Lakeland gears up for 52nd Mayfaire by-the-Lake on May 11-12

LAKELAND – For 51 years, the Mayfaire by-the-Lake Art Festival has been one of the southeastern United States’ premier outdoor fine art festivals.

That Lakeland artistic legacy continues with the 52^nd annual Mayfaire, a Polk Museum of Art fine art festival.

Presented by Citizens Bank & Trust and The Ruthvens, the 2024 Mayfaire will once again be held along the shoreline of Lake Morton. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 11 and 12, there will be more than 150 artists from nine states with artwork in a variety of mediums on display and for sale, including painting, sculpting, woodworking, hand-crafted jewelry, photography and an assortment of other art forms.

The area in front of the main stage at the Lakeland Public library is crowed as festival attendees stroll along Lake Morton Drive during the annual Mayfaire by-the Lake in Lakeland in 2021.

For the 2024 art event, 39 new exhibiting artists will attend with their works, said Joy Williams and Leslie Norman, Mayfaire coordinators since 2016.

In addition to an art festival to peruse and purchase, Mayfaire-by-the-Lake also is a juried art show, with $17,000 awarded to artists in 13 mediums, including clay, fiber, mixed media, oil and acrylic, watercolor, sculpture, photography and woodworking. Awards for 2024 will be: Best of Show, $5,000; two Awards of Excellence, $2,000 each; four Awards of Distinction, $1,000 each; six Merit Awards, $500 each; and five Honorable Mention Awards, $200 each.

Mark Guidi of Tampa is juxtaposed by a painting by artist Pavlina Alea of Atlanta during the Mayfaire by-the Lake in Lakeland in 2021.

The Mayfaire judge for 2024 is Jessica Kay Ruhle, executive director of the Yellowstone Art Museum, a contemporary art museum in Billings, Montana, since January 2022. From 2010 to 2021, she was director of education at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

The 2024 Mayfaire by-the-Lake Featured Artwork is Orlando’s Heather Nagy’s “Waterfowl at Lake Morton, Lakeland” acrylic on canvas. She’s known for award-winning impressionistic landscapes and city scene paintings.

Central Florida artist Heather Nagy's work "Waterfowl on Lake Morton" has been selected as the official poster for the 2024 Mayfaire-by-the-Lake.

Children’s activities

It’s not just art for adults at Mayfaire, Williams and Norman said. Besides artists’ booths, this year’s celebration will include lots of activities for children in the Mayfaire Kids Zone at east Walnut Street and Indiana Avenue, sponsored by Publix Super Market Charities.

For example, for the third year, there will be “Kids Collect,” a children-only tent where they can purchase artwork donated by Mayfaire artists at nominal prices. There will also be free, hands-on art activities for children of all abilities at each Kids Zone tent.

Food vendors

For those who work up an appetite walking the Lake Morton picturesque promenade, concessions for 2024 will include menus from Kebablicious, 1 Up Burger, Jimmy’s Famous Seafood, Heavenly Pretzel and others.

Stroll up to the Polk Museum

And just past the lake at the Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College, visitors can mingle in nostalgia with the “Rockwell/Wyeth: Icons of Americana” exhibition on display in the main first floor galleries, which highlights two of the greatest artists and illustrators of the 20^th century.

Overall, the 52^nd Mayfaire by-the-Lake Art Festival will be “a fun, family event that showcases art for everyone’s taste,” Williams said.

Alex Rich, executive director and chief curator of the Polk Museum of Art, in a written statement said Mother’s Day and Mayfaire have become synonymous with each other over the years “for festival attendees of all ages from all over the region, looking for great art, great food, and great diversion.

“This year, we are thrilled to welcome so many new and returning artists to Lakeland to showcase their work for ever-expanding generations of art lovers,” he wrote.

Mayfaire 5K

Additionally, on May 11, Mayfaire welcomes back the Lakeland Runners Club to host the 45th annual Mayfaire 5K. The run begins at 7 p.m. near Lake Mirror and ends on Frances Langford Promenade. To register or volunteer, see www.runsignup.com/Race/FL/Lakeland/Mayfaire5k. Online registration ends May 7; walk up registration will be available between 4 and 7 p.m. May 10.

Event sponsors

The 52^nd Mayfaire sponsors include Citizens Bank & Trust, The Ruthvens, Visit Central Florida, Subaru Lakeland, Southern Homes, Publix Super Markets Charities, Friends of Mayfaire, Tampa International Airport, LeafFilter, Power Home Remodeling, the City of Lakeland, LKLD Arts Mayor’s Council of the Arts, and Culture Builds Florida, with Media Sponsors, The Ledger | Localiq, Max 98.3 and WLKF, WEDU PBS, LKLD Magazine and Winter Park Publishing Company.

Lakeland artist Stephen Koury speaks with Lori Folk of Lakeland in Koury's nature and wildlife art work booth during the Mayfaire by-the Lake in Lakeland in 2021.

If you go

WHAT: 2024 Mayfaire by-the-Lake Presented By Citizens Bank & Trust and The Ruthvens.

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.

WHERE: The shore of Lake Morton, Lake Morton Drive, Lakeland.

COST: Free.

INFO: Parking will be available in the Florida Southern College parking lot off Frank Lloyd Wright Way, with shuttles to take visitors down to Lake Morton. For information, see www.mayfairebythelake.org; 863-688-7743, ext. 237. In addition, The Squeeze, Citrus Connection’s free golf-cart shuttle, will be running its routes. See www.ridecitrus.com/routes/the-squeeze for information.

Correction

An earlier version of this story listed an incorrect day for the Mayfaire 5K. The race is 7 p.m. May 11.

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