Art

Art has always been an integral part of Burning Foot. During the first year, local tattoo artist Michael Villanueva created a Burning Foot character to brand the festival, and art overall took off from there. Local graffiti artist Dan Park added mural boards for the first festival, which have since expanded to include Mural Cylinders and a comic-styled book page.

The Hoptower, another original Burning Foot piece, was designed by local artist Lee S. Brown and built in collaboration with local sculptor Chip Vanderweir for the festival’s second year. The Hoptower has since become a Burning Foot icon and now features bursting flame effects courtesy of Clack Nienhaus, a West Michigan pyro technician.

Over the years, Burning Foot has expanded on the Beer and Beach theme with art installations such as the “Four Elements.” These sculptures, representing earth, wind, air, and fire, are integrated charging stations for cell phones and tablets. They are all solar-powered and feature a rotating wind feature on each tower. 

The festival has also increased its use of flame effects, and last year, it debuted carnival-style games that featured bursts of flame. Flo Glas, a longtime area designer, and her son Nick created the Hopperation Game with beer-theme extractable components. Our team is always dreaming of new ways to incorporate art installations at Burning Foot. If you know of an artist or have an idea yourself, please get in touch!