The nineteenth festival of the arts kicked off on Sunday, Feb. 1. The Big Rapids Festival of the Arts is a long-standing month-long event focused on art and workshops to bring the community and the Ferris School of Art together.
It started the month out with the opening reception and Joni Michell tribute. The festival included over 75 events taking place around Big Rapids, from music, visual arts, physical arts, culinary arts and even video editing workshops.
The annual festival resumed in (Year) after COVID-19 and quickly filled the month of Feb. with numerous events.
The festival encourages both Big Rapids locals and Ferris students to mingle and enjoy the arts together through local concerts and on-campus arts involvement, such as the marching band and the Ferris theatre department.
For those who want to attend events but aren’t sure about their schedules this month, the festival will host three month-long exhibits, featuring “The Making of an Indie Comic” and Tyrannosaur at Artworks. At the FSU Fine Art Gallery, attendees can view the “GR Stories: The 14th Amendment.” The final exhibit is located at the Immanuel Lutheran Church, titled “Birds” by Justin Kellner. “Birds” also has a dedicated “Bird Week” during the week of Feb. 16-21, during which other topical events will be held.
The Festival of the Arts also features public art collectives that are seeking submissions. For example, Feb. 20 is the submission deadline for the Minecraft Sculpture Challenge “Build a Story.” Which has both youth (11-16) and adults (17+) categories. The top three submissions in each category will be awarded and printed for display at Artworks from Feb. 23 through March 7.
The majority of events are free admission for all, including gallery tours, speakers, and concerts from performers who are recognized nationally and internationally. Thanks to the festivvals sponsers and local donations, these events can remain accessible to the public.
The Festival of the Arts concludes with the FSU Band and Orchestra concert on Sunday, March 1, at 4:30 p.m. at Williams Auditorium.
For more information, visit the festival of the arts website at www.brfota.org.