Metro Detroit has been resurrected by the art scene.
Restaurants, sculpture, fashion and aesthetics have been pivotal in pulling the city’s identity out of the Rust Belt.
The region has many festivals and markets that celebrate artists and creatives, allowing them to make a living from their art.
Good deal.
Yet one of the grandest is hidden in Rochester, behind some trees and a seafood restaurant.
“It is my first time here,” said Andrea Kay Rapson of Fine Art at the Village. “But I have been doing this a lot longer.”
She is surrounded by incredibly contemporary Ojibwe art. Genuine animal skulls tango with acrylic paint, leather and beads. The beauty of nature, the macabre, feathers and the cycle of life and death – and the value that comes after – dot the walls of the tent like a trophy dreamscape painted by R.C. Gorman.
Her 25 years of experience show in meticulous attention to detail.
The eye is hijacked by a psychedelic beaver skull. Everything about it is perfect, yet wild. Orange. Purple. Obsidian. Black leather.
“Sometimes I will chip a tooth,” she said with a grin, “those are usually,” she chuckled, “you might say discounted.”
An operation so grand takes some teamwork. Andrea’s sister sources the bones from the reservation community they grew up in. They rendezvous in the Upper Peninsula to handle the exchange.
She travels all over with her work and can most commonly be found at The Historic Totem Village in St. Ignace.
For artwork one can wear, one need only walk a little closer to Bravo!. Hypknotica offers refreshingly high-quality tied jewelry.
Frankly, bead jewelry gets a bad rap.
While it’s true that much of it is a sort of cheaply made trinket, meant to line souvenir shops and gather dust in bedside drawers, high-quality pieces represent some of the easiest ways to incorporate free bohemian fashion into one’s daily attire.
It’s hard being a hippie.
Caught behind the sterling glimmer of a Celtic bead, one catches one of the brand’s creators, Christine Borowski.
Her wish bracelets sit front and center at her stall. Tighten it with a wish, and it might just come true.
Looking at her, one suspects she would be the sort that could imbue magic into a bracelet. Her attire is a modern love letter to Woodstock-era counterculture.
Not limited to simply high-fashion hippie-wear, the brand also features similarly high-quality crocheted goods and wallets. It is an invitation to the unconventional and it would not be surprising in any way to increasingly see it on the extremities of Metro Detroiters.
Hypknotica has some funk.
Autistic Cat Studio is funk. Art is a space where the neurodivergent have flourished. From Sir Anthony Hopkins’ ability to disappear into a role to Susan Boyle’s rich sound, many creative people have made gems expressing their different worldviews through art.
Autistic Cat Studio joins that proud tradition, featuring incredible fused-glass. Like something out of a vivid daydream.
The brand was conceived by Brayden Lennon. He has loved fused-glass work almost as long as he has loved cats.
The designs are peak abstract art. They are filled with simple yet inexpressible geometry and color. His work ranges from planters to wall art.
They are all eye-catching conversation pieces from a conversation-worthy brand.
A few tents back hides Hidden Hills Enterprise.
It features incredible hand-carved and laser-etched wood art.
The highlight was a carved nautical map of the Great Lakes. It is one thing to read that Lake Superior is 1,300 feet deep and Lake Erie is 210 feet.
It is a sensation to see it carved into a piece of plywood. Colored tranquil blue, known only to the Caribbean and the Great Lakes.
Steve Deitz, the founder and artist, says it can take a month for a piece to go from concept to reality.
But no matter the process or the final product, they all start as a four-by-eight sheet of plywood.
Unbelievable looking at what comes out.
Around these many tents, one typically gets hungry.
It’s at that very moment when Nothing Bundt Cakes comes in to fill the void.
With a store across the street, Nothing Bundt Cakes brings its colorful and creative take on the classic cake to the stomachs of the hungry.
Red velvet under a warm summer sun hits something like a dream.
It just works.
Lidia Natanail’s art comes attached with a story.
Having emigrated from Romania to Canada in her youth, she often jokes that she is “the daughter of Dracula.” She has Bela Lugosi’s smile, too.
After discovering abstract fluid art in Canada, she moved to the United States.
The gothic old-world sensibilities are detectable in her color theory. Rich, haunting gothic colors provide an elegance and sensuality that is highly atypical of abstract art.
They are an invitation to see the strikingly beautiful and romantic in everyday happenings.
Her fashion sense, shown in her chic dotted slacks and jewelry, can also be detected in the linework of her pieces.
She walks past a portrait of a dancing dress without a wearer.
Begging to be hung. In the perfect walk-in closet.
The summer heat and sun beat on the lips. Chapped. Dry and battered.
The scent of summer sweat in a crowded space invites a nice cool shower.
Making the perfect finale to Nature’s Quest. Diane Geister and her daughter make a rich selection of fragranced candles, soap and toiletries to refresh the mood.
She described how making soap was initially her side hustle.
But the art festival scene is a competitive one. To best meet the intensive traveling needs, she resigned her longtime position doing social work at Michigan Works!.
She described it as an absolute ride. An adventure. And way more work than she thought it was.
But it helps her daughter get through university. And it might be the best-smelling soap you can find in The Village.
At least for the moment that the tent resides there.
Art festivals are like midsummer. Beautiful, shiny and fleeting. Like the summer’s morning dew.