Like many, it started at a very young age that classical composer Marcus Norris fell in love with music, but it might not have been classical music that started his pursuit of the artistic career he has today, “Benny Poole, a jazz legend, lived in my neighborhood and I remember seeing him as a teenager coming home after making music all night,” and he thought to himself, “he gets paid to do this? That has to be my life.”

One of the highlights for communities all across the State of Michigan during the summer months is the magnitude of quality fine art, craft and street festivals that bring vibrancy to main streets in the Fresh Coast State. Thousands of people flock to them, often times they serve as a massive weekend-long tourism engine, and the arts are in the spotlight to highlight this thriving industry in Michigan’s creative economy.