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Happenings in the Keweenaw Peninsula May 19, 2003 Text © 2003 Ray Sharp. Photos © 2002 Michele Anderson.

Houghton to celebrate spring, art and music May 24

            A little Madness in the Spring
            is wholesome even for the King

                                    Emily Dickinson

HOUGHTON - Emily Dickinson needed to get out more. A little spring madness would have done the reclusive Belle of Amherst a world of good. And after the long Keweenaw winter, we could all do with a little wholesome spring madness, like the kind to be served up at the Second Annual Houghton Spring Art and Music Festival on May 24, to be held again on the Houghton waterfront at Mattila Square.

With artists' booths, live music, food, children's art activities, running races and National Trails Day events -- including a bike parade -- there promises to be enough creativity and fun to stoke the whole family's spring fever from mid-morning until dark and send them out glowing into the Keweenaw night like happy fireflies flitting above the chorus of spring peepers.

The first Spring Art and Music Festival in Houghton, in May 2002, attracted members of the Society for Creative Anachronisms, including these two young medieval damsels, Charlotte Anderson, left, and Kate Flynn, both of Hancock.

The festival, sponsored by the City of Houghton and the Copper Country Community Arts Council, was the brainchild of Michigan Tech graduate student Kenneth A. Thiemann. According to legend, Thiemann, singer and guitarist for the local bluegrass combo carp, got tired of hearing people say there's no culture in the frozen northlands of the Upper Peninsula, so he set out in the spring of 2002 to prove them wrong. Thiemann took his inspiration from the annual art fair in Ann Arbor, where he once lived.

"I wanted people to come together and celebrate spring," Thiemann explains, "not asking what was in it for them, but what they could do to celebrate the end of winter and celebrate their community, just to come out and say hello to their neighbors and sit outside for a day."

During the May 2002 Festival, Medhavi Ambardar (right), MTU student and page at the Portage Lake District Library, plies her talent in the ever-popular art of face painting on Forrest Drake of Hancock, while the Library's Youth Services Manager Kristin Tepsa watches from behind.

Those objectives were met in the festival's inaugural year. Fifteen artists, a half a dozen bands and several non-profit groups shared their art and music last May 4 on the Houghton waterfront at Mattila Square, the parking area west of the UPPCO building. Things went smoothly until about 3 p.m. when a cold wind whipped up whitecaps on the canal. Then it started to rain, the kind of spring soaking that melts away the last stubborn piles of snow and draws up tight-clenched crimson spires of rhubarb.

At that point, Houghton City Manager Scott MacInnes graciously offered the use of spacious Dee Stadium, but instead the musicians opted for the cozy Motherload coffee house and its wine-cellar-sized stage; and the celebration continued into the night with performances by Frostbitten Grass, The Muldoons and carp.

MacInnes liked what he saw in the first-year event and recognized its potential to grow into a major regional celebration. The City of Houghton, Copper Country Community Arts Council and many local partners are working to make this year's festival bigger and better. Thanks to the efforts of Community Arts Center Director Cynthia Coté, 25-30 artists from around the Great Lakes region will turn out to sell their wares beginning at 10 a.m. For more information about artists' booths, call Coté at 482-2333.

At last year's festival, Mohawk artist Len Novak shows some of his hand-made drums to Sara Reitz, center, artist and sandal maker from Traverse City, and Susan Owen, a student at Northern Michigan University. More than 30 artists are expected at this year's event.

This year's festival begins with the Copper Country Suzuki Association Striding for Strings fundraising runs. Runners (and walkers) can choose from an 8 km (5 mile) competitive run at 9:30 a.m., a 3 km (1.8 mile) fitness run/walk at 9:35 a.m. and races of various shorter distances for youth ages 3-17 starting at 10:45 a.m. Groups of youth and adult musicians will be stationed along the routes to serenade the athletes. To receive more information or an entry form, contact the race director Ray Sharp at rsharp@hline.org.

The Community Arts Center and Portage Lake District Library will team up to offer children's activities, including art projects, storytelling and readers' theater.

A mysterious, itinerant poet/portrait artist/fortune teller, who attended the 2002 Houghton Spring Art and Music Festival, writes and illustrates a poem inspired by two fair maidens from Hancock.

At 1 p.m., Michigan Tech grad student Kristina Fields will supply materials for bike decorating and will lead a bike parade at 2 p.m., in conjunction with National Trails Day. Fields has invited non-motorized trails organizations from around the area to attend the festival to promote hiking, kayaking, skiing and mountain biking along with land preservation and public access. National Trails Day offers hikes, walks, rides, runs, and paddles; trail building and maintenance activities; new trail openings and dedications; and trail fairs, conferences, workshops and education programs. To learn more about National Trails Day, visit American Hiking Society's website at www.AmericanHiking.org.

Then of course, there's the music. Bands will begin around noon and play until 9 p.m. or so. Thiemann has assembled a strong and diverse lineup for this year's festival, including Algoma, Finn Street, carp, Frostbitten Grass, Rhythm Kitchen, John Michaels, The Lumber Janes, VESPR, The Sugar Cubes and Nobody Likes a Tricycle.

Festival organizers expect a big turnout this year, which would suit Thiemann just fine. The environmental engineer and musician believes that when people get together to enjoy music and art, they leave with new friendships and a stronger community.

As Thiemann puts it, "We here in America are a young country. Our culture is still young and we need to develop it in positive ways. I believe that time is the missing element in our mass-produced society, whether it be time spent with family, craftsmanship, or getting to really know your neighbor despite what country or walk of life they are from. Music and art festivals allow these types of things to flourish. We need a little more front porch pickin' and waving to the neighbors here in America, and I'm not just talking about the ones next door. So come on out and have a good time on May 24th. Don't worry, we won't bite."

Note: Guest author Ray Sharp is an organizer of the Second Annual Houghton Spring Arts and Music Festival and a member of the Copper Country Community Arts Council Board of Directors.

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