Crowds pour into downtown Willoughby for 33rd Willoughby ArtsFest (2024)

Crowds of visitors, artists, sponsors and more took over the streets of downtown Willoughby on July 20 to celebrate the arts.

The 33rd annual Willoughby ArtsFest was expected to draw more than 140 artists and more than 7,000 visitors to the city, said Willoughby Western Lake County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dana Wolfe.

“It’s a great day,” added Willoughby Mayor Robert Fiala. “This is our premier event of the summer.”

Lined up along the side of Euclid Avenue, Mike and Kelley Clark displayed a large collection of homemade wooden birdhouses and suet feeders.

The couple came up from their Medina farm for their third ArtsFest. Kelley Clark said that the show is “always very crowded,” and said that while they look for new shows to visit each year, they try to return to ArtsFest.

“It’s a good show for us,” she said.

Kelley Clark added that their farm has a lot of birds. Her husband is “all about the birds” and began “dabbling” with birdhouses and improving them over time.

“We have about 10 of them on our property ourselves, so we know what he makes, it’s a good quality birdhouse and they last forever – that’s what he always tells everybody,” she said.

Kelley Clark added that her husband makes the birdhouses and suet feeders with different types of live edge woods, while she adds the embellishments.

She said that people can learn more by finding Barn Again Birdhouses on Instagram.

“Every one’s unique, they’re good gifts for people, we have a lot of people that get them for wedding gifts for people because it is so different,” Kelley Clark said.

Over at Wes Point Park, Perris Mackey displayed a set of collages that he made from damaged comic books. He began working on them eight years ago after recycling his damaged comics to create a Batman collage that attracted interest on Facebook.

He said that he usually sticks to Marvel and DC comic themes, though he has also made collages for motorcycles, houses and pets.

“Still trying to perfect my craft, but I always tell people it’s a labor of love just because I’d be doing this if I was in the shows or not,” he said.

Mackey added that more information is available by searching @p_thanerd on social media platforms.

Farther down the park, Michael Nolan displayed floral and plant sculptures that he made from scrap metal.

Nolan said that he started working on scrap metal sculptures in 2015.

“I just had a welder and I had some scrap metal and just started making flowers,” he said.

Nolan, who operates a studio in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood, said that he usually goes to three or four art shows a year in places like Lakewood and Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood. He has attended Willoughby ArtsFest for the last four years.

“I enjoy it, and actually do well at the art shows,” he said.

More information about Nolan’s metal sculptures can be found by searching @rust_inc_cleveland on Instagram.

Wolfe said that ArtsFest is a juried show, meaning that artists need to send in an application and describe their process. A seven-member jury evaluated this year’s applications and approved the artists that attended. Those who did not make the cut were given feedback to help them make the show in the future.

Visitors to the 33rd ArtsFest were also treated to live music, food trucks and other vendors. A number of artists contrasted the sunny, warm weather this year with the rainy days of previous years.

The WWLCC sold 50/50 and auction tickets. Wolfe said that the proceeds would fund the organization’s scholarship fund for high school and undergraduate students that live or attend school in Lake County. It would also fund professional training and development for the chamber’s member businesses.

She added that a kids studio was also set up in collaboration with the Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library and Willoughby Arts Collaborative. The kids work on different components of an art project each year. Last year, they made tiles that were used in the library’s food pantry.

Fiala hopes that ArtsFest places Willoughby on the map as “the arts center east of Cuyahoga County.” He said that Wolfe has worked to grow the festival in recent years.

“We’re trying to frame our city as a base for arts, entertainment and culture, and this is exactly the event that kind of supports that notion,” he added.