Emberlight Art Shows offer a stunning variety of work by local and regional artists, from installations to photography, to multimedia portraits and more. Wander through indoor and outdoor exhibitions and you’ll discover art that makes you think, laugh and feel.
Emberlight’s 2023 season kicks off on July 1 with the opening of Art in the Park, a series of original outdoor artworks by artists from across the upper Midwest. At turns funny, beautiful, and thought provoking, these large-scale creations perfectly capture this season’s theme of “Essence of the Artist.”
Attention everyone who likes to eat: Chef Joel Sardinha from Suffolk Street Eatery will be cooking al fresco! Using fresh ingredients sourced from local gardens, farmer’s markets and farms, Joel will demonstrate cooking using the bounty of the summer season. The event will feature the use of a wood-fired clay oven, as well as grilling and stove-top techniques. And yes, there will be tasty bites to sample!
Join Michigan Touring Artist and Storyteller Jen Strauss for Michigan Legends and Lore, then stay for her playful and interactive Storytelling to Story Writing Workshop. Come listen and learn as Jen tells her stories, then gives you easy-to-use tips and tools to help you hone your own storytelling and writing skills.
Take a virtual walk through the woods with UP artists Cedar Nelson and Donna Wilcox, two talented women who see creative possibilities everywhere in nature. Watch them at work, crafting with simple tools and natural foraged materials. Learn to appreciate the bounty that surrounds us, as Donna and Cedar share their unique perspectives of the wild world.
Join us for this poignant tribute to miners everywhere, with a special focus on those of the Gogebic Range. The afternoon will feature local historians Ivan Hellen and Larry Peterson, music from Ironwood troubadour Bob Michaels, and an ensemble reading of When it Comes: a Poem for Voices, written by Kathleen Carlton Johnson of Lake Linden, Michigan.
WOOL TO WAULKING Learn how freshly shorn sheep’s wool becomes cloth. Using age-old techniques, wool is washed, carded, spun, and woven. Once the cloth is off the loom, we invite you to help with waulking the cloth, a process which involves wetting the wool, then passing and pounding it to the rhythm of traditional Scottish … Read more
Heritage Flags is a stirring visual representation of the people at the heart of Emberlight. To honor the ancestral background of the artists, presenters, and volunteers participating in our 2023 festival, we will fly a flag for each country and tribal nation they represent, revealing their varied cultures and ancestry.
Countless photographers have been inspired to capture the uncommon beauty of the western Upper Peninsula. We’re very fortunate to have the opportunity to display some of their work in Emberlight: Discovering Artists in Nature, which celebrates art, nature, and fellow artists amid the beauty of the U.P.
Lauren Duffy’s commissioned piece, Portraits of a Place: Emberlight, will embrace our season’s theme of “Essence of the Artist” by creating collaborative portraits that represent seven different arts disciplines. Her personal multimedia portraits are sure to reflect the unique spirit and talents of the people of the U.P.