The International Arts & Peace Festival

The International Arts & Peace Festival (IAPF) is a one-day community event on Saturday, August 6th, 2022, at the Taylor Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. This event will feature artists, musicians, photographers, crafts, fashion, and more to share their work, and how their work is impacting the communities around us. In addition, this event will bring together impactful community organizations to raise awareness about their work.

IAPF is sponsored by Southeast Michigan Rotary Clubs and the Wayne State University Center for Peace & Conflict Studies. This is a pre-conference event of the 2022 Taking Action for Peace Conference.

“Rotary to me is not just an organization that provides scholarships and hosts fancy dinners. Rotary to me is impact. The impact of creating a vehicle for forming communities and having the capacity for creating ingredients that are critical for peace building. To me, an artist, musician, and community organizer are the same since they all possess the same goal – to create. Whether that is artwork or a service project, we are all artists because we can all create the world that we want to live in,” says Devankar Mukhi, the event organizer.

This event will award community peacemakers, including Dylan Morris, a senior at Oxford High School who founded No Future Without Today, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to mental health services.

“The IAPF fits our mission to promote art and culture, and preserve our natural environment. Rotary has been a key player in creating and maintaining the Conservatory. We are very pleased to co-host this event with Rotary, especially on the day our City of Taylor is celebrating its 175th anniversary,” says Erin Dobbins, Executive Director of the Taylor Conservatory.

This event will feature Michigan, Texas, and New York performers.  Attendees will hear music genres from Indie/Alternative Rock, Pop, Rap, R&B, and Hip Hop. Additional performances will include a comedy bit, a fire spin show, and a native Ugandan dance performance. ”As an artist, it’s extremely important for me to use my art as a voice for change, and being a part of this event is a perfect space that celebrates such ideas. This is our band’s first show outside of Texas, and we are so excited to be coming to Michigan!” exclaims Alex Oaiza, an Indie/Alternative Rock artist.

Vendor tables will include organizations such as the Rotary Clubs of Detroit, Livonia, and Southgate; Operation Pollination, an effort to protect pollinator habitats; Chole’s Cowgirls and Indians, teaching native and Mexican American culture through crafts, jewelry, and clothing; and Chaldean American Ladies for Charity, a nonprofit founded in 1961 dedicated to providing programs that guide, support, and empower individuals to achieve self-sufficiency with dignity and hope.

To purchase an advance ticket ($10) or to make a donation to IAPF, visit Eventbrite. Tickets will also be available at the door.

For more information on the IAPF contact Devankar Mukhi at devankarmukhi@gmail.com.