FeedsMurals spring to life at Art in the Park
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A living mural, courtesy of Kristen Dillenbeck (center) will be one of the new additions to Art in the Park in Plymouth when it returns to town this weekend.When Dianne Quinn opened the first Art in the Park in Plymouth more than 25 years ago, the event was a much simpler fair.
“We didn’t even have a map,” said Quinn, who still organizes the show along with her daughter, Raychel Rork. “We were all just in the park.”
That’s not possible anymore, of course. But then, when more than 400 artists set up shop around the picturesque community, bringing in thousands of visitors every year, things are bound to get more complicated.
Art in the Park returns to Kellogg Park from July 7-9. The streets will be closed as artists set up booths throughout the downtown. The show will be open from noon to 8 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The show will bring more than 400 artists to town, including more than 70 that have never been a part of the annual show.
“We’re always looking for new things to bring in,” said Rork.
The show is the second largest in the State of Michigan and has received plenty of attention across the country.
The artist themselves are hand-picked for the show, a laborious process that keeps the mother and daughter team busy virtually all year.
“We want everything to be top quality,” Rork said. “We try to bring in a lot of different kinds of art.”
That’s why the selections at the Art in the Park run the gamut of mediums; there’s everything from all kinds of paintings to sculptures in almost every form, photographs and other items, as well.
Several popular parts of the art show will be returning this year, too. The children’s area around the fountain in Kellogg Park has been expanded with new activities, including an animatronic barnyard and a ‘Scrapmobile’ where children will be able to make artwork out of recycled materials. They’ll be able to paint a mural, too, that will be donated to the Plymouth YMCA.
The chalk mural in the intersection of Main Street and Penniman Avenue will return, too.
This year, though, the chalk mural will signify an increased presence by the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). Representatives will be on hand soliciting memberships and handing out information about the organization and the downtown museum.
“We wanted to bring them into the community,” Rork said. “We think it’s a natural fit.”
Parking can be a problem in the town, so the free shuttle service will return. The luxurious motorcoaches will again pick up attendees at the Visteon parking lot at Sheldon Road and M-14 and deposit them at Plymouth City Hall. The shuttle will run continuously throughout the event, ending half an hour after it closes each night.
