‘It Started with an Idea’ ARTS COUNCIL CELEBRATES 20 YEARS

This story first appeared in the August 4, 2023, Mackinac Island Town Crier print edition

Marquette Park was filled with music, dancing, and friends in celebration of the Mackinac Arts Council’s 20th anniversary, Sunday, July 30. The Celebration of the Arts event was a jam-packed evening of entertainment, which is what the council does best. Musician Pete Kehoe, poet Jim Lenfestey, and singer Mary McGuire, three of the arts council’s original performers, sang and gave testimonies before the headliner, Wood Box Heroes from Nashville, graced the 12-foot by 12-foot stage. Volunteers walked around in bright yellow T-shirts handing out free swag, from baseball caps to passport holders, while hotdogs and hamburgers were served under a large yellow and white tent next to The Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum.

The band, Wood Box Heroes from Nashville, performed for the 20th-anniversary celebration Sunday, July 30. They took a carriage ride around the Island before performing, and it was “pretty doggone awesome,” according to band member Jenee Fleenor.

Kris Faulk, secretary for the arts council, created a pictorial timeline of the arts council, which was on display at the event, highlighting the organization’s changes over the years. Ms. Faulk was asked to be on the board of the arts council by founder Becki Barnwell many years ago, she said, and that she’s worked for nonprofits for a long time. She liked how the arts council was a good way to get involved in the community, while also sticking to her values of serving the community.

Mackinac Arts Council board members Glen Young and Ann Levy handing out free merchandise at the Celebration of the Arts event Sunday, July 30.

“I really believe in giving back, really giving back,” Ms. Faulk said. As secretary, she had access to all the organization’s digital files and records, so she spent time digging through them to find old photographs. It was hard to find photographs from the organization’s earliest days, she said, as they couldn’t always afford photographers back then, and camera phones weren’t popular yet. But the project was something she wanted to take on to celebrate the arts council’s 20th-anniversary celebration. The arts council began in 2003 and finalized its status as a 501(c)3 nonprofit in 2004. Their first fundraiser, Jammin’ for the Arts, raised money to begin doing more events. Over the years, they have hosted events like Drop in and Draw, the Mackinac Island Music Festival, gallery exhibits, school programs, and more. Music in the Park, sponsored by the arts council, really took off around 2012 and has become one of their signature events. Like all the council’s events, it has evolved over the years. In the beginning, they used the steps of the Father Marquette statue as a stage until they were able to obtain one. They have also expanded to hosting workshops.

RIGHT: Mackinac Arts Council board members and staff Jeri-Lynn Bailey, Brian Findley, Leslie Benser Luciani, and Marsha Orr. • LEFT: Becki Barnwell started the Mackinac Arts Council 20 years ago. 

“We’ve come a long way, and to now have 20 years to celebrate, that’s pretty cool,” Ms. Faulk said. Mr. Kehoe, who opened the event Sunday, has played music professionally for more than 35 years and has played the Island since 1988. He had been part of the Mackinac Island community for a long time, he said, even owning a wedding music service here in the 1990s, so it was a natural thing to become involved with the arts council as it got off the ground. His Petoskey nonprofit, Big Water Creative Arts, even got its start as the Mackinac Island Songwriters Workshop, he said. They are hoping to do another workshop on the Island with the Mackinac Arts Council next year, its first since the Covid-19 pandemic. “I’m very happy and proud to have been associated with them from the beginning,” Mr. Kehoe said. “It’s been great to be involved, and it’s even better to see how far they’ve come with it.”

One of the best things about the arts council, Mr. Kehoe said, is that it is an all-hands-on-deck organization. He recalled a recent performance where Mark Ware, president of the Mackinac Arts Council and CEO of Mission Point Resort, helped set up the stage for a Music in the Park performance. Ms. Faulk also said a great part about the council board members is that they are there to work, not just to say they are on the board.

“You don’t always see a CEO schlepping up a heavy metal stage and putting it up in the mid-afternoon sun,” Mr. Kehoe said.

During Mr. Lenfestey’s testimony, he recalled how Ms. Barnwell educated him on the difference between a community foundation and an arts council when they were getting started. He thanked the arts council for 20 great years of art and events.

Jeri-Lynn Bailey, a member of the council’s board of directors, raises a cupcake to toast 20 years.

“And here we are, 20 years later, and the Island still sings with joy and discipline and beauty of the arts, day in and day out,” Mr. Lenfestey said.

About halfway through the Wood Box Heroes’ performance, there was a brief intermission where Jeri-Lynn Bailey, a member of the council’s board of directors, gave a special shout out to Ms. Barnwell, whose idea for the arts council 20 years ago has blossomed into everything it is now. Volunteers, including many members of the board of directors, advisory, and executive boards, fanned out among the crowd to hand out cupcakes before everyone raised them up and toasted, “Mackinac is art.”

“We’ll see what the future is,” Ms. Faulk said. “But wow, I think we’ve got a lot to look forward to.”

LD Witherington (left) and his grandfather Brian Findley cheer for the Mackinac Arts Council.