The 3rd Annual Saginaw Art Fair • A Carousel of Creativity

Similar to a portrait evolving with greater detail, color, and depth with each passing season, anticipation and excitement are running equally high for the return of the 2025 Saginaw Art Fair, which for one year only will be moving to Celebration Park, just down Fordney Road from Ojibway Island, nestled within the vibrant art and music scene of Saginaw’s Riverfront District, on the dates of Friday & Saturday August 8^th & 9^th  from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Hosted by the non-profit Saginaw Art Initiative, according to Committee Chairwoman Lauren Collison, thus far over 50 diverse artists have signed up to sell their high quality work, spanning a broad range of media including ceramics, fiber, jewelry, metal, mixed-media, painting, printmaking, photography, and wood.

“Our mission is to create an interdisciplinary art fair to celebrate all the fine arts and promote art education,” explains Collison. “We strive for a holistic art fair that includes a variety of visual, performance, and culinary arts, while building community in the Greater Saginaw Area. Our vision is to create a sustaining fine arts festival that celebrates the beauty of Saginaw, while promoting collaboration between local artists, businesses, and community organizations with the collective goal of supporting arts, culture, and art education. We provide a family friendly atmosphere that includes free art activities and live demonstrations, with the goal of expanding art appreciation to inspire the artist in everyone.”

“An important goal our committee has focused upon is to evolve this into an interdisciplinary art fair, not just about the fine arts or two and three-dimensional artworks, but to also include music, dance, theatre, and all of the arts,” she continues. “We want this to be a fine arts festival, and with the band stage on Ojibway Island, it makes perfect sense to utilize this beautiful space.”

Lauren says attendance at the first two art fairs drew approximately 2,500 people, and while they are hoping for that number to grow at this year’s event, the turnout for these inaugural events was impressive.

“We have a lot of returning artists and past winners, plus a few more fiber artists creating tapestries, handmade clothing, and stuffed animals that we’re excited about. Notable local artist Stacie Rose is joining us this year, and artist and educator Robert Esposito is also returning with his amazing 3D Mixed Media work. Plus several very talented jewelry artists are back this year, including Briarwood Designs. We are also fortunate to have a few emerging standout artists such as Nevaeh Bertrand, who is one of my former students and is studying photography at Delta College.”

As we go to press Lauren is also excited about featuring more musical performances at this year’s art fair. “The stage will be on the grass in front of the building leading to the Splash pad,” she explains. “We recommend people bring their lawn chairs to enjoy the performances and we are  excited to have Major Chords for Minors performing on Friday from Noon - 12:45 PM followed by Kush Robinson from 3:00 - 5:00 PM. We’re still working on the line-up, so people should look for the full schedule on our Facebook page.”

Parking will be available at Celebration Square and the Crayon Park.

Returning food vendors include Sawadee, who provide a type of Chinese-Asian fusion cuisine notes Lauren. “They make these super good Apple Pie eggroll versions of a cheese Rangoon, and our goal is to have four or five food trucks for each day, along with a couple of beverage trucks.  Maria’s is returning as well as Notch’yo with Mexican cuisine, and we’ll also be featuring a pizza and burger truck.”

Special Events & Activities

Collison says the Saginaw Art Initiative will again be staging two raffles for items specially made for this Art Fair, with proceeds going back to the non-profit art initiative for next year’s event. “We’ll have another quilt designed this year by Bridget Markey and a second quilt made by Upper Peninsula Quilt Guild generously donated by a community member. Plus we’ll be selling block prints of our 2025 Art Fair poster that will, in addition to more things that will be available at our information booth.”

The roster of ‘Drop in for Art’ Activities’ consists of the following free art classes and activities for the first 40 participants.

FRIDAY • AUGUST 8th

10:00 - 11:30 AM • Tie Dye Bandanas

1:00 - 2:00 PM • Printmaking

3:00 - 5:00 PM • Tree of Life Pastel -

Drawing on Canvas Board with guided instruction.

SATURDAY • AUGUST 9th

9:00 - 10:00 AM • Yoga with Kathryn Spagnuolo. Note: Bring a yoga mat & register with Kathryn prior to the class.

10:00 AM - Noon • Artist Trading Cads

1:00 - 2:00 PM • Marbled Coasters

3:00 - 5:00 PM • Poured Painting Class

Additional drop-in activities throughout the day will include pinwheels, book marks and color pages.

A Free Dance Class will be happening on the performance stage Saturday, Aug. 9^th, from 10:00 - 11:00 AM with the YMCA of Saginaw Dance Fitness Class.  Other activities include: quilt raffles, plein-air painting, and yard games

Collison says all these activities are on a ‘First Come First Create’ basis and that support from our local organizations is ensuring the committee is able to provide all art activities free of charge to participants.

“The Drop in for Art events will feature art in the makers space through the entire two days, and is our most popular activity, so people can come and learn a new talent; and the Tree of Life Oil Pastel is a painting on canvas board that people can both watch or contribute to. If people like guided painting classes, they should attend this event because it involves using oil pastels that look very painterly, so I recommend it.”

“With the Poured Painting Class, we always have a full tent and I love this event,” enthuses Lauren. “We even have a pizza box for people to keep their cars clean when they finish their poured paint creation.”

“On Friday the CanCouncil, Saginaw Art Museum, SVSU Marketplace, and Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum will be at the festival, and on Saturday the Potter Street Depot will be present in order to raise awareness. Saturday morning we’ll have a Werk It Dance Class at 10 AM, which is normally at the Saginaw YMCA, so anybody who wants to come can dance on the stage at Celebration Park.”

When asked what the biggest challenge has been pulling together this year’s outing, Lauren says it’s the time and focus involved with maintaining momentum, along with extra planning involved given the construction that has been going on at Ojibway Island.

“We feel like we always want to keep growing and while we are doing that, we also want to keep the momentum going and make sure we get the word out by doing all we can to market this event and keep it growing, “she reflects. “We have a great committee of eight people working on this event and everybody has their own niche to fill, which is incredibly important because nobody can pull an event of this magnitude together by themself.”

“The Saginaw Art Initiative Committee truly appreciates the support the community has given us and it’s great to see everything all come together. We have a lot to celebrate in terms of what our city has to offer this summer, so hopefully people stay in town that entire August 8-9^th weekend, because there are so many other wonderful community events also happening like Friday Night Live and the African Cultural Festival that are also worth checking out, so people can jump from one event to the next and enjoy the full range of what our region has to offer.”

“Our mission is to create an interdisciplinary art fair to celebrate all the fine arts and promote art education, and I’m very grateful to all the committee members, artists, volunteers, and businesses that have helped us take this celebration of the arts, culture, and beauty of our riverfront community to the next level” concludes Collison. “We are looking forward to being back on Ojibway Island next year with all the new renovations.”

““Our sponsors this year include major funding by UA Local 85 Union and the
Saginaw DDA, and other sponsors include The Fordney Club, Saginaw Northwest Kiwanis Club, Spicer Group, Shaheen Development (Founders Building), Glastender, Heritage Accounting, and The Scottish Inn, plus several businesses support us with in-kind donations such R.B. Satkowiaks and City Sewer Cleaners for providing the porta-pots, ABO Tent, Sign Tech, and The Print Shop.”

“We have more that we are working and planning on pulling together and will have any last minute updates on our Saginaw Art Fair Facebook page along with our website at. www.saginawartfair.com.

Here is a breakdown of the artists that will be showcased:

2D Art Mixed Media •

C Churchill, BPRO Editorial,  Fyra B Ginn, Stacie Rose Art

3D Art Mixed Media •       

Altered Art, Lucas Luna, Tawny Lounge Design, Parker’s Art Studio, Uniquepensetc

Ceramics •  

Emily Christine Pottery, Pottery and Designs by Ellie, Mud Princess Studio, Lantern Quest

Drawing • Sue Ward Art

Fabric/Fiber/Leather •      

Sommertyme Creations, Silk du jour, Laura Dinninger, Sammy Whammy's, T & S Crafts

Food • Z-Toga

Glass •

Theresa Creations, Indigo Butterfly by Ronda Olson, ArtsyAnndee

Jewelry •

ArtsyGoods, Missy Rose Studios, Allison Mooney Design, Briarwood Designs,  Music To My Ears

Metal • Mason Welding

Painting •     

Bougie D’ Amour, Josh Comics, Matthew Jacobson, Dan's Watercolors, Ken Kueffner Studio, For the Love of Color, Isaiah Poe, Izzies Eden, Sunshine and More

Photography •        

Nevaeh's Photography, Kabscapes, Rick Sattler, J & T Photography

Printmaking • Apple and Thistle

Wood •

Purple Frog Creations, WMN Woodworking, Saginaw Bird House Guy