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Ann Arbor, MI
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Art Fair celebrates, connects artists and their audience Local artist and University student discuss the upcoming event By WILL STEWART Summer Managing Arts Editor
From July 20-23, hundreds of thousands will flock to Ann Arbor for the 58th annual Street Art Fair. After 57 years, the Fair has
expanded into four concurrent events — The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (The Original), Ann Arbor State Street Art Fair, Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair and Ann Arbor South University Art Fair — all located around Central Campus and downtown. It’s one of the busiest and most energetic weekends in the city, even rivaling football Saturdays in terms of crowd size. The Art Fair celebrates the intricate relationship between artists and their audience. In a phone interview with the Daily, Bloom-
field Hills-based artist Lisa Farris described her fondness for outdoor art fairs. “It feels more accessible in a way that galleries don’t,” Farris said. I think a lot of people come to an art fair for the fun of it, and they end up buying pieces that they like and want to have in their home. And these same people may never feel comfortable going to a gallery.” “An art fair isn’t intimidating. You’re actually talking to an artist, there are other activities, there’s food… it’s like a big party,” she said. “To get the actual work done, I spend so
much time just isolated. So to finally come out and have your work out there and have people react to it is really invigorating.” Farris, a graduate of the University of Michigan, earned a dual degree in Fine Arts and Honors English and speaks fondly of her experience in the Stamps School of Art and Design: “The professors were amazing. The school itself, like the student body, was so supportive of each other’s work — it was a great four years.” Although her education was focused in See ART FAIR, Page 8
The 58th Ann Arbor fair cultivates creativity, culture Construction paused on South University to make way for art vendors By JENNIFER MEER Summer Managing News Editor
inside
The annual Ann Arbor Art Fair will take place this Thursday through Sunday across several city streets and sidewalks, looking to draw in students, residents and
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artists from around the world. The event — now in its 58th year — is a collaboration among four smaller fairs: The Guild’s Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, State Street Art Fair, Ann Arbor South University Art Fair and Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, The Original. The event covers 29 city blocks in downtown Ann Arbor and serves as the largest outdoor juried Art Fair in the nation. Pertinent to this year’s fair are the State Street Art Fair’s semicentennial, as well as the pausing of construction on South
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University Avenue. Karen Delhey, spokeswoman for the fairs and the executive director of the Guild of Artists & Artisans, which oversees one fair, said the fair is unique each year by nature. “What we always say is that the Ann Arbor Art Fair is never the same twice, it’s different from year to year,” she said. “Yes, you’re going to always come out and see quality art, but the artists are different year after year, as is the artwork. You’ll have some new artists, you’ll have
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some returning artists that have new artwork. What we try and emphasize with this event, which is focused on the art, is that the art is what’s new, year after year.” Last year’s fair was the first time the fair ran Thursday to Sunday instead of Wednesday to Saturday; the change will persist this year. “Back in the ’60s when the fair started, times were very different, things weren’t open on Sunday, there were a lot more women that stayed home during the week, so it was easier for them to get See 58TH ANNUAL, Page 3
SPORTS
Dakich transfers The former walk-on guard will play for Ohio State as a graduate transfer. >> SEE PAGE 10
INDEX Vol. CXXVII, No. 78| © 2017 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS .................................... 2 SUDOKU................................ 2 OPINION ............................... 4 ARTS ......................................6 CLASSIFIEDS......................... 8 SPORTS.................................10