More than 220 artists juried into local fine art festival

BIRMINGHAM –
Michiganders get to show how much they love art when Shain Park welcomes more than 100 artists from all over the country to the National City Birmingham Fine Art Festival, one of the first juried art festivals of the season, from May 10-11. The out-of-state artists join approximately 100 from Michigan for a total of 220 artists at the 27th annual event Mother's Day weekend.
The number of non-Michigan artists is one of the distinguishing factors about the event. More than half of the 220 juried artists, who go through a rigorous jury selection process, are selected from out of the state. The national and international artists hail from 24 states including those as far away as Oregon, New Mexico, California, Vermont, Florida and Massachusetts.
In addition, the range of media is considerable and includes varied art forms including painting, basketry, furniture, printmaking, traditional and digital photography, ceramics, wood, jewelry, wearable fiber art, hand blown glass and sculpture. The art is professionally judged throughout the weekend amid the shopping, and awards are given out on site.
The event is also interactive with a variety of hands-on workshops and artists demonstrations.
Admission is free and open to the public. The festival opens each day at 10 a.m. and closes on Saturday at 6 p.m. and on Sunday at 5 p.m. The Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center produces the festival with support from community partner, the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber.
The art festival attracts nearly 80,000 during Mother's Day weekend, offering a unique opportunity for mothers and those wanting to treat their moms to a special outing. The festival encourages interaction between visitors and artists. In addition to shopping for art, event-goers can make some of their own art and see artist demonstrations in the Art Activities Pavilion. This year visitors can also stop by the Ford display to learn about the latest trends in automotive design and green technology.
For further information, please call the BBAC at 248-644-0866, or visit http://www.bbartcenter.org.