Image courtesy of Danielle Perkowitz/Nikki Madisen The City of Houghton is calling on artists, sponsors and volunteers to show up for Digital Bloom, a community art celebration on August 1. 

HOUGHTON — The City of Houghton will host a new event aimed at inspiring creative art and community called Digital Bloom. The event takes place Aug. 1 along Houghton’s waterfront trail. Digital Bloom is calling on creatives in the Keweenaw to participate and is actively recruiting artists to be a part of the festivities. Houghton Community and Business Development Manager Danielle Perkowitz said any type of art or creativity is welcome.

“We’re looking for artists of all types,” she said. “We don’t want to shut out any form of creativity as long as it is completely 100 percent created by the artists themselves.”

There are two main ways to get involved with the event. An artist’s alley will be available for artists and vendors. Digital art installations will be the main portion of the festival. According to Perkowitz, the majority of the installations are finalized, but the City of Houghton will take any additional ideas or works.

Perkowitz said another goal of Digital Bloom is to raise funds to provide stipends to participating artists.

“We also helped in sourcing any material that they may need for their work,” she said. “That way it truly could be an experience where they are earning for their creativity.”

One project Perkowitz wanted to highlight was the Keweenaw Community Footage project. According to a press release, the project aims to capture what it’s like to live in the area.

“One of our digital installations will be built from community‒sourced video clips,” the release said. “We’re looking for short moments that feel like the Keweenaw: weather, water, adventure, movement, nature, or anything that captures the spirit of this place. Phone footage is perfect.”

Digital Bloom aims to not only compensate local artists for their hard work, but also to bring the community together. Perkowitz said art is very important for a healthy and thriving community.

“I think that anytime that you are supporting the creatives in your community, you are making your community much more livable and enjoyable,” she said. “When you support the arts, you are adding such a benefit to your life.”

The announcement about Digital Bloom called on volunteers to help out as well. Perkowitz said sponsorship is still open and on-site volunteers are needed to help carry out festival activities.

“We will have a few different community projects going on that we would love to have outgoing and crafty folks sort of give us a helping hand with,” she said.

Applications can be found for artists at: tinyurl.com/DigitalBloomForm. Video for the community project can be submitted at tinyurl.com/DigiBloomDrop. Any other questions can be sent to danielle@cityofhoughton.com.