About WITA (aka “Circe”)
The Women in the Arts Festival (WITA) is a celebration of regional women artists that takes place during the second weekend of November each year in East Lansing, Michigan.
A typical festival begins on Friday evening with dinner at the Sistrum Café, shopping in the Artist Market and a concert event. We gather again on Saturday morning for more music, workshops, poetry, shopping, dining and socializing into the evening. 2021, however, is still not a typical year! We are reducing the scale and length of the festival to insure we can keep our community safe.
This festival is an important commitment women make each year to renew our support for women artists and musicians.
WITA is a volunteer-run organization with a commitment to supporting women in their creative pursuits and the goal of creating space for women to showcase their talents.
Behind the Scenes – The WITA Organizing Committee
A small team of volunteer community-lovin’ go-getters gather around a table throughout the year to make this magic happen.
- Alicia Bleil — Technical set up aficionado
- Susan Frazier – Purveyor of performances and PR maven
- Julie Haan – Chief cat herder and connector of dots
- Val Osowski – Ad sales wrangler and WITA scribe
- Kate Peterson — WITA website diva and print design goddess
- Abby Wattenberg – Artist Market empress and ring leader
Thank huge and farewell to Juanita Kennedy – our long time MC extraordinaire and chief of optimism!
Silent Online Auction
Bid on fantastic merchandise generously donated by festival artists and area businesses. All proceeds support Women in the Arts. This year we will be offering a limited auction online. Please stay tuned!
Here are a few examples of previous auction items:
- 2 tickets to the touring Broadway musical courtesy of Wharton Center
- Suzy Merchant-signed basketball
- Creative Wellness massage certificate
- Free tax return prep from Liberty Tax of Frandor
- Many more items from Artist Market vendors