Novi Artists Decorate 4-foot Apple to Promote Farmers' Market

This Saturday, a stop along the MI Apple Trail comes to Novi’s Farmers' Market, which runs from 9 a.m.-2p.m. in .

The public art project features 4-foot-tall, 3-D fiberglass apples that are being decorated by local artists and displayed at 20 farmers' markets in Michigan through September.

Funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, the MI Apple Trail project is the result of a partnership between Detroit’s Eastern Market and the Michigan Apple Committee aimed at promoting art, local markets and Michigan’s apple industry.

“We’re very excited that we were chosen to have an apple, and we just love that they’re promoting farmers' markets,” said Linda Daly, executive director of the Novi Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber, which sponsors the Novi Farmers' Market, partnered with the nonprofit group Arts Novi to decorate Novi’s apple. Arts Novi members Annmarie Stanesa and Mary Kondraciuk volunteered to take on the challenge.

Stanesa and Kondraciuk were given a clean slate for the project. After two weeks of planning, they decided on a design.

“We wanted to keep it Michigan-themed, so we’ve included large apple blossoms, which is our state flower,” Stanesa said. "Then the lower half is going to be water for the Great Lakes."

Kondraciuk came up with the design, and the two women have been working on the apple for approximately two weeks. Stanesa also added her own touch to the apple by embellishing it with glass.

“I thought it was really exciting because I don’t profess to be a painter, I’m actually a glass artist,” Stanesa said. "I just thought this was a really cool opportunity to collaborate with another artist locally."

In mid-September, all apples will be moved to the Eastern Market, where they will be displayed for about a month.

On Oct. 14, Eastern Market will host its annual Apple Gala and Auction. There, each of the apples will be auctioned to the highest bidder, with proceeds benefiting each of the markets that hosted the project.

Additionally, the Michigan Apple Committee is hosting a passport program, which encourages passport holders to visit multiple farmers' markets in Michigan to receive stamps. When a passport holder collects enough stamps, the passport may be mailed in to enter the participant in a prize drawing.

Other participating communities in the area include Wyandotte, Farmington, Royal Oak, Dearborn, Flint and Bloomfield.