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A number of downtown Ferndale businesses received new murals last year that will be celebrated during Art March, including this mural by Lavinia Hanachiuc at Western Market.
Photo by Patricia O’Blenes
Sneakers Pub & Grill shines with a mural constructed at one of its entrances. Mike Baker created the mural.
Photo by Patricia O’Blenes
FERNDALE — Downtown Ferndale is about to get very artsy in the month of March.
The Ferndale Downtown Development Authority, along with the Downtown Ferndale Public Art Program and the Ferndale Arts & Beautification Commission, will be hosting a monthlong celebration of art called Art March.
Art March will feature dozens of events centered around and highlighting art in the community, from receptions for local artists to celebrating public art that was installed in the downtown last year.
“We are celebrating the creativity and artistic expression that really brings people together in Ferndale,” DDA Executive Director Jennie Beeker said. “When people think of Ferndale, they think of our creative spirit. They look at our murals that are outside in downtown. They look at the artisans in the Rust Belt. They look at just sort of this maker spirit that flows throughout Ferndale, and we have a legacy of that going back to 2012, and so this is just a time for us to really come together and celebrate that in the month of March.”
From painting classes to musical exhibitions, art of all kinds will be celebrated this month. For more information on Art March and a list of events, visit downtownferndale.com/publicart.
“The concept sort of comes from, if you think of a gallery crawl that might be just a one-time thing, this is a way for people to explore art and creativity throughout Ferndale and throughout the month of March,” Beeker said.
Leah Sweeting, a painter and subcontractor at Painting with a Twist, will be taking part in Art March with a reception on March 22 where she will walk people through how to make an upcycled art piece, along with her journey in art.
Sweeting said she loved the idea of Art March when she first heard of it, as it was something art groups had been looking to make to help cultivate the art community in the slow winter months.
“We were kind of planning things, we had suggested filling in the slower months of the year, the colder months of the year, with more art activities in relation to the month,” she said. “We had suggested Valentine’s Day events or St Patrick’s Day events, and then I believe that … kind of snowballed that into an entire month of celebration in March.”
Sweeting said art is at the core of what Ferndale is and stands for, and of just having a creative mindset.
“To be there, you kind of have to appreciate that, want to be part of it,” she said. “I think it is Ferndale. It’s a very artsy community and I don’t think it would be even close to the same city without it.”
The Art March website will be continuously updated with more events as the month progresses.
