Art on the Mall 2023

For over 36 years, this outdoor artistic extravaganza has featured local and regional artists showcasing original paintings, jewelry, garden art, pottery, art demonstrations, and live entertainment! This free, two-day arts-filled adventure is part of downtown Kalamazoo’s official JumpStart celebration which partners with several popular outdoor events including Art on The Mall, the Do-Dah Parade, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Fair, Kalamazoo Pride, and Concerts in the Park!

Art on the Mall is a program of the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo.

Art on the Mall is located on the downtown Kalamazoo Mall from Michigan Avenue to South Street, and South Street just past the Kalamazoo Public Library to Farmers Alley.

Live Performance Schedule

Friday

12:00-12:45 pm The Mickeys

1:15-2:00 pm Grace Theisen Trio

2:30-3:15 pm DJ Boogie

3:45-4:30 pm DC wsg Joaquin Fisher & Braulio Green

5:00-6:00 pm BlueBack

Saturday

1:00-2:00 pm Michigan Hiryu Daiko

2:30-3:30 pm The Dots

3:00-5:00 pm honeybear

Performer Bios

The Mickeys

The Mickeys blend Indie and Americana music, creating a unique sound that features expressive sibling harmony enhanced by powerful guitar and dobro. Passionate, driven, and vibrant identical twins, Amy and Julie are a striking twosome whose vocals blend Americana, Country, Celtic, Blues, and Bluegrass. Come on down to the Kalamazoo Mall to see them kick off the live performances at Art on the Mall 2023!

Grace Theisen Trio

The Grace Theisen Trio is Grace with Cori Somers on violin and Carolyn Koebel on percussion. Grace harnesses the spirit of collaboration in every venture she puts her heart into, and this trio comes together out of that very spirit. Grace’s love for music started in childhood here in Kalamazoo where her inspiration came from a variety of singers like Patty Griffin, Alison Krauss, Billy Joel, BB King, and Bonnie Raitt.

DJ Boogie

DJ Boogie (AKA. Jahleel Fisher) is a 13-year-old kid from Kalamazoo, Michigan. DJ Boogie has great plans and aspirations for his life and being an influential DJ was a goal he set to achieve at just 10 years old. DJ Boogie’s dream is to inspire other kids around the community and put smiles on their faces. He believes to achieve this by “spinning good music and showing them they can be anything they want if they believe they can do it.” DJ Boogie’s message to his listeners is to “keep it real, keep it love, keep the hope, and keep on shooting for the stars!”

DC wsg Joaquin Fisher & Braulio Green

DC featuring 11-year-old African drummer, Joaquin Fisher, and acoustic guitarist Braulio Green. DC will bring what she calls a “Hip Hop Spoken Soul” as she combines hip hop, spoken word, and R&B into one dynamic performance!

BlueBack

Formed in 2019, BlueBack brings together four musicians with a wealth of history performing in all forms of American music between them. BlueBack plays blues, country, and roots rock music from between the wars, that is from World War II to the Vietnam War, and many original compositions. BlueBack members are Dan Denov on bass; Kenny (Dr. K) Kornheiser on harmonica; Ed Menta on guitar; and Coot Trammell on the drums.

Michigan Hiryu Daiko

Michigan Hiryu Daiko is a dynamic professional taiko drumming group from the greater Kalamazoo area. Taiko is the only Japanese traditional drum without a sound box and only one skin. It is played with a drumstick while hanging it with the other hand. Hiryu Daiko is energy embodied – do not miss this!

The Dots

Founded in Mt. Pleasant, MI in early 1984 by Tom Cross as “The American Dots” for the express purpose of playing for a SuperDance charity marathon, the band learned 14 songs in one week! After receiving a great response from the crowd, the band shortened its name to “the dots…” and began playing local clubs around Mt. Pleasant as well as many functions on the campus of Central Michigan University. Now closing in on the 40th anniversary of their founding they have reunited to play and tour together. They are a fun, very danceable band, playing some of the really good stuff from the 80’s, but not your typical big hair rock band covers – there is something for everyone for a family-fun summertime dance party!

honeybear

Though they weren’t born in Kalamazoo, this place is Sasha Battle’s (AKA. honeybear) home. Battle started out playing a cheap child’s guitar before leveling up to a real deal steel string acoustic guitar. Growing up shy, music was their best friend. With music, they could just be, and be whatever they wanted to be. Their folks listened to contemporary jazz, soul, gospel, country, folk – whatever felt good. It was when Sasha found folks like Meshell Ndegeocello, Jeff Buckley, and Erykah Badu that they finally felt able to see themself reflected in the world in a real emotionally musical kinda way. As a Black queer femme, most music spaces are dominated by folks not like Battle, by white cis males. Sasha Battle’s goal is to take up space and center their work around telling their story of trauma, queer love, and healing by expressing their narrative with their fingertips. Closing out this year’s Art on the Mall, their performance is not to be missed!