Pontiac, Mich. – A former once-a-year arts celebration in downtown Pontiac is now happening every Friday night in April and May as part of a broader push to revitalize the city’s core.
The weekly “Arts Crawl” event, which last week brought more than 1,000 people downtown, is designed to showcase arts, music, and local businesses, and to give visitors a reason to keep coming back.
“It really builds momentum for downtown,” said Karen Jorgenson, a business owner in the city’s center.
Jorgenson said last week’s event delivered a surge in foot traffic and sales for her shop and others.
She also mentioned the crowds last week were a sharp contrast to those she’d seen downtown when she first moved to the area 15 years ago.
“When I first got here, it was a transition of emergency manager,” Jorgenson said. “And we had almost no street lights working or functioning.”
Now, downtown streets are fully lit and lined with signs promoting Arts Crawl.
The expansion of the event from a single annual celebration to a weekly series is intentional, city leaders said.
“It’s about not just having a good time, but we want to build on that momentum and [invite] people to come back over and over again,” Mayor Mike McGuinness said. “So when they’re thinking about what to do on a Friday night in spring, think of Pontiac.”
The weekly events coincide with visible signs of a larger revitalization effort. New businesses are opening downtown, a former building is being converted into loft apartments, and a former General Motors tower under construction is slated to be the worksite for nearly 700 Oakland County employees.
“We want the downtown to be firing on all cylinders,” McGuinness said.
Arts Crawl will continue every Friday through May from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in downtown Pontiac.
City officials hope each week’s turnout matches or surpasses the first week’s crowd and helps cement Pontiac as a regular destination for entertainment, dining, and arts.
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