Best of the lakeshore 2022 results

The Lakeshore Art Festival (LAF) takes place the last Saturday and Sunday in June in Downtown Muskegon, Michigan. This annual event has a long history of showcasing fine art and handcrafted goods, while providing entertainment, interactive art, kids’ activities and a multitude of local and international food options.

The festival not only gives exhibitors and attendees a high-quality experience that is inclusive and free to all that attend, but it creates a lasting culture of creativity with generational participation, interactive art, and annual installation of public art. This year’s featured artist was David Zinn. His permanent piece of art, “Acorn Stand,” can be found at the Muskegon Farmers Market.

In 2022, LAF was host to more than 35,000 attendees from across the country, up 15,000 attendees from 2021. The Lakeshore Art Festival contributed a significant economic impact to the greater Muskegon area with $1,635,843 through money spent on food, accommodations, and other purchases by festival participants and guests. Since 2013, the LAF economic impact has totaled over $9.3 million (excluding 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic).

In addition, LAF makes an annual contribution to local nonprofit organizations and artists. In 2022, the community contribution was $16,800 in local non-profit and art related donations, making a total community contribution of $217,260.98 from 2013 – 2022. The festival also partners with a number of local organizations during the event including the Boys & Girls Club, Salvation Army, Disability Network of West Michigan, Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce, and many more. A current list of sponsors and partners for the 2022 Festival can be found here: https://lakeshoreartFestival.org/support/sponsors/.

The festival also continues to enhance its environmental initiative. In addition to reducing initial waste through biodegradable serving ware, digital brochures, and reduced on-site signage, LAF diverted 1,367 pounds of material from the landfill in 2022. Since the festival began its sustainability program in 2014, there have been 11,656 pounds of material diverted from the landfill. To view the full 2022 Sustainability Report click HERE.

National Recognition:

Sunshine Artist magazine, www.sunshineartist.com, has announced the release of its annual 200 Best, ranking the most profitable art and craft festivals in the country based on artists’ reported sales in 2021.

Launched in 1993, Sunshine Artist’s 200 Best is split into two categories: Fine Art and Design for events that focus on unique, fine art pieces and Classic and Contemporary Craft for events that focus on traditional or modern craft and production work. Each category focusing on the top 100 in the country.

Lakeshore Art Festival was recognized as #51 out of 100 top festivals in the country for the Fine Art and Design Category. Last year, LAF was #83 in the Classic and Contemporary Craft. This year’s recognition not only moves the festival up 38 spaces from last year’s ranking, but it also puts the festival in a new category of Fine Art versus Contemporary Crafts.

Artists were able to cast their votes from February through April to nominate their highest money-making shows from 2021. The ballot asked artists to list the 10 most profitable art and/or craft shows they exhibited at during the previous year, indicate their level of gross sales at each event, and note whether they considered themselves fine artists or craftspeople for each event. The results were tabulated using a weighted scale based on four sales levels to ensure all events competed against each other fairly.

Sunshine Artist’s 200 Best focuses solely on artist show revenue, because that is the most objective indicator of a show’s future success. Subjective attributes, such as artist treatment, amenities, attendance levels, management, and overall quality, can impact sales but are harder to gauge and therefore have no direct bearing on the rankings.