During the 2020 pandemic, which some of you may remember, arts and music spaces were deemed “non-essential.”

And while it was absolutely necessary to limit contact to protect vulnerable populations, it’s now clear in 2026 that the label couldn’t be further from the truth. Without art, without music, without togetherness, what do we have?

The great news is how this has led to a renaissance of sorts, with more bands touring than ever before, more galleries and art collectives being formed across West Michigan, and more people leaving home to enjoy theatre, dance, the symphony and museums.

After years of discussion revolving around the fact people are staying home and looking at screens, the tides have turned. Not to mention generative AI, which most of us are roundly rejecting when it comes to art.

We crave connection and authenticity, and people everywhere are making it happen.

This issue seeks to highlight those people. We only have enough room to cover a sliver of the broader community (shameless plug: feel free to buy an ad if you’d like to give us more pages and resources to work with), but we hope to give you a glimpse at the fascinating projects West Michigan artists and musicians are putting together.

In my time talking to local creatives, it’s come up again and again—especially from transplants who only joined the community in recent years—that this is an exceptional place for art. We have genuinely world-class institutions like The Gilmore, the Grand Rapids Ballet, Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck Center for the Arts, etc. etc. etc., alongside small, scrappy collectives and independent venues fostering the next generation of artists and musicians.

So, in the pages ahead, you’ll find profiles on all of the above, along with our annual Arts Season Preview (feel free to tear those pages out and just keep them on your coffee table all year long), and an extensive roundtable with local music venue managers. In that conversation, we discuss the many challenges faced by venues today—including rising costs, bots and third-party sellers—as well as the joy these spaces bring to audiences and artists alike.

As long as humanity has existed, so has art. It’s a core part of our being. And it’s not going anywhere, no matter what life throws at us.

'Til next time,
Josh Veal, Managing Editor