Art Hop turns downtown Port Huron into walkable art gallery

Port Huron’s Art Hop will turn downtown into a walkable gallery for two weeks in May, bringing businesses, artists, and the community together for a public celebration of art and creativity. 

From May 15 to May 29, artwork will be displayed in businesses throughout downtown Port Huron for the public to admire and vote for their favorites via posted QR codes. Artists who receive the most votes will receive cash prizes.  

There will also be craft vendor fairs at the Wrigley Center on May 15, 16, 22, and 29. Exact times are to be determined; check out Art Hop’s website and Facebook for updates. 

“We are excited to be able to bring both aspects to the event and give each vendor and artist an opportunity to be able to share their work,” says Sarah LaForge, marketing and events director at the Wrigley Center. 

Artists and venues can apply for the event at porthuron.art. A craft vendor application will also open on the website before the event, LaForge says. 

Artists and businesses will be matched via a partnership with Thumb Art Spark, a website from local artist and Forge owner Jody Parmann that matches artists and businesses or organizations that have public display spaces. 

The application deadline for all involved will be extended to May 3, LaForge says. 

In years past, Art Hop was operated as a one-night craft fair, with vendors paired with and stationed outside downtown businesses.

Last year, Foundry owner Carol Brooks took over management of the event from the City of Port Huron. Looking to grow the event’s impact, Brooks expanded Art Hop to two weeks and placed a greater emphasis on the public art contest. 

Brooks says she modeled Art Hop after Grand Rapids’ world-renowned Art Prize, which draws in hundreds of thousands of tourists and artists from around the globe every year.

Like Art Prize, Art Hop brings people to downtown businesses, gives artists exposure, and gets people involved in public art, Brooks says. 

“It’s a way to transition from snowy weather to nice, bright, summery weather with art,” Brooks says. “We’ll get foot traffic from people coming in to vote.”

Recently, Brooks passed the torch for coordinating the event to The Wrigley Center. 

“It’s something we don’t want to see die,” LaForge says. “We want to be able to bring more people into our community so they can see what we have to offer and what we have built. This really is an opportunity to help everyone.”

Casey Harris, owner of Casey’s and a venue in last year’s Art Hop, says he enjoyed the extended format of this new iteration of the event. People have time to sit down and eat or grab a drink while they admire the art, rather than feeling rushed from place to place trying to get to all the vendors in one night, he says. 

He appreciates how Art Hop brings foot traffic downtown and into local businesses. 

“Anything that can be a driver of business is always good,” Harris says.

Local artist Cecil Williams has shown his work in Art Hop since it started. He creates oil and acrylic paintings, stained glass art, and painted glass. Through his art, he explores misogyny, poverty, homelessness, mortality, and other current political and social themes. 

Williams primarily sells his art to markets on the West Coast and in Europe. While not his primary market, he still benefits from the exposure he gets from participating in Art Hop, he says.

 “It is my belief that art can and should be a powerful tool in evoking conversations and thoughts,” Williams says.