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Feature Joseph Zyble
The Fall Phantasm featured costumes, dancing, story telling, games and other activities, food and refreshments. Hundreds attended the fundraising event, which was organized by the recently formed Marquette Fringe organization, was held at Lakenenland Sculpture Park near Marquette Oct. 2. (Joseph Zyble photo)
Group strives to bring something different to the arts
By Joseph Zyble
There are “the arts,” a term that evokes customary forms of human creative expression—dance, orchestra, live theatre, painting and so forth—but there are also other forms of art. Some of these other art forms are considered experimental, experiential, edgy, unexpected, and even yetto-be discovered. This less common side of artistic expression is where the recently founded Marquette Fringe plans to concentrate … and proliferate.
Mike Bradford could be considered the protagonist in the effort to create Marquette Fringe and he now serves as its president. Bradford, whose always had a great appreciation for the arts, said he felt compelled to try to add something to the art scene that existed in the area.
“I was already very impressed with the arts community here. For a city of 22,000 and a county of 66,000, I could not believe the level of artists and talent that resided here,” he said.
Bradford, who is the event-market manager at Travel Marquette, got an idea from a co-worker, Susan Estler, director of the agency, who suggested
Streaking in Tongues, the experimental father/son music project consisting of dad Ronnie and son Elliott Ferguson, were among the performers at the Fall Phantasm event. (Alex Cowles photo)
he consider looking into a “fringe festival.” It was something Bradford had never heard of.
Fringe Festivals trace their origin to 1947 when several theatre companies showed up uninvited to the very first Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland. Denied entrance, the uninvited troupes held their performances on the outskirts of the festival. A local journalist who was impressed with the artists wrote about how they performed “round the fringe” of the official festival. The uninvited performers began referring to themselves as “fringe adjuncts,” and a movement was born.
“When I found out what a Fringe Festival was it just seemed perfect. I gathered a bunch of great people and together we were able to create Marquette Fringe,” he said.
The effort began in November of 2019 and by April 2020 Marquette Fringe was formally established as non-profit organization. Marquette Fringe’s ultimate goal is produce a full-fledged Marquette Fringe Festival.
Fringe festivals, which are held in communities around the world, have many things in common: they’re easy for anyone to participate in; they offer a variety of performing arts; they’re uncensored— some may be family-friendly while other may be
venues. The restrictions and uncertainties wrought by the pandemic required Marquette Fringe to wait a year before it could offer its first event. Even so, that event was limited to a digital production.
“Glimpses of Elsewhere,” Marquette Fringe’s inaugural event, was launched online April 10 this year. The video presentation, which can still be viewed on YouTube, features an eclectic variety of short artistic presentations strung together through a narrative about an otherworldly mothman looking for something inspirational to view while quarantining. “We were really pleased with how many submissions we had,” Bradford said. “We had some that were dance, Claymation, music, all forms of art that people were able to create during the pandemic, either in their homes or around their communities. It was very impressive.”
Next, Marquette Fringe participated in the City of Marquette’s annual Art Week in late June by offering artistic activities at their Reconnect at the Lower Harbor events.
“We had some performances, both musical and dance, happening on the grounds. But also we worked with local organizations like Hiawatha Music Co-op to have some workshops, mostly geared to youth, to get them painting,
building, making “music and just kind of getting more engaged,” Bradford said.
More recently, Marquette Fringe held its third event in the form of the Fall Phantasm, which was held at Lakenenland Sculpture Park near Marquette Oct. 2.
The Fall Phantasm, described as “a night of illusion,” included music, theatrical performances, dancing, activities such as glow-costume making, games, campfire stories, and a variety of vendors. A troupe dressed in colorful costumes described as “fantasy creatures” circulated among the crowd throughout the event, adding an otherworldly feel to the evening. After dark, the mix of light and shadows created by a large bonfire in the center of the venue, along with the frenetic flickering and flashing of stage lights accompanying DJ-provided techno music, added to the unconventional milieu.
Marquette Fringe was able to incorporate elements of the former Marquette Spectacle into the Fall Phantasm. Marquette Spectacle was a public, outdoor event featuring costumed performers and performances, that was held in the city near Halloween; the last one was in 2019. “The Marquette Spectacle had been going on for almost a decade, so Fringe gave them a new home this year and they were a big partner for us at the Fall Phantasm,” Bradford said. Bradford noted that the Fall Phantasm, which was a fundraiser whose proceeds will go toward producing a Fringe Festival, was very successful with more than 200 people present at any given time during the fivehour event.
An inviting fire pit provided a pleasant place to sit and enjoy the festivities during the evening at the Fall Phantasm, which has held at Lakenenland Sculpture Park on Oct. 2. (Joseph Zyble photo)
And what else does the future hold? “Honestly, with how much creativity there is in this community, it’s almost impossible to know how many events we’ll offer and what they’ll look like in the future,” Bradford said. In addition to producing public art, Marquette Fringe hopes to help create a network for the art community, bringing together people from all aspects of the arts in order to promote collaborative A Fringe Festival will al- efforts to enable artistic ideas to become reality. “Fringe is hoping to be that platform to build ways be our flagship event. these connections, give people this freedom, push However, after the success the narrative in the community, and then to expose the community to what these people have created,” of the Fall Phantasm we’re he said. Joining Marquette Fringe is as easy as going onalso considering bringing line to the group’s Facebook, Instagram or website and filling out the online interest form. There is no that back next October.” membership fee. “Fill out the form. Get involved in any capacity in —Mike Bradford anything you want, whether it’s performative or to volunteer, or just to be kept in the loop about what’s going on,” Bradford said. About the author: Joseph Zyble is a troll who hasn’t lived beneath the bridge for 30-some-odd years. He is married to the lovely Melanie and they have two cats together. Oh yeah, and some grown-up kids, and a big, yellow dog they frequently wind up babysitting (dogsitting?) too. MM
