The open reception at the Up North Lodge by the Upper Peninsula Arts and Culture Alliance sees attendees from across Marquette County who are looking to connect their community, company or themselves with the arts. (Journal photo by Antonio Anderson)

MARQUETTE — The Upper Peninsula Arts and Culture Alliance recently held an expense-free open reception at the Up North Lodge near Gwinn.

The intent of this reception was to connect local government officials, business owners and organizations with local artistic talents.

“A big point of our event is to connect people, especially in their own communities: connecting artists and city council people, connecting county commissioners with either artists or nonprofits in the area,” said Upper Peninsula Arts and Culture Alliance board President Sue Roll. “So as cities and counties think about being more livable, attractive to their own residents and bring in new businesses and residents, they can connect with arts and culture because that is what people do when they are not working.”

These connecting events have already seen a measure of success.

Crystal Theatre in Crystal Falls could not afford Peter Yarrow, a part of American folk group Peter, Paul, and Mary. Yet when it connected with Hiawatha Music Co-op members and another group, the theater was able to afford Yarrow as well as putting on many more shows with Yarrow across the Upper Peninsula.

“Those kind of connections happen through these kind of events,” Roll said.

Upper Peninsula Arts and Culture Alliance also provided event attendees with studies showing the importance of the arts and the money it can bring in.

Across the entire U.P. in a year, arts- and culture-related events that include festivals, art shows and music performances saw an influx of $26.5 million along with an average spending of $43.05 per attendee, per event.

This study also provided the general societal impact and thoughts of these arts and culture-related events. More than 83% of those who participated in this U.P. study felt that arts- and culture-related events are vital to their sense of community, are how they benefit the arts, are something that invokes pride in their community and the loss of the events would be upsetting to them. Roll said that these statistics were higher overall than the rest of Michigan.

“A lot of what we do, too, for example, Ironwood has a downtown art place, they have a for-profit version of that in Munising, they have a nonprofit version of that in Lake Effect Art Gallery in Manistique and the Bonifas Art Center is a nonprofit in Escanaba,” said Roll. “We are also trying to connect those people or historical societies because if one has a flood, like what happened in Houghton, it’s nice to get your peers in there and help out. And the same with the art centers, coming up with six different exhibits a year can get tough.”

Roll said that she believes the growing push from various local downtown development authorities to make cities more livable helps artists find great resources in the events provided by the Upper Peninsula Arts and Culture Alliance, even in navigating grant applications from the state of Michigan.

There will be no more events put on by the Upper Peninsula Arts and Culture Alliance before the new year, but will have events in Manistique, Mackinac Island and Escanaba in March, June and September next year. More information can be found at upacalliance.com/outreach-receptions.

Antonio Anderson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. His email address is aanderson@miningjournal.net.