A place as beautiful as Mackinac Island naturally inspires the creative spirit. So, it’s no wonder that art galleries can be found throughout downtown Mackinac Island and beyond.
One of the joys of visiting Mackinac Island is browsing these galleries and seeing the breathtaking sights through the eyes of artists whose works are for sale there. The masterpieces they create let you take just a little bit of Mackinac Island home with you.
While there are many art galleries on Mackinac Island, each one is different and showcases works that represent unique aspects of the place known as the Crown Jewel of the Great Lakes.
Here’s a guide to what kinds of art are in the galleries of Mackinac Island
Fine art featuring Mackinac Island’s beautiful scenery is showcased in several galleries. There’s the Pointe of View Art Gallery just off Main Street in the heart of downtown and the Mackinac Art Gallery at Murray Hotel. There’s also Island Breeze Fine Arts and Gifts, located near the ferry docks where you can find original paintings and pencil drawings by local Michigan artists.
One block inland on Market Street, Mackinac’s Little Gallery is another place to find fine art by local artists that highlight the island’s rich visual character in a variety of media.
Noel Skiba brings an Impressionistic style to her paintings of Mackinac Island at Noel Skiba Art, on Main Street east of downtown behind Bay View Bed & Breakfast. The award-winning painter also teaches art classes, providing a fantastic opportunity for visitors to channel their creative juices stimulated by Mackinac Island’s sheer beauty.
Right next door is Watercolor Café, which is part beanery and part art studio. You can visit the yellow building by the Mackinac Island marina for breakfast, lunch or coffee by day. And you can stop by after hours for an art class in anything from painting to jewelry, calligraphy, metal stamping and dried floral bouquets. There are classes for kids, too.
In addition to spectacular oil paintings by award-winning artist Maeve Croghan, Maeve’s Arts on Market Street downtown offers pottery, ceramic tiles and vintage silver and bead jewelry. Croghan was the winner of the Georges Duboeuf 2020 Beaujolais Nouveau Artist Label Contest, which put a painting of hers on 1 million bottles of French wine.
Hand pulled linoleum block prints are a specialty at Mackinac Memories, a mother-daughter shop with an online site that also sells Mackinac Island books and photography. “Lilacs: A Fortnight of Fragrance on Mackinac Island” and “Four Seasons of Mackinac” are among the photogenic coffee table books published by Mackinac Memories.
Perhaps the most diverse collection of works can be found at the Richard & Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum, located in the historic “Indian Dormitory” aside Marquette Park at the foot of Fort Mackinac. The Michigan State Historic Parks attraction houses a wide variety of Mackinac Island art from the past several hundred years – from the Native American, Victorian and Contemporary eras.
The museum’s permanent exhibits offer a glimpse of the incredible breadth of Mackinac Island’s fascinating history through fine and decorative art, clothing, maps, photography and more. There’s also a special juried art exhibition each year
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