“It’s a favorite festival of mine because of the downtown atmosphere, and I always sell out there.”

Fiely is not the only artist who holds a high regard for the annual art show, as suggested by a recent ranking from art and craft show magazine Sunshine Artist.

The magazine ranked the 2010 East Lansing Art Festival 60th in its Top 200 list, an artist-based survey listed by order of average revenue earned by vendors at each show.

To collect information for the ranking process, Sunshine Artist representatives send a survey to
subscribing artists, asking them to rate the top 10 shows they sold their wares at during the past season, Sunshine Artist General Manager Joe Halbrucker said.

Artists provide comments on their overall experience with the festivals they chose and the total amount they grossed from the sales of their paintings at the venue.

Halbrucker said East Lansing’s listing at 60th out of 200 shows throughout the country is a respectable one, as the list is open to any of the nation’s 4,000 juried art and craft shows and
demonstrates even in a down economy many art festivals still are able to be successful.

“(East Lansing) continues to make it on the list when others are struggling,” Halbrucker said.

The festival has been featured on Sunshine Artist’s Top 200 list in previous years, but a continued presence in national rankings is a testament to those who invest their time and energy into putting the show together every year in the city, East Lansing’s Arts Program Coordinator Corinn VanWyck said.

“It tells us that we’re staying really strong to the core foundation that we’ve stuck to,” she said.
“To us as organizers of this event, it tells us we’re doing it right.”

In addition, a rank on the Top 200 list gives the festival a reputation that draws serious artists from across Michigan and the nation, which in turn draws art lovers to East Lansing, VanWyck said.

Although the festival is held after classes get out for the summer, some MSU students enjoy attending the art festival and seeing what it has to offer.

Philosophy and anthropology junior Kyle Nabbefeld said he was unable to attend 2011’s show but said his experiences at the art festival in the past have been enjoyable.

“I like art, so it was nice to see a good display,” Nabbefeld said.

Next year’s East Lansing Art Festival is scheduled for May 19-20, and is accepting applications for artists until Jan. 31, 2012.

VanWyck said she hopes to see the festival on Sunshine Artist’s list again next year and for many years to come.

Staff writer Julia Nagy contributed to this report.