{"id":20138,"date":"2026-03-30T16:26:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T16:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artsmidwest.org\/?p=20138"},"modified":"2026-03-30T16:26:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T16:26:33","slug":"bugsy-sailor-michigan-upper-peninsula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsmidwest.org\/stories\/bugsy-sailor-michigan-upper-peninsula\/","title":{"rendered":"Yoop and Behold: The Creative Energy and Endeavors of Bugsy Sailor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bugsy Sailor is a \u201cdoer of things.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunrise photographer. Festival co-founder. Business owner, web designer, holiday inventor. Above all, a Yooper. That\u2019s someone who lives in the Upper Peninsula\u2014\u201cU.P.\u201d\u2014of Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe really latch onto the word \u2018sisu,\u2019 a Finnish word meaning \u2018resilient,\u2019\u201d says Sailor. Physically separate from the rest of the state, the U.P. \u201cis its own little subculture\u201d of resilience, resourcefulness, and the great outdoors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sailor makes it his life\u2019s work to expand and celebrate that subculture. No idea is too small\u2026or big.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA big driving force of a lot of my work,\u201d he says, is \u201cusing the quirky to bring people together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n \n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg> Photo Credit: Courtesy of Bugsy Sailor<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
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\n \u201cI like to connect with people over all these different subjects, make someone smile with it, get people together in a big way,\u201d he says. Here’s the 2019 Plaidurday celebration.\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n \n \n <\/figure>\n\n
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Like Plaidurday<\/a>, a \u201cworldwide\u201d celebration\u2014founded by Sailor\u2014of the U.P.\u2019s (unofficial) pattern with suggested activities like wearing plaid, making plaid cookies, and donating plaid clothing to shelters.<\/p>\n

Or 906 Day<\/a>, another Bugsy Sailor original, which encourages Yoopers to celebrate their area code by sharing photos with the hashtag #906Day annually on September 6.<\/p>\n

Or the dating site Yooper Singles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Or about a dozen others<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like sitting on ideas,\u201d he says. \u201cWe all have little ideas that surface. Hopefully, people see my work and think, \u2018Oh, I should start that little quirky idea I had.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat I think we\u2019re blessed with here in the U.P. [are] communities that are willing to say yes,\u201d he says. \u201cThat \u2018yes\u2019 mentality is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n BUGSY SAILOR<\/cite>\n <\/blockquote>\n\n