Community Calendar

Teens/Young Adults are invited to join instructor Matt Grimmer for an overview of comic drawing. You’ll be guided through the steps of making a small comic, which will then be printed and handed back to students during the final session. We will cover key concepts such as working with comic panels, story pacing, and many different design techniques so students can feel confident portraying whatever type of story they wish. We'll touch upon subjects such as drawing landscapes, characters, and dialogue as students learn to illustrate their world and characters in the comic-style using both pencil and pen (comics are created and printed in black and white).

This 4-week course will be held weekly from 4-6 pm, Tuesdays, August 26-September 16, in the Idonea Hersee Classroom at Art Reach, 111 E. Broadway in Mount Pleasant

Recommended age: 13 and up

Toddlers (and parents!) are invited to join us for Wee Wednesdays! Wee Wednesdays is a bi-monthly program held from 10 to 11 am on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. During each session, wee ones will develop skills in art, reading, critical thinking, and tactile exploration. Each session will be a new project created on-site for your little ones to take home and enjoy!

The program starts at 10 am, Wednesday, September 3, in the Idonea Hersee Classroom at Art Reach, 111 E. Broadway in Mount Pleasant.

The 1842 historic Dougherty Mission House built by Rev. Peter Dougherty, Chief Agosa, the Ottawa and Chippewa opens for tours on Wednesday, June 12th Wednesdays through Saturdays, 11am until 4pm. Tour the former Inn where the fruit industry began in the Traverse City region.
Discover the ties to the Old Mission Peninsula Lighthouse while you tour the house, summer kitchen, carriage shed, icehouse, and demonstration garden. See the new Old Mission Agricultural Heritage exhibit where Old Mission Peninsula earned its name.

Step into the world of vibrant colors, the serenity of nature, and the joy of painting en plein air. Led by instructor Annie Croft, we invite you to explore the beauty of nature while capturing its essence with a watercolor palette. This class is suitable for beginners and intermediate artists alike, providing a supportive and nurturing atmosphere for everyone. Students will capture light and color in the moment, and instruction will be based on the surroundings. If it rains, we will work from a pavilion or covered space. Students should bring a chair to sit on, but all art supplies are provided.

This workshop takes place from 12:30-2:30 pm, Wednesday, September 3, at Island Park in Mt Pleasant. Class will park and paint from the Vietnam Memorial garden area at the north end of the park.

Suggested supply list: a chair to work from, water, sunblock & bug repellent.

Recommended ages: 16 and up

Dive into the vibrant world of alcohol inks with instructor Judi Steffke in this beginner-friendly class designed to spark your imagination and ignite your creative spirit! Alcohol inks are a bold, expressive medium known for their fluidity, unpredictability, and stunning, abstract effects. Whether you're an experienced artist or trying something new, this class offers a fun and relaxed environment to explore the magic of inks on non-porous surfaces, such as Yupo paper, ceramic tiles, or glass. This class will offer themed sessions recreating imagery on posterboard or ceramic tiles, and will be finished with a spray-on topcoat for durability.

You may select sessions individually or as a full course for a discounted rate:

September 3 (5:30-7:30 pm): Abstracts
September 10 (2-4 pm): Dragonflies
September 18 (11 am-1 pm): Hummingbirds
September 23 (5:30-7:30 pm): Florals

These workshops will be held in the Idonea Hersee Classroom at Art Reach, 111 E. Broadway in Mount Pleasant.

Recommended age: 16 and up

Celebrate the shifting of the season with color, creativity, and a flock of feathered inspiration! Led by instructor Cheryl Meyer, you’ll focus on capturing the charm, movement, and personality of birds through expressive painting techniques. Each week in this 4-session course will feature a different feathered friend, and this class will guide you in bringing them to life on paper.

Perfect for beginner to intermediate artists, we’ll explore watercolor fundamentals—such as wet-on-wet, layering, and texture—while also learning how to sketch dynamic bird forms, render feathers, and create harmonious backgrounds.

The class will be held weekly from 2-5 pm on Thursdays, September 4-25, in the Idonea Hersee Classroom at Art Reach, 111 E. Broadway, Mt. Pleasant, MI. You may select individual classes or enroll in the series for a discounted rate!

September 4: Screech Owl
September 11: Wood Duck
September 18: Cardinal
September 25: Pheasant

Recommended age: 16 and up

Students looking to improve their skills in drawing portraiture are invited to join instructor Matthew Grimmer for this 4-week introductory course. Students will begin by exploring the basic anatomy of the skull and facial muscles, and learn how to apply this knowledge as they begin building their portraits. This class is meant to cover the basic building blocks for self-portraiture, and is open to beginners or those with basic drawing experience. We will cover how to build and shape in 3-D using pencils and will cover basic areas of drawing, such as overall composition, cross-hatching to create form, and making the most of light and shadow, all within the context of the figure.

Utilizing small exercises throughout the course, you will work on a single long-form drawing throughout the course. The course will focus on achieving anatomical realism through a slow-paced practice that is based on measurements, comparison, and thoughtful mark-making. By the end of the course, students should have an understanding of the anatomy of the head, the complexity of shapes that create the face, and its relationship to drawing their portraiture, as well as improved confidence in their pencil handling.

This course will be held weekly from 5:30-8 pm on Thursdays, September 4-25, in the Idonea Hersee Classroom at Art Reach, 111 E. Broadway in Mount Pleasant.

Recommended ages: Adults only

20 Front Street is preparing to host a very special evening featuring Michigan-native songwriters Emilee Petersmark of internationally-touring band The Crane Wives, west Michigan’s Loren Johnson and northern Michigan’s i.am.james. Join us on September 4, 2025 for a night of solo performances in-the-round and group performances with special guest musicians, showcasing the songwriting talents and musical prowess of three seasoned performers in the Michigan music community.

Emilee Petersmark has been a member of the beloved Grand Rapids band The Crane Wives (1.4m Spotify monthly listeners, 713.5k TikTok likes) for 15 years now, but parallel to that career she has worked as an acclaimed visual artist, producing original artwork as well as commissions for such musicians as the Accidentals and Melophobix. She also has a collection of songs that felt too personal for the Wives' ever-growing sound, exploring the depths of adoption trauma and the experience of being a queer Korean adoptee growing up in the Midwest. Those songs will grace a solo record set to release in fall of 2026, offering listeners a peek into the soul of a fierce and restless heart.

i.am.james. is the musical project of Michigan-born singer-songwriter Sierra Cassidy, blending contemporary folk, indie rock, and pop into a sound both raw and cinematic. A graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy and former Berklee College of Music student, Cassidy cut her teeth touring the midwest and Nashville before returning to her Northern Michigan roots in 2023. Her debut album The Garden — released August 8, 2025 — was written and recorded in a snow-covered cottage with producer Michael Dause, drawing sonic inspiration from acts like Phoebe Bridgers, Maggie Rogers, and Pinegrove. Prior to the recording of her album, her early singles (recorded in Nashville) earned her blog features and festival performances at Bliss Festival and Wheatland Music Festival. i.am.james. offers intricate stories often inspired by the natural world and femininity wrapped in a cinematic-like feel.

Hailing from West Michigan’s vibrant creative scene, Loren Johnson has made her mark as a photographer, musician and performer; and is most recognized for her distinctive vocals and bright finger-style guitar. Between traveling and attending university, Johnson released a string of demos before publishing her first EP Sleepsick in December 2016, which rose to iTunes Top 10 best new singer-songwriter releases that January. Spring 2020 was set for the release of Into the Morning - Johnson’s second EP, which coincidentally was released the same week that the COVID-19 pandemic hit the US. Touring plans scrapped, she dove deeper into her creative community and further honed her song-writing. In January 2021, she debuted an evolved new sound with the release of her first single “Patterns”. Johnson’s debut full-length album How to Change was released April 2023.

This year’s 3-day 52nd Annual Wheatland Music Festival takes place September 5-7, 2025. Each year, thousands of children and adults converge on the 160-acre festival site to enjoy a wide variety of traditional arts. Festival goers take part in workshops, demonstrations, dances, and impromptu jam sessions throughout the site as well as the stage performances, juried arts and crafts, and a wide variety of food vendors. Tickets go on sale to the public on June 9th, 2025, on wheatlandmusic.org and by calling the office at (989) 967-8879.

This year’s 3-day 52nd Annual Wheatland Music Festival takes place September 5-7, 2025. Each year, thousands of children and adults converge on the 160-acre festival site to enjoy a wide variety of traditional arts. Festival goers take part in workshops, demonstrations, dances, and impromptu jam sessions throughout the site as well as the stage performances, juried arts and crafts, and a wide variety of food vendors. Tickets go on sale to the public on June 9th, 2025, on wheatlandmusic.org and by calling the office at (989) 967-8879.