Leelanau Furniture Show

May 15, 2011

Leelanau Furniture Show moves to TC
After nearly a decade’s hiatus, the Leelanau Furniture Show is back -- in
a new location inside downtown Traverse City’s Artisan Design Network
(ADN) cooperative gallery on Front Street -- ready to dazzle crowds with
handcrafted one-of-a-kind designs, May 21-28.
The weeklong invitational exhibition and sale will showcase the region’s
finest furniture makers and craftspeople whose works in wood, metal,
glass, stone, fabrics, epoxy, enamel and paint are a celebration of form,
function and the inspiration of Northern Michigan.
Many of the 40-some exhibitors also belong to the year-round ADN co-op,
which opened its doors in January 2010 and features a wide-ranging juried
collection of fine art and furnishings.
This year’s show spotlights regional sculptors, Dewey Blocksma and Bill
Allen. “They have gleefully embraced the idea of sculpting furniture for
this event,” says organizer and rustic twig furniture maker Bill Perkins.
He and the show’s other founders‚ Larry Fox, Dave Elmgren, Bob Purvis and
Donna Popke‚ join a lineup of artisans whose styles run the gamut from
rustic to industrial.
In addition to the new location, the Leelanau Furniture Show is now set in
spring, rather than its prior airing in the fall. Perkins says both moves
will provide more exposure for the artisans.
“Consider this: As the region’s reputation as a center for the arts
continues to grow, the talent pool has grown with it,” says Perkins. “The
first Leelanau Furniture Show (in 1995) featured 20 exhibitors. This year,
that number has more than doubled.”
An opening reception, on Friday, May 20, runs 6 to 11 p.m. The rest of the
show, May 21-28, runs from noon to 6 p.m. daily.
For more info on the Artisan Design Network, check out
www.artdesignnet.com/furniture