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Art Reach of Mid Michigan Hosting 11th Annual Art Walk Central

The Art Reach of Mid Michigan set up their 11th annual Art Walk Central. It’s a friendly competition between artists in Michigan. 

Multiple different locations are hosting the artwork for the public to come in and look at. 

The art walk ends on August 27, but voting ends at 5:00 p.m. on August 18. 

“The hope is that everyone will feel like they have a voice in who is selected as the winner for the people’s choice,” says Amy C. Powell, the Executive Director of Art Reach of Mid Michigan. “Part of that is building a sense of community and hoping that everyone feels like Mt. Pleasant is their place, their space.”

To vote for your favorite art pieces, you have to go to and register to vote. You then have to go in person, either to the Art Reach Center or Central Michigan University’s Art Gallery, to get your registration activated. You then can vote online for your favorite art pieces. 

“That’s our way of just kind of making sure that people are at least in the Mt. Pleasant area when they’re going to be voting for their favorite choices,” says Powell. 

There are about 60 different artists of all ages whose pieces are in this competition. 

Within the competition, there are different categories to vote in. One is the youth category and the other is for adults. 

Throughout the rest of August, Art Reach will also be hosting different events. 

One event that they are bringing back includes an artist battle. Artists of all ages can participate in a speed art competition where they have 2 hours to create something. 

A new event, with the help of Central Michigan University, is called colorful chemistry. CMU and the American Chemical Society will have an exhibit to learn about all things art and chemistry related. 

“Art and science are often related to each other. Science impacts art and how different mediums can change when they have an element brought to them,” says Powell. 

Artists will get the opportunity to change the pigmentation of their art and also experience fractal wood burning to create art.

Powell is excited about what the Art Walk will bring to Mt. Pleasant. She hopes to see people take advantage of the opportunity to appreciate good art. She hopes it opens up a board exposure to different kinds of art mediums. 

“Art Walk Central brings in all sorts of mediums, and so it’s a really great opportunity for everyone in the community to see that there are other things besides just paintings and sculptures,” she says. “Art is much more expansive than that.” 

One part that Powell is proud of is that the Art Walk is free. She explains the competition is unique in the way it allows the public to go and see fascinating, unique pieces of art without paying for it. 

“One of our goals that Art Reach, as a nonprofit has, is to make sure that everybody has access to the arts regardless of what their socioeconomic status is,” she says. “We work directly with many community partners to host work and make sure that people to come into their space and see the work.”

Art Walk Central opened on August 9 and closes on August 27. Public voting ends at 5:00 p.m. on August 18.

To vote, you must register on and show up in person to activate your account. 

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