SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Michigan Street in downtown South Bend, Indiana is home to many of South Bend’s most iconic attractions, including The Morris Performing Arts Center, the State Theater and The South Bend Chocolate Café — but on Saturday, Aug. 29, the half-mile stretch in the heart of the downtown area will be home to more than 350 artists.

Saturday is the 13th annual Art Beat festival — an event expected to draw more than 10,000 visitors.

“Over 350 artists will take part in Art Beat 2015 making this one of the largest concentration of artists in the region,” said Downtown South Bend Events and Operators Coordinator Kylie Carter, in a press release. “Visual artists of every kind will come together showcasing a variety of media such as watercolor, jewelry, print making, drawing, pottery, sculpting, photography and fiber arts.”

In addition to the visual artists, there will be performing artists in different venues on or near Michigan Street, as well.

“We’ll have one stage for musical performances, one for dance, one for theater and spoken word and one inside the State Theater,” said Downtown South Bend Director of Communications Jackie Appleman. “With four stages and acts every half hour from noon to 8 p.m., there will be over 50 different performance acts.”

The most unique part of Art Beat, Appleman said, is that all of the artists come from the seven county region that makes up Michiana.

“We only accept artists from St. Joe, Elkhart, Starke, Marshall, and La Porte counties in Indiana and Cass and Berrien counties in Michigan,” she said. “It’s truly a local art festival.”

One local artist duo that will be showcasing their art at Art Beat this Saturday is Ray and Mary Minix, of Elkhart, Indiana. 1953 graduates of Edwardsburg High School, Ray and Mary have led a diverse life of coaching, teaching, acting, singing and more across several states along the East Coast.

Now in their 80s, Ray and Mary have focused their attention on art.

“I always did (art) in high school,” Mary said. “My girlfriend and I competed … When I retired, I thought, ‘I want to do it for myself.’”

While Mary has been an artist all her life, only recently has Ray added art to his long list of talents.

“I discovered quite recently that I can carve and sculpt,” he said.

Combining their talents, Ray and Mary began creating unique three-dimensional art. The art, at first glance, appears as a simple painting in a frame, but a second glance reveals a topographical quality where each element of the painting is sculpted outward.

“I draw it first with a pencil,” Mary said. “Then Ray sculpts over it, and I paint over his sculpting.”

“I carve some out of wood, but I also sculpt in some of the areas with a special ‘magic putty’ that I’ve come up with,” Ray said.

“And yes,” he laughed, “My magic putty is a secret recipe.”

Ray and Mary have created several pieces covering a range of topics — everything from foggy, countryside scenery to the campus of the University of Notre Dame.

An in-depth profile of Ray and Mary Minix’s diverse lives and accomplishments will be featured in Leader Publications’ “Living 50+,” available mid-September as a part of our daily and weekly newspapers.

Their most prized piece, however, is a recreation of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.”

“I may have the only three-dimensional ‘Mona Lisa,’” Ray said.

Ray and Mary will be selling several of their art pieces, including the “Mona Lisa” and smaller painted pottery, at their booth (C18) on North Michigan Street near the DoubleTree Parking Garage.

This is their first time at Art Beat, and according to Appleman, they are not the only newcomers to the festival.

“We have about a 60-65 percent (artist) return rate, but 35 to 40 percent are brand new,” she said.

While the registration deadline for this year’s Art Beat has passed, Appleman said that anyone living in the seven county region is encouraged to sign up to showcase their art next year.

“We usually open up the application process in February or March,” she said. “The deadline is usually the end of May or the beginning of June.”

For now, however, Appleman encourages anyone and everyone in the area to come enjoy the art.

“All parking will be free all day,” she said. “We’re really excited for everybody to come out.”

Art Beat will run from noon to 8 p.m. on Michigan Street in downtown South Bend, Indiana. For more information, visit artbeatsouthbend.org.