Ann Arbor Art Fairs : All posts

Ann Arbor Art Fair entertainment schedules

The Ann Arbor Art Fair is about more than visual art. A variety of live entertainment takes place around the event. Here's a complete schedule:

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with poll: Ann Arbor Art Fair ready to cover the town with creativity

Booths and people will fill the streets of Ann Arbor again Wednesday-Saturday.

AnnArbor.com file photo

Booths upon booths of artists selling their work, music and other performances, businesses doing sidewalk sales, and an array of activities for adults and their kids will take over downtown. The enormous 4-day art fair returns for its 52nd time Wednesday through Saturday. Fairgoers from near and far will pack the town from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Buying, or at least looking at, art is arguably the biggest reason so many people go. The fair usually draws around an estimated 500,000 people. Four individual fairs collaborate on the massive event to feature artists from all over the world who work in “2D and 3D-mixed media, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, ceramics, fiber, glass, jewelry and works in metal, stone, and wood,” according to the fair’s official description of its range.

There are also plenty of things to do for free during the fair. On top of selling art, a number of artists will be presenting free “Art Demos” of how they make their art. People of all ages can make their own art at hands-on “Art Activity Zones” located throughout the fair. Or you can exchange ideas with representatives from non-profits and social causes while standing in the middle of a usually busy Liberty Street.

Ann Arbor Art Fair facts: parking, hours, map and more

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com file photo

• The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair is located in the streets surrounding Burton Carillon Tower at North University and East Washington connected by Ingalls Mall.


• The State Street Area Art Fair is located on State Street, North University, East Liberty, and Maynard.


• The Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair has two locations, on Main Street plus one block of State Street (between Angell Hall and the Michigan Union).


• Ann Arbor’s South University Art Fair fills out the entire South University Avenue area.

Rich Kinsey - Semper Cop

Column: The spectacle that is the Ann Arbor Art Fair

Love it or hate it, the circus that is the Ann Arbor Art Fair is coming to town in less than two weeks.

Running from July 20-23 the Ann Arbor Art Fair will bring an estimated 500,000 people into the downtown area according to the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. That is a lot of business, a lot of revenue, a lot of people and a lot of organized chaos around town.

Most locals have a strong opinion about the Art Fair. For merchants, restaurateurs, and artisans it means opportunity.

For locals that work in the downtown area in other fields it means getting knocked out of “your” daily parking spot and having to change comfortable traffic routes in and around the downtown area. It means having to leave for work early, as if for a snow emergency, in order to find somewhere to park.

martin bandyke column

Ann Arbor Art Fair is music to your ears

Just as it should be, the focus will be on the visuals during the Ann Arbor Art Fair, which takes over the town from July 20-23. But I’d like to highlight some of the cool musical entertainment you will be able to hear while you’re checking out all that fabulous art.

Consisting of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (The Original), Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, State Street Area Art Fair, and the South University Art Fair, the extravaganza will also feature everything from high school bands to nationally recognized recording artists.

with poll: The Ann Arbor Art Fair aiming to be more 'fairgoer friendly'

Crowds at last year's Ann Arbor Art Fair.

AnnArbor.com file photo

Visitors started traveling around the fair’s massive footprint in the new A2 Art Trolley last year. The trolley travels around the edge of the fair’s periphery and all-day tickets are only a buck.

In addition to AATA “Art Fair Park and Ride Shuttles” at Briarwood Mall and Pioneer High School, where people park and travel to and from the fair, a new “Trinity Westside Art Fair Park and Ride Shuttle” added at Maple Village (155 N. Maple Road at the intersection of Jackson Road) will make it easier for people living on that side of town to park and ride to the fair.

Townie Street Party announces new location, music lineup

The Townie Street Party—the annual locally focused event that precedes the Ann Arbor Art Fairs—has announced some details of this year's bash, including a slightly different home.

Taking place 5-9:30 p.m. Monday, July 18, this year's party will be located on East Washington Street between Thayer and Fletcher. The party has moved around somewhat since its creation a few years ago, but it's always been somewhere in the vicinity of Ingalls Mall.

Young artists' work sought for display at Townie Street Party

Young artists have two chances this week to submit their work for consideration to be displayed as part of this year's Townie Street Party, the annual lead-in to the Ann Arbor Art Fairs.

The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair — the sponsor of the Townie Party, and one of the four fairs that concurrently make up the Ann Arbor Art Fairs — welcomes artists from Washtenaw County in third through eighth grades to submit their work to be juried for the 2011 Kids Art Fair, to be held as part of the Townie Party July 18, 5-9:30 p.m.

Editorial

Opinion: Ann Arbor is fortunate to have Art Fairs

If someone were to announce that a new business was coming to Ann Arbor and would generate an estimated $70 million in economic activity here, that would be considered great news.

Such an enterprise did open in Ann Arbor a week-and-a-half ago, as it does every year. Collectively, it’s called the Ann Arbor Art Fairs, and its impact on the community is immense.

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Harvey Drouillard pulls off nude photo shoot at Hill Auditorium - with a surprise participant

Disrobing in the basement of Antelope Antiques with a steady crowd of art fair patrons peeking around a corner, previously uber-confident Derian Kuneman was hit by a sudden wave of self-consciousness.

It wasn't just that the petite 20-year-old with straight auburn hair was completely nude in front of any civilian on East Liberty Street who needed a break from the heat. And it wasn't that she was about to do the same in front of hundreds outside Hill Auditorium, or that pictures of her in the buff would soon be immortalized on postcards.

Ann Arbor Art Fairs

Vendors blame weather for downturn at Ann Arbor Art Fairs

Salem residents Carla Pariseau, left, and son John Pariseau watch the kinetic sculptures of Andrew Carson at the State Street Art Fair Saturday.

Angela J. Cesere | For AnnArbor.com

Kati Russell has been selling her art at the Ann Arbor Art Fairs for a decade and says sales were particularly slow this year, likely due to the unpredictable weather.

"This is the first year it's been slow," said Russell, a painter and resident of Akron, Ohio. "(My sales this year) are probably 5 percent of my normal sales."

Your voice: What fairgoers are seeing, saying online Saturday

Share your experience at the Ann Arbor Art Fairs with our readers! Click here for details on how to interact.

Photo by Bradley Cross, 60, of Ann Arbor, taken Friday during one of the storms that blew through the Ann Arbor Art Fairs.

On Twitter:

From @SarainAnnArbor: Oh sure, now its beautiful after we walked around the mall and are pooped out! Art Fair, I'll see you next year :(

From @shatteredhaven: Stoped raining & it's sunny & humid at Ann Arbor Art Fair.

From @clarewrobz: Hittin up this ann arbor art fair. I'm gonna find the NPR tent and rule the news quiz they've been blabbin about on my radio...

From @whatyatalknbout: thinks the Ann Arbor Art Fair is overrated. I just want to be able walk down Main street again!

video: Ann Arbor Art Fair Artist Profile - Glenna Adkins

Saturday's weather outlook: more of the same?

Today is the final day of the Ann Arbor Art Fairs this year, and the weather forecasts sound a lot like yesterday: periods of rain and heat.

Street Art Fair announces award winners

The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair — centered in the Ingalls Mall area, and one of four that make up the Ann Arbor Art Fairs — has announced 10 winners of its awards of excellence and originality.

Winning booth numbers, artists, and media are:
A107, Leon Niehues, Fiber, Baskets
A119, Christy Klug, Jewelry
A144, Nick Wroblewski, Printmaking
A147, Betsy Giberson, Fiber
A150, Scott Hartley, Painting
A232, Robert Farrell, Metalsmithing
A307, Dennis Nahabetian, Metalsmithing
A324, Justin Teilhet, Clay
A325, Heinrich Toh, Printmaking
A335, Cheryl Gail Toh, Mixed Media

Julie Fremuth (Booth A131, Mixed Media) was named as the 2011 Featured Artist. Her original art work will be featured on the Street Art Fair merchandise next year for the celebration of the Art Fair’s 52nd Anniversary.

video: Summer Art Fair wooden toy maker talks about how he got started

I'll admit that I have a soft spot for well-crafted, wooden toys, so Russell Fullone's booth on State Street — part of the Summer Art Fair — made me stop and stare a couple of times.

Fullone makes old model fire engines, trucks (sometimes carrying small barrels or crayons), cars, golf carts, and more — and those more obviously appealing to an adult audience have a small clock built-in.

Slideshow: Sights from day three of the 2010 Art Fairs

video: Musicians at Nickels Arcade state obvious, proclaim art fair 'So damn hot'

Art fair patrons trying to beat the heat were fighting a losing battle at the Ann Arbor Art Fairs on Friday. A trio of musicians at Nickels Arcade instead just put the heat to a beat.

video: Homeless and artists compete for business on the street

Normally, the only people asking for money on the street in downtown Ann Arbor are the homeless. Not so during the Ann Arbor Art Fairs and, as the following video shows, it's not always easy to tell the difference.

Ann Arbor Art Fairs

More than just the art: Merchants' sidewalk sales can be another big draw of Art Fairs week

While the eyes of the public largely focus on the artists' booths at the Ann Arbor Art Fairs, another key component of the week lies in the sidewalk sales set up in front of local stores.