Women in the Arts Festival Returns for 38th Year

The Women in the Arts Festival returns to East Lansing Friday (Nov. 10) and Saturday (Nov. 11) to celebrate women’s creativity through art, music and poetry. The 38th-annual event will be held at Edgewood United Church, 469 N. Hagadorn Road. 

The event has a long-running history, dating back to 1986. Last year’s event marked the return to full force after the 2021 version was a scaled-down, hyper-local format due to COVID-19 safety concerns.

 East Lansing Women in the Arts Festival Committee member Julie Haan, treasurer and unofficial “herder of cats,” has helped plan the annual event’s programming for more than 15 years. 

“When the organization was founded 38 years ago, the mission was to provide a platform or space for women to showcase their talents or their arts,” Haan said. “There wasn’t at that time any kind of venue that allowed women’s music or visual arts to really be showcased.”

The event features art, food and a wide array of live music.

The artist market features nearly 50 statewide and regional women makers selling their wares including jewelry, textiles, bath and body products, sculptures and pottery, glassware, books, paintings, coffee and more. In past years, the event has drawn close to 400 attendees, Haan said.

The Lansing Women’s Chorus hosts the Sistrum cafe, featuring baked goods and snacks throughout the event. The event also includes stages with live music both days. All events will be ASL-interpreted. 

Friday night’s lineup features Adrienne Torf and Voices of the Revolution performing Torf’s and June Jordan’s “Collaboration” at 7:30 p.m. The performance combines spoken word poetry, piano and compositional artistry, and is recommended for adult audiences. 

“Adrienne Torf is from the West Coast and she’ll be performing with Voices of the Revolution, a group here based in Lansing,” Haan said. “She’ll be doing a collaboration of June Jordan’s poetry, a mix of music, spoken word that’s been put to music, as well as spoken word poetry.”

The event is co-sponsored by the Ten Pound Fiddle and costs $5 for students, $18 for members, and a suggested $20 for the public. Tickets are on a sliding scale and available online.

“There’s no charge to get into the artist market or to the day-stage shows or the movie screening on Saturday afternoon,” Haan said. “We really don’t want money to be an option for anybody to be able to come and join the festival.”

“We’re also hoping to livestream the event Friday night for people who can’t make it or can’t get into town,” Haan added.

Saturday’s day stage includes Happendance at noon, Junia Femina (TR Linsley) at 1 p.m., Grace Theisen Trio (with Cori Somers and Carolyn Koebel) at 2 p.m., Sistrum at 3 p.m., and Cook & Company at 4 p.m. These events are free to the public, but donations are accepted.

Kalamazoo-based Blues/Americana singer Theisen said she is excited to perform at the Women in the Arts Festival. 

“We will be performing as an all women trio that will include Cori Somers on violin and Carolyn Koebel on percussion/drums,” she said. “It’s not easy being a woman in this industry, so it’s amazing to see festivals that have women at the forefront right here in Michigan! 

“While I am a bit newer to the Michigan music scene,” Theisen said, “Carolyn and Cori have had a huge impact on this community and been a champion their whole careers for women getting more opportunities in the music industry. So it’s an honor to play with them and learn from them.”

Saturday night’s stage includes a free screening of Marcy Marxer’s “All Wigged Out.” The silly yet moving musical focuses on Grammy Award-winning artist Marcy Marxer’s journey with breast cancer. 

Volunteers are still needed to help make the event even more successful.

The festival runs from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday. A silent auction featuring items from the Wharton Center and Michigan State University (MSU) women’s basketball tickets takes place in-person at the event. There will also be an online auction. 

Without the many volunteers, the large-scale annual event couldn’t take place, Haan said. They’re still looking for more volunteers to assist with festival setup and teardown, helping with moving tables, putting up signage, etc. 

Year after year, Haan said there is one element of the festival she enjoys most, “Seeing the community of women come together, and the fact that it’s all put on by women, everything is made by women, and performed by women – it is such a nice time to come together and see what they get out of that interaction.”

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