Lake Effekt 2017 highlights!

Graffiti artists to make Miller their canvass during Lake Effekt

A graffiti mural that was painted in Miller during a previous Lake Effekt is shown.

GARY — More than 60 graffiti artists are going to freshen up the outdoor gallery along Miller’s Lake Street neighborhood Saturday

Artists like Felix “Flex” Maldonado will paint new murals on walls owned by local businesses along the lakefront neighborhood’s main commercial strip during the Lake Effekt 2017 Summer Expo street festival from noon until 8 p.m. Saturday. Visitors can watch the vibrant graffiti art being created, listen to live bands, sample food and imbibe craft beer in a beer tent provided by Flamingo Pizza.

“This is our third Lake Effekt. The last one was quite successful, with more than 800 attendees from all over the area,” said Meg Roman, Miller Beach Arts and Creative District executive director. “All of the businesses who have murals painted on their walls are eager to do it again. The artists love the vibe of the street festival and are vying for the best spot to create their murals.”

The Miller Beach Arts and Creative District stages the event every two years. It has featured internationally acclaimed artists like Hebru Brantley and resulted in widely photographed landmark works, like Maldonado’s Jackson 5 Mural.

This year, Ismael Nieves of the famed CISA, or Crazy Indiana Style Artists, crew out of East Chicago will curate the expo. It will include local muralists from Gary and trash cans painted by children, which will be placed along Lake Street.

Musicians will include classic rockers Michael Young, Buddy Goettsch and Jeff Sarver, eclectic accordion music by Eve and Jordy and the Barb Silverman Trio from the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.

“It’s a wonderful collaboration of volunteers from the community joining along with the business owners to turn Lake Street into a party where life, culture, art and community can be celebrated,” Roman said. “There’s a lot of interaction between the artists and the community when the event is going on. It elicits tons of conversation after the fact throughout the year, drawing visitors to the area who stop and take pictures every day.”

The event is free, but donations to the Miller Beach Arts & Creative District are appreciated. For more information, email meg@millerbeacharts.com

Upcoming events

March

22nd
Work In Progress Calling all visual artists.
23rd
Linocut Printmaking Workshop
23rd
Silver Screen Filmmakers Club Spring Showcase
24th
I Love Lucy Documentary
28th
Life Drawing Open Studio
29th
All in Jest Trivia
30th
Mending Clinic With Jane Whedbee

April

5th
Allison Svoboda Confluence: Nature as Medium
5th
Opening Reception Mixed media
6th
Orizomegami Workshop by Allison Svoboda

May

5th
Artist’s talk by Allison Svoboda
5th
Mudballs Workshop by Allison Svoboda

July

19th
Rashelle Roos & Joe Agati Paintings and sculpture

August

30th
Cydney Lewis & Art Garcia Collage and paintings

October

11th
Felix Maldonado Selected paintings

November

15th
Gallery break Our gallery will be closed in late January while we prepare for our 2024 community show.

December

6th
2024 Community Show Artists from Gary, Connected to Gary, that have not been exhibited in our gallery
View past events

Miller Beach Arts & Creative District

Mailing address:

P.O. Box 2405, Gary, IN 46403
219-885-9114
MBACDarts@gmail.com

Gallery Location:

Marshall J. Gardner Center for the Arts
540 S. Lake Street, Gary, IN 46403
Open Friday and Saturday, 6—8pm, and Sunday 2—4. Find us on , , and Instagram.