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An aerial view of Marquette’s Mattson Lower Harbor Park during a recent Art on the Rocks festival. The annual event is canceled this year, but art lovers can participate in a scaled down version at Marquette Mountain, called Art on the Mountain.
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Artists to display works at Marquette Mountain Story by Joe Zyble Photos courtesy of Curtis Aho Photography
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he first ever Art on the Mountain arts show will be held the weekend of Sept. 11 and 12 at Marquette Mountain Resort in Marquette. The event will feature a fine arts show, face painting and other artistic activities for kids, plein air (outdoor) painting opportunities, an art auction, live music, dancing and more. The weekend will conclude with the city’s annual art awards ceremony. Art on the Mountain is being offered in lieu of the traditional Art on the Rocks Fine Arts Show, which was canceled earlier this year (and last year) due to public health concerns related to COVID-19. The unknowns regarding how the virus might spread during the summer months, and possible restrictions on public gatherings that might ensue, were key factors in the Art on the Rocks organization’s decision to cancel the event earlier this year. “We had concerns about things like whether we’d be able to use the park or not, and all the investment that goes into holding a large-scale event like that,” said Tristan Louma, director of Art on the Rocks. “When we
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made the decision to cancel again last spring, it was really tough.” As the summer season progressed and the COVID virus remained relatively under control, Eric Jorgenson, owner of Marquette Mountain Resort and a supporter of the arts, contacted Art on the Rocks to offer his resort for a possible substitute event. “We came up with Art on the Mountain. It was a good opportunity to change up the scenery and scale things back a little as we continue to crawl back to normalcy (from the pandemic),” Louma said. He added that Art on the Mountain helps to continue Marquette’s annual tradition of celebrating local, regional and out-of-state artists by giving them an opportunity to formally display their works. It provides the public an opportunity to enjoy and purchase art, drawing people from both near and far to Marquette. While Art on the Rocks has been held at Mattson Lower Harbor Park in recent years, the Marquette Mountain venue is allowing organizers to do things differently. “Art on the Rocks is more of the formal structure of
September 2021
a fine arts fair; it focuses on the artists’ booths. With Art on the Mountain, we saw an opportunity to try out a few new things,” Louma said, “With that comes live music in the evening, more activities for kids, things for all ages, an art auction and just the venue itself.” Organizers are taking advantage of the location to provide art fair goers the opportunity to enjoy a magnificent view of the natural beauty of the area (when it’s not covered in snow). “The chairlift will be operating, which can bring folks up to the top of the mountain if they want to hike or bike down. It will be a really cool, holistic outdoor Marquette experience in what’s going to be approaching the peak color season,” Louma said. Like Art on the Rocks, this is a juried art show in which artists needed to apply for entry by the Aug. 22 deadline. Artists’ booths will be located indoors and outdoors at the resort. Art on the Mountain begins on Saturday, Sept. 11, and runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Artists will have the option to keep their booths open during the live music
