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EDWARDSBURG — Artists from across Michiana will help paint a new vision for the future of Edwardsburg during the first Saturday in August.

The inaugural Edwardsburg Art Fair will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 7 at the Edwardsburg American Legion, 25980 US- 12. The fair will feature nearly 30 vendors displaying their finest arts and crafts. Paintings, jewelry, candles and more will be up for sale.

Food and beverage will be available for purchase.

Funds raised from the event will go toward the village’s new mural project, which is being painted by local muralist Chris Stackowicz at the corner of M-62 and Elkhart Road.

Among those most excited for the event is Cass County Commissioner Roseann Marchetti, who has been helping to organize the event.

“This is our first annual, and we hope to have one again next year and the year after that,” she said. “This is a great thing for Edwardsburg because it’s going to create interest and get people to realize that we are moving forward with a lot of great things.”

The art fair comes as a result of the 2019 Edwardsburg Visioning Project, which worked with Michigan State University’s Sustainable Built Environment Initiative to identify economic and community development opportunities within the village. Following the visioning’s final session, village leaders decided to host an art fair to continue the project’s momentum.

“[The art fair] is a sign that people are coming in and investing in the community, and people are really invested in the mural project,” Marchetti said. “Things are really looking up, and it all started with the visioning two and a half years ago.”

The fair was originally scheduled to take place in 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, nearly two years after planning began, Marchetti said she cannot wait to see the event — one of the first major events hosted in the village since the pandemic — come together.

“It’s wonderful, and it’s a relief that things have opened up, and we are going to be able to have everyone together and see people again,” she said. “I’m excited to see the public and the interest and the eagerness on people’s faces now that things have opened up.”

Marchetti is hoping for a strong turnout at the Aug. 7 art fair and said she would encourage all community members to attend.

“Our artists are all top-notch artists, and I’m sure there will be something for everyone,” she said.