The Lakeshore Art Festival in conjunction with the Muskegon Museum of Art will host a public unveiling event on Thursday, July 5, to celebrate nine new sculptures in downtown Muskegon. The sculptures, which incorporate real kayaks, will be installed at various locations along W. Western Avenue and Clay Street, between 7th Street and Jefferson Street.
“We are very excited to bring this fun and unique public art initiative to our community,” said Lakeshore Art Festival Director Carla Flanders. “We are not aware of any other community that has featured kayaks in this way, and we know our residents and summer visitors will be impressed by the creativity of these nine artists.” The sculptures will be on display through Labor Day weekend.
The unveiling event will begin at 4 p.m. at the Olthoff Stage at the corner of W. Western Avenue and Third Street. Attendees will receive a map showing where the kayak sculptures are located and will be invited to participate in a “kayak crawl” to tour the sculptures from 4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. The event will conclude with a reception at the Muskegon Museum of Art to honor kayak sculpture artists and Lakeshore Art Festival artists from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Light hors-d’oeuvres and a cash bar will be available.
The 2018 kayak sculpture project is one of the ways Muskegon is recognizing Sun Dolphin’s decision to locate their corporate headquarters in Muskegon. Sun Dolphin, the world’s largest kayak manufacturer, donated kayaks for the sculptures and is the project’s Signature Sponsor. “Muskegon has been a great business partner to Sun Dolphin over the years, and very supportive of our growing company,” commented Sun Dolphin CEO Chuck Smith. “We are pleased to express our continued support of the community through this unique kayak art event.”
The Lakeshore Art Festival is Friday, July 6, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., and Saturday, July 7, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., in downtown Muskegon.
