61st Annual East Lansing Art Festival Returning Downtown

It’s that time of the year again for artisans, crafters, photographers, painters, sculptors, food trucks, live music and more to fill the streets downtown for the 61st East Lansing Art Festival (ELAF). 

The annual tradition returns to Albert Avenue on Saturday, May 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, May 19 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The festival runs at the same time as the annual MSU Spring Arts and Craft Show on the grounds of the Michigan State University Union, across Grand River Avenue at 49 Abbot Road. 

City of East Lansing Art Festival and Arts Initiative Coordinator Heather Majano helps organize the festival – interacting with artists, performers and food vendors. The ELAF mission is to enhance the sense of community and foster an appreciation of art, culture and creativity. The goal is to bring high-quality, gallery-worthy art to the accessible streets of downtown East Lansing.

“We work really hard to make the festival as accessible as possible,” Majano says. “We have ASL interpreters at our performance mainstage, a sensory-friendly space, and on-site signage in three languages: English, Spanish and Mandarin. We’re always looking for ways to improve the space.”

Majano has seen different sizes and versions of the festival over the years. The COVID-19 pandemic brought on a virtual festival in 2020, followed by a smaller footprint festival in August 2021. 2022 saw the return of an in-person festival at the usual May date and a positive community response. Last year, the 60th ELAF was ‘business as usual” with a large-scale, in-person event. 

This year, she anticipates another large festival. Typically, ELAF receives 300 applications each year and has room for 200 artists on-site. More than 300 artists applied to take part in this year’s festival. Artist mediums range from 2D and 3D mixed media, functional and nonfunctional ceramics, digital, drawing, functional and nonfunctional fiber, glass, wood, sculpture, prints, photography, painting, metals, jewelry and more. 

“We have a lot of new applicants,” Majano says. “There’s a new group of artists coming into the festival.”

One artist whose work will be at the festival, Karla Forrest-Hewitt, is a familiar face in the East Lansing area. She’s the community events specialist and farmer’s market manager for the city. 

Forrest-Hewitt has always enjoyed doing art, and minored in art in college. In 2021, she won the M.L.K. Art Competition, and one of her pieces, “Bending the Bars” is featured in the Grove parking garage. She was also named an Emerging Artist at ELAF in 2021, and learned how to set up the space in a visually appealing and functional way. 

“This year I felt like I had enough capacity to try to do an art festival in a professional capacity,” she said. “This will be the first time I’m a full artist, not an emerging artist, at the festival. There were some cool things available to previous emerging artists, like a discount on our booth fee. That was very helpful, because it takes a lot of time and money to get to the festival if you’re not an established artist.”

Forrest-Hewitt typically creates mixed-media and paintings as her preferred mediums. In order to prepare for the festival, there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work involved.

“I don’t have a studio or anything like that, I pretty much converted part of the walk-in closet into a studio,” she said. “Because I have a two-year-old, I do most of my paintings standing. It takes discipline, and I work on things in the morning, or after work, and on the weekends. I make a work, I frame, title and do all these different things. You have to have an established process to stay organized, and you have to be thinking about how your body of work once it’s all displayed is going to look, and what story you want to tell about yourself as an artist.”

Forrest-Hewitt says her artwork is very tied to her identity as a Black Jamaican woman who immigrated to the United States. She enjoys how art can uplift observers, without using any words at all. 

“You don’t even have to be an artist, either,” she said. “Just the art of creating something does wonders for people’s well-being.”

Forrest-Hewitt is proud to be a juried artist at the upcoming festival, and looks forward to the event. 

Majano says ELAF is working with CATA to increase shuttle service routes to and from the festival via Lot #89. Buses run every 10-15 minutes, and cost 50 cents roundtrip. The festival is also working with MSU to provide more surface parking for visitors. More information on parking and directions can be found here. 

Saturday artist demonstrations include the Community Dark Room, Hannah Community Center Pottery Group, the East Lansing Public Library, SEAMS and Steve Baibak of the MSU Residential College in the Arts and Humanities. Sunday artist demonstrations include the Greater Lansing Pottery Guild, the East Lansing Public Library, Woven Art Yarn Shop, Teresa Peterson and Delphi Creative Center. The full entertainment schedule can be found online. 

Live entertainment on the Jackson National Life Main Stage (at Ann St. Plaza at the corner of Albert and M.A.C. Avenue) includes the East Lansing High School Jazz Band, Flames ‘N Dames, Mixed Flavors, Migiziikwe Eagle Spirit Dancer, and Whorled on Saturday. Sunday’s lineup features Eugene Clark, Greater Lansing Ballet Company, Habibi Dancers, Forge the Sun and The Wild Honey Collective. 

Majano’s favorite part of the festival is getting to walk around, look at the art and meet the artists face-to-face. Seeing the hard work pay off feels rewarding for the event organizer who works for months behind-the-scenes. 

The festival is still in need of volunteers. Those interested can sign up online.