MARQUETTE — The city of Marquette has been awarded two grants in support of arts and culture initiatives.

The city’s Community Services Arts and Culture Division will receive grants from the Native American Heritage Fund and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. Both grants were approved in separate 7-0 votes at Monday night’s Marquette City Commission meeting.

The city will receive $57,500 in funding from the Native American Heritage Fund to install signage and showcase public art inspired by Anishinaabe history and heritage from the mouth of the Carp River in south Marquette all the way to Presque Isle Park.

Funding will also go toward developing a companion trail curriculum to assist in telling the story of Native history and culture within the city.

Commissioner Cody Mayer, elected in November and member of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians, is the first member of a federally recognized tribe to serve on the city commission.

Mayer said he’s excited to see this project go forward.

“As a member of the Indigenous community, I’m very thankful and grateful that this is something on the agenda I had the opportunity to vote on,” he said. “I’m very glad that we were able to do this.”

Commissioner Fred Stonehouse echoed those comments, also stating that the project has been a long time coming.

“We’ve been looking at this for 20 years,” he said. “It’s nice to see it finally get to this stage and to the point where we can begin to do something. I’m very proud of the city for what they’ve put together on it, I’m proud of how they were able to assemble the funding on it, and I look forward to what will come out of this great project.

“I think folks everywhere are going to like it, I think citizens are going to learn more about who they are in their community than perhaps they ever knew, and that’s really the great value in this is learning more about ourselves.”

The city says the project is part of a broader “Cultural Trail” initiative which will span its 2-mile multi-use path along the lakeshore. Under this initiative, the city hopes to transform the path into a destination that will tell the full history of the Marquette community and Lake Superior.

“There is virtually no interpretation along the shore that connects, honors and gives voice to the multiple stories, places and natural features along the lakeshore,” city documents state. “Well-traveled, the multi-use path will be a catalyst for dialogue and an opportunity for the community to reflect on the past, the present and the future. The greater Cultural Trail project will include all our history: the pre-Indigenous experience, the Anishinaabe experience, the early settler immigrant experience and the expereiences of those living here today.”

The funding will be matched by dollars from the city’s fiscal year 2021 budget, which will include Arts and Culture Division in-kind administrative wages and Marquette Public Art Commission project funding equaling $30,000.

The second grant is a project grant for $9,940 from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs in support of the city’s annual Art Week, currently scheduled for June 20-26.

Art Week is a week long event free to the public celebrating arts and culture. Festivities include concerts, theater and dance performances, demos, workshops, community art projects and much more. 2021 will be the sixth year for the event, coordinated and promoted by city arts and culture staff.

Roughly 2,000 people attend Art Week festivities each year with over 60 local arts and culture organizations and over 200 artists present to showcase their work.

The funding will be used to strengthen Art Week programming and add additional community art projects and performances. Should COVID-19 not improve, 2021 Art Week will focus on outdoor and socially distant events and programs.

“Art Week is a vital showcase of the Marquette community,” said Marquette Symphony Orchestra Board of Trustees President Andrew LaCombe. “The organizational support we get from the city of Marquette sends a strong message to us and other growing non-profit organizations.”

Peter White Public Library Director Andrea Ingmire said, “Art Week engages our community in a way that other events do not. This event provides arts exposure to all age and socioeconomic groups. It is not a sales event, it is an opportunity to experience and participate in the arts. I believe that Art Week is one of the most important events in Marquette.”