Downtown Brighton Offers 'Attractive Backdrop' for Revamped Street Art Fair
August 21, 2024
![Downtown Brighton Offers 'Attractive Backdrop' for Revamped Street Art Fair](/dbphotos/displaywidth/f24924920b1317882b3e8d64eb3051c7/600/a.jpg)
Amanda Forrester / news@whmi.com
Brighton is hosting a new street art fair this weekend, featuring some of the best artists from around Michigan.
The Guild of Artists and Artisans have partnered with the Brighton Chamber of Commerce to bring the Brighton Street Art Fair to the city Aug. 23-25.
There will be over 75 featured artists participating, The Guild of Artists and Artisans website said.
“Located on Main Street in the heart of downtown Brighton, this newly renovated streetscape provides an attractive backdrop for a fine art fair,” according to the website.
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 putting together art fairs for over 50 years.
The Guild puts on multiple art fairs every year, including the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, Buck said.
All of the participants in the art fair are Michigan artists.
“They come from all over and they’re jury-selected,” Buck said. “Other artists are reviewing their work, looking at images of their work as well as their booth shot, and evaluating them and giving them a score. They’re chosen based on their score.”
The event will also feature activities to let kids get involved 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’ll have live music, so all types of art there,” Buck said.
Mike Monroe, one of the artists participating in the art fair, has been involved in the local art scene for decades.
“This has been my full-time career for 30 plus years. I did my first show, I don’t remember what year it was, but I was 16-year-old, down in Brighton. It probably only had 20 artists back then. It’s grown exponentially. Sometimes we had up to 100 artists there.”
Monroe, who is on the board, said The Guild is trying to grow the art fair and have “the best of the best” being showcased.
When asked how kids can pursue a career in the arts, Monroe said, “I think the best thing if a child wants to get into it, is experience as many styles as you can, different techniques, and try to talk to people that do this for a living.”
More information about the Brighton Art Fair and other events The Guild of Artists and Artisans can be found at their website, https://www.theguild.org/.