Meet The Royal Oak Community Arts Award Winner

ROYAL OAK, MI –The Royal Oak Commission for the Arts has announced he winner of this year’s Royal Oak Community Arts Award. This year’s winner is local painter and teacher Mike Byrne.

The Commission for the Arts also announced that Laurie Eisenhardt and Marcia Hovland have been named the first Royal Oak Artist Laureates. The artists will be honored at the Celebration of the Arts on June 1 at the Royal Oak Middle School.

About the winners

Byrne has been an active member of the local art community for many years. His activities include serving as vice president of the South Oakland Art Association from 2006 until 2014. Byrne has also been, and continues to be, an active member of the Royal Oak Arts Council. Even in retirement, Byrne continues to support art through teaching classes at the Royal Oak Senior Center.

Eisenhardt (the 2018 Community Arts Award Winner) and Hovland were selected to share the honor. Over the next year, they will represent the city as art advocates and will engage the community to help create a new work for the city to display. Jason Gittinger, chair of the Royal Oak Commission for Arts says, “The Artist Laureate program, while new, will become an integral piece of our community arts mosaic over the coming years and we couldn’t be happier about having Marcia and Laurie leading the inaugural project. We know they will create a masterpiece with and for the city, that will inspire us for many years to come.”

While this is the first year for the Artist Laureate Program, the Community Arts Award is given annually to individuals from the Royal Oak community who have made substantial contributions to promoting art and culture in Royal Oak. Previous submissions have included musicians, dancers, sculptors, and painters. Created in 2015, the past winners of the award have included Royal Oak residents such as Bob Jones, Susan Wedley, Rose Marie Floyd and, as previously mentioned, Laurie Eisenhardt.

About the Commission For the Arts

The Commission for the Arts is excited to be expanding their ability to recognize local artists, organizers say.

"We can’t be more excited about these two distinct honors for artists in our community. Celebrating the accomplishments and contributions of Mr. Byrne is a wonderful way to cap the Celebration of the Arts on June 1," Gittinger said. "We love highlighting and celebrating those in our community that give so much for the betterment of all.”

The Celebration of the Arts is an annual event to celebrate artistic contributions made by residents of Royal Oak. The event began as a celebration of the middle school being awarded a new sound system for its auditorium. Since its inception, it has grown to be the premier community event uniting the varied arts organizations and artists in Royal Oak

The City of Royal Oak recognizes the importance of arts and culture to a vibrant, healthy, and sustainable community. The Royal Oak Commission for the Arts was created in 2012 to support arts and culture in the City of Royal Oak. The commission holds events such as the Summer Concert Series, Art Explored, Public Piano Project and East 11 Mile Road Public Art Program.