Arts & Entertainment
Beloved Brighton Artist to be Honored at Brighton Art and Acoustic Music Festival
The artist reception at the Brighton Art and Acoustic Music Festival will be dedicated to Joe Mike, who passed away at 97 in April 2011.
According to his daughter, Deborah Shiposh, Joe Mike thought very highly of Brighton.
“My dad loved Brighton,” Mike's daughter, Deborah Shiposh, said. “He just thought it was the best community.”
The community thought similarly of Mike, who helped lay the foundation for Brighton's ongoing dedication to fine art and artists and passed away in April of this year at the age of 97.
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“Joe Mike was an extremely talented local artist who continuously supported and had been a part of this event for many years,” Becca Boss, Director of Events for the , said. “We want to remember and thank him for his love of art and the Brighton community by dedicating the Artist's reception to him.”
Mike, who was born and raised in Hamtramck, married his high school sweetheart, Irene, in 1938. After raising three children in Detroit, the Mikes moved to Brighton in 1974, where they opened the Joe Mike Art Gallery.
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Mike was involved with the Brighton Fine Art Festival from the start. After his retirement from the Burroughs Corporation, where he worked as a commercial artist for 43 years, he became a prolific painter and often donated prints to help raise money for various causes.
Many of Mike's watercolors were actually started by his wife, who is still happy and healthy at 93.
“My mom loves color. She would start with a bunch of color and my dad would finish the painting with his talent and artistic eye,” Shiposh said.
Among Mike's most well-known works are 8 paintings that represent Brighton's history. The paintings were commissioned by Ann Arbor Trust Bank in the late 1970s. They feature several prominent Brighton landmarks, including the Pink Hotel, the Lyon School, and the old Mill Pond.
Prints of the historical paintings as well as many others will be available at the. In addition, Mike's book, “My Life as an Artist,” will also be for sale.
“My dad had a great story,” Shiposh said. “He had a very full life, and he wrote the book to encourage people 'if I can do it, you can do it.'”
