Clawson to Experience Arts With New Festival, Committee

The Clawson community will soon experience a taste of the arts with the development of a new Arts & Culture Committee and an upcoming festival that features crafters, musicians, authors and more.

Mayor Penny Luebs is working with community members to plan an at the  

Luebs said the festival will be the first of its kind in Clawson and will help achieve her goal of bringing more arts and culture to the city.

"I think it will expose more people to different recreational and pleasurable avenues in their life," Luebs said. "I had quite a few residents reporting they’d like to have more art in Clawson."

The festival is one of many initiatives the arts & culture committee will organize, the mayor said. Other plans include placing recycled artistic doors at Clawson parks, hanging artwork by local artists in city buildings and hosting concerts at .

"We have so many talented people in Clawson and I’d like to showcase that," Luebs said.

The festival

Clawson residents Lisa and Matt Ball are taking the lead role in planning the Arts & Authors Festival. The couple has spent the last decade traveling to festivals and art shows all over the country to showcase their work and wanted to bring that experience to Clawson. Matt is a "boogie-woogie" pianist and Lisa is a published author.

"Arts and culture are a way that you can brand a city and uplift the community," Matt Ball said. "There’s a vacuum for it in Clawson. Right now the closest thing it has to a festival is the ."

Matt Ball said he hopes to have at least 40-50 vendors at the festival, which will be privately funded by the couple's initiative Elevate the Arts.

Musicians, artists and authors from all over Michigan are showing interest in the Arts & Authors Festival, Ball said. The free event will be family friendly with activities, clay and glass work, jewelry, book reading time and live music.

"Our goal is to have as wide and experienced of the arts as possible," Matt Ball said, adding that he hopes to make this an annual event for Clawson.

Clawson resident Lissa Mann said the festival will be an opportunity to showcase talent that is different from what the community sees at the Christmas Craft Show or Artists Markets.

"I think its great, personally," said Mann, who enjoys painting and making jewelry as hobbies. "We’ve had the opportunity for businesses like Leon & Lulu to grow and now this is a hands-on approach."

How to get involved

The Arts & Culture Committee is still in its beginning stages and members met for the first time Thursday. She said she hopes the committee will soon make some of the plans concrete and assess its needs. Anyone interested in joining the committee can contact Mayor Luebs at pennycplr@aol.com. 

The festival will accept submissions from local artists, authors, crafters and musicians through July 10. In you are interested, email lisaball@elevatethearts.vpweb.com or call 248-589-0056. Space is limited and submissions will be reviewed. If you are selected for the festival, organizers will notify you by July 15. There is a $40 participation fee for those selected, except for musicians. There will be tables available to use to sell items.