Art on the River Festival - A Feast for the Senses

Something for Everyone!

ART ON THE RIVER’
FEST GROWS INTO A NEW COMMERCE TOWNSHIP LOCATION

Huron Valley
Council for the Arts’ third annual Art on the River Festival in Commerce Township
on Saturday, July 19 is bigger and better than ever.

Leah Ohmer, HVCA
executive director, said, “The Art on the River Festival has become a
premiere event growing larger each year,” Ohmer added. “This year we are moving
to a new home to accommodate on site vendor and customer parking, a larger
artist market, more food vendor choices and more community activities. This is
an event that people will not want to miss!

“The success of
this event has been so profound that we are moving to a new, larger location
in Dodge Park V off East Commerce Road. The day is dedicated to the arts with
not only talented artists and fine crafters, but also live music, theater
performances, storytelling, kids’ crafts and more.”

The new, larger
market will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and features more than 50 artists
and demonstrations, said Ohmer. To get there, enter the park just
east of the South Commerce and Carroll Lake Road intersection.

Individual
artists who will demonstrate their work on-site include Nicholas
Sikma, pottery, Janice Dumas, watercolor painting, and Dorothy Kiilba,
watercolor and acrylic painting. Huron Valley Wood Turners, The Black Sheep
Weavers Guild and the Detroit Puppeteers Guild also will
exhibit their respective skills

Ohmer added
that Art on the River also includes the Milford Music Celebration of
Talent, a partnership between HVCA and Milford Music, with live music
throughout the event.

Musical acts
include Tri-tone Paradox at 11 a.m. (featuring avant-garde acoustic
world music); Interface, a teen rock cover band, at noon; Spoonful Blues,
described as a “blues band with variety,” at 1 p.m.; Tim Twiss’ historic
Americana at 2 p.m.; folk/Americana singer/songwriter Marianne Murphy at 3 p.m.
“progressive a cappella” at 4 p.m. from A Cappella THUMMp; and,
closing out the day’s performances is Expanse of the Unknown, featuring
teen rock/pop/classics.

Family-friendly fun
is available at Kids’ Zone, Heavner’s canoe and kayak pond and North Oakland
County Storytellers’ theater.

“Last year, we had
2,000 people visit the market, double the amount of our first
year,” Ohmer said. “This year, we are doing even more advertising and social
media, so we expect to hit the 3,000 to 4,000 mark.”

Parking will be
plentiful at the site to accommodate additional attendees; there also will be a
variety of gourmet food truck vendors for all to enjoy. The Lakes Area Rotary
beer tent also will be open to adults 21 and older.

Ohmer enthused, “Bigger and better than ever, the Art on the River Festival
was created by the Huron Valley Council for the Arts and is presented by
Genisys Credit Union to provide an opportunity for the community at large to
experience and interact with all aspects of the arts.  With music,
story-telling, artistic demonstrations and culinary options on site we seek to
create a unique festival for the whole family to enjoy. Come out and play with
the Arts for the day!”

Artists already
participating offer the following genres: photography, fiber art, wood working,
pottery, jewelry, and a variety of painting styles and mediums, including plein
air, oil, watercolor, and acrylic.

Event sponsors
include title sponsor Genisys Credit Union; top level sponsors Renewal by
Andersen, Huron Valley State Bank, Four Seasons by Redwood, Costco and Commerce
Township; and station sponsors Real Green Systems, Commerce Village Dentists
and Commerce Village Veterinary Hospital.

For more
information, or a full list of participating artists go to the HVCA web site www.huronvalleyarts.org or call
HVCA at 248-889-8660.

Copy by: Anne
Seebaldt