2015 Lubeznik Center for the Arts Lakefront Art Festival Preview

lfaf2010 drawingLubeznik Center for the Arts' 34th annual Lakefront Art Festival Fundraiser will be held on August 15 & 16, 2015 in Michigan City's beautiful Washington Park with nearly 100 exhibiting artists!

This year's fundraising event brings artists and craftspeople from across the country. Enjoy shopping for one-of-a-kind items in a variety of price ranges. Admission for adults are $4 or $6 for a two-day pass. LCA members, children under 12, and active military personnel with ID card receive free admission.

Proceeds from the Festival support LCA's after-school and summer art instruction reaching over 1200 economically disadvantaged children. Additionally, LCA mounts nine contemporary exhibitions annually. And over 25,000 benefit from LCA programs each year.

Event Highlights
Lubeznik Center for the Arts' Lakefront Art Festival is a juried art fair, which means that each artist must apply, and be accepted, in order to exhibit. The application process begins only months after each Lakefront Festival ends. Lubeznik Center solicits artists in 6 categories: 2-Dimensional, Photography, Wearable Art, Fine Craft, Sculptural Objects and Jewelry. Earlier this year, a team of cross-disciplinary jurors reviewed the work of over 150 artists, assigning each a point value. Jury members of the festival were faced with the challenge of having to choose from impressive submissions from both fine art and fine craft.

Once accepted into Lubeznik Center for the Arts' Lakefront Art Festival, artists are judged by a team of experts by category to be awarded cash prizes totaling $3000. Who will the judges pick this year? Winners are announced after noon on Saturday, August 16 at the festival and will be posted on our Facebook page. Visit www.lubeznikcenter.org in the weeks after the Festival to see if your favorites are represented among the winners!

Local artists participating in the the festival are Linda Mickevicius, owner of Beach Bum Jewels; Amanda Joyner, Chef Bizzaro Millinery; Neil Keinitz, water colorist, llustrator; Laura Panozzo, sculptor and owner of Earth Angel Eco Art Gallery: and Ry Buffington, wood turner and owner of Lofted Studios.

Erza Siegel, a festival favorite, will be participating again this year. Siegel is a Chicago born artist who uses plaster, graphite powder, and thin washes of acrylic paint to develop tones, shapes and textures. The use of these mixed media interact with the local light creating unique surfaces and paint qualities. Siegel will also be exhibiting in a solo show at Lubeznik Center for the Arts in the summer of 2016.

Lakefront Art Festival offers fun for the whole family. The Kids Activity Tent will feature Chicago-based Whatever Lab on Saturday, August 15 at noon for a playful workshop. Participants will produce parachutes out of re-purposed goods, including dyed coffee filters or recycled spinnakers. Once your parachute is assembled you can play with a treasure chest of goods to attach to the end of your chute. On Sunday, August 16, The Lucky Trikes will perform interactive music and storytelling at noon and again at 1:30 PM (CDT). The Lucky Trikes are a chamber band who play music to accompany award-winning children's stories. The storybooks and songs are curated around a theme focusing on the visual art in each book. The band consists of Kyle Price, a composer and vocalist who also plays toy piano and percussion; performance artist / storyteller Deirdre Harrison, who plays ukulele and also does vocals; and guest artist Lia Kohl on cello. Following story time, the band will offer children and adults a chance to have some hands on contact with the stringed and percussion instruments. To learn more about Lucky Trikes visit https://www.facebook.com/luckytrikes.

Another feature at the event is our food court. The food trucks participating this year are Maggie Moo's, Tom's Tasty Taters, Mustard's Last Stand, Victor's Grill, Aloha Hawaiian Shave Ice, Super C Concessions LLC, Harris House: Kettle Corn, Kim's Sweets & Treats, and Blue Chip's King of the Road. Menu items include: homemade ice cream, walleye fish sandwiches, hot dogs, gyros, shish kabob, chicken pita bratwurst, Hawaiian shaved ice, Philly steak, beef tips, BBQ pork, kettle corn, handmade burgers, Italian beef, chicken & waffle sandwiches, egg & sausage croissant, fudge and gourmet popcorn.

Festival-goers will have the opportunity to win an Art Basket when they complete a brief survey. Items will include an LCA family membership as well art-related items. The survey helps LCA improve it's promotional efforts as well as understand the interests of festival attendees.

Thank you to our event sponsors: Bulk Transport Corporation and Ivy Tech Community College - Michigan City. Thanks also to our media sponsors: The News Dispatch, Michigan City LaPorte Convention and Visitor's Bureau, LaPorte County Life, WIMS radio, WHFB radio, South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority, WNIT television, Lakeshore Public Media, The Times Media Company, South Bend Tribune.

Interested in Attending?
The Lubeznik Center for the Arts' Lakefront Art Festival opens Saturday, August 15 (10:00 AM to 6:00 PM CDT) and Sunday, August 16 (10:00 AM to 5:00 PM CDT.) in Washington Park Michigan City, IN. Parking fees of $7 from Michigan City's Parks and Recreation can be avoided if patrons use FREE OFF-SITE PARKING. A free shuttle service will ferry you to and from the Festival grounds from the Lubeznik Center for the Arts and Blue Chip Casino. The shuttle is safe, friendly, and convenient. Please also note that dogs are not allowed in Washington Park, so please leave dogs at home.

For more information on the event visit www.lubeznikcenter.org, or contact Lubeznik Center staff at 219-874-4900 or email artinfo@lubeznikcenter.org.

Volunteer and Receive a Free Weekend Pass
We are looking for volunteers to fill 2+ hour time slots on Saturday, August 15, 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM (CDT) and Sunday, August 16, 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM in the following areas:

Row Captains (relief for artists)
Art Basket Raffle (free raffle)
Will-Call
Exit Gate (stamping of hands for guests who would like to return later in the day)

Without the help of volunteers, Lakefront Art Festival would not be possible. We appreciate and thank our volunteers for donating their valuable time to support our event.

If you're interested in volunteering, please contact Natalie Mills at 219-874-4900 or nmills@lubeznikcenter.org.

Lubeznik Center for the Arts is located at 101 W. 2nd St., at the lakefront in Michigan City, IN. Weekday hours are from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (CDT). Weekend hours are from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM (CDT). Thursdays: 10 - 7* (Memorial Day - Labor Day) *Hyndman Gallery opens at 2 pm. For more information please visit www.lubeznikcenter.org or call 219-874-4900.

LCA receives generous support from South Shore Arts, the Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.