More than 125,000 Michiganders will kick off the fall season at Paint Creek Center for the Arts’ Art & Apples Festival. Now in its 47th year, this festival has grown from housing its artists in a single circus-style tent to what it is today, a Top 30 nationally ranked art festival boasting over 290 artists sprawled across the scenic 30-acre Rochester Park, with three food courts, weekend-long entertainment and more.
While the vast majority of art festivals are produced by for-profit festival promoters or municipalities, Art & Apples is unique in that it is produced by a regional nonprofit art center that presents high-quality arts and cultural activities year-round.
“The Art & Apples Festival is the origin of Paint Creek Center for the Arts,” says Suzanne Wiggins, PCCA’s executive director. “It’s our largest program of the year and provides nearly half of our annual operating revenues, so essentially it helps keep PCCA going year round.”
In 1965, after several years of planning, a visionary group of artists and community leaders established the Art & Apples Festival as an outdoor art fair combining cultural activity with community spirit. Seventeen years later, proceeds generated from the annual festival were used to establish Paint Creek Center for the Arts to serve year-round as the focal point for arts and cultural activities in the greater Rochester region.
Now celebrating its 30th year, Paint Creek Center for the Arts has continued to stay true to its founding principles by enhancing life in the region by promoting, encouraging and creating opportunities to participate in and appreciate the arts. Its annual programs include The Art School, year-round exhibitions showcasing emerging and established Michigan artists, the Regional Arts & Culture Awards, a variety of community-involvement and outreach programs, and of course, the Art & Apples Festival.
Michigan’s second largest fine-arts fair and will be held September 7 – 9 in Rochester Municipal Park. More than 300 volunteers ages 16 and older are needed to help with customer service, artist check-in, food tickets, information, kids’ activities and site layout. This is a great opportunity for families, employee groups, team building exercises and community service hours. Volunteers will get a free T-shirt sponsored by Blue Care Network.
For more information visit artandapples.com or call 248-651-4110.
