Marriott the Friday before the event.

Part of the funds raised by the FOOFs goes to support an artist award. Local businesses and individuals sponsor other awards.

“For the entire festival, we have about 1,000 people that help put it together,” Donaldson said. “We have hundreds of people that participate on different levels to make the festival happen. We have volunteers that work at the info booth, booth sitters, direct traffic, artist load in, stage set-up, chalking the booth spaces.”

Cleaning up after 60,000 people (which is how many organizers expect) is a monumental task.
“We work with the MSU men’s lacrosse team,” Donaldson said. “They provide us with the most incredible cleanup crew. They are here the entire weekend. We have a morning crew and an afternoon crew. They help set up, they help clean up. They pick up any messes on site.”

The East Lansing Public Works Department helps clean the streets and get the city prepared for the festival. It also assists when it is time to return everything back to normal.

But after a weekend of great art, food and music, who wants to return to “normal”?