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2014
Ann Arbor Art Fairs
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: : Four Juried Art Fairs : : :
University
of Michigan's Central Campus |
55th
Annual Ann Arbor Art Fair now underway through Saturday
Free
tours of the historic Burton Tower Carillon to be offered for the
first time
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| PHOTO
BY GLORIA RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com |
Attendees
checking out the art along State Street in downtown Ann Arbor.
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ANN
ARBOR, Mich. -- An
estimated crowd of 500,000 people are on the University of Michigan
central campus for the 2014 Ann Arbor Art Fair, which kicked off
on Wednesday and runs through Saturday. More than 1,100 artists
are displaying their works making it one of the largest art fairs
in the nation. The art fair is not just a place to buy art--visitors
can make their own art and take it home, enjoy the free entertainment
and eat some amazing food.
This year's
featured artists are Nick Wroblewski from Viroqua, Wis. for The
55th Annual Original Street Art Fair (Booth A247), Midori Ueda-Okahana
from Tokyo for the 47th Annual State Street Art Fair (Booth B231),
Bruce Jeffries Reinfeld from Philadelphia for the 45th Annual Summer
Art Fair (Booth C139-140), and Rick Loudermilk from Austin, Texas
for the 15th Annual South University Art Fair (Booth E153). They
are all featured on the cover of the official Art Fair guide published
by Art Showcase Magazine. Also, their official event posters will
be available for purchase at the respective art fairs.
"This year's
art fair will have terrific interactive activities in our Kalahari
Art Activity Zone," said Maureen Riley, executive director
of the Street Art Fair. "Children and adults can try their
hand at make-and-take art projects including learning how to throw
clay on a wheel or doing a slab project or painting on canvas and
lots of other things. Especially for the kids, but it's not only
kids. You can't get through the whole Ann Arbor Art Fair in one
day. It's virtually impossible. My advice is to plan what is most
important to you and where you want to shop."
What would you
say are the major differences from last year?
"Every
year we have many new artists. Every year, the returning artists
have new works. The art is really what's new from year to year.
We will continue with the Huron High School as well as the West
Maple Village shuttle and the Briarwood and Pioneer shuttles. We've
got the trolley that takes you around the fair for a dollar. You
get a wristband and ride around all day. We've got the Kalahari
Misting Station on State and South University."
Can you go over
some of the entertainment that is being offered?
"We've
got the Main Stage in the South University section and the Fountain
Stage in our section," Riley added. "We feature mostly
student and civic groups, very acoustic-based. One of the new things
this year is we have two scheduled Carillon concerts. The historic
Burton Tower is actually a Carillon. It's going to be played on
Thursday and Saturday. After the concert, you can tour the Carillon."
I remember when
the weather used to be somewhere between 90 and 100 degrees. This
year, it's going to be a little bit cooler.
"That's
the way it's looking. Believe it or not, it might not blistering
hot for the art fair this year. We couldn't be happier. We certainly
hope it means more business for the artists."
What are some tips for
those who have never gone before, but are thinking of attending
for the first time?
"My advice would
be to park in one of the park-and-ride shuttle locations,"
the executive director of the Street Art Fair explained. "There
is plenty of parking in downtown Ann Arbor. Maybe it's just a personal
bias, but I think it's a lot easier to just park in an outlying
area and just take the shuttle bus in. The shuttle bus from the
Huron High School drops directly at the Street Art Fair site. The
shuttles vary frequently from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. You don't have to
wait a long time to get a shuttle. We have a mobile application
now. It's A2 Art Fair. You can download it on both the iPhone and
Android platforms."
Which artists are coming
from the farthest away this year?
"We have an artist
coming from Japan and we have another artist coming from Buenos
Aires, Argentina. We have lots of artists coming from California
and Oregon. Really, I think there are 48 states and at least two
countries represented. The map is downloadable as is the official
guide. Please download that and come join us."
The 55th Annual Ann Arbor
Art Fair kicked off on Wednesday, July 16 and runs through Saturday,
July 19. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
For more
information about the Ann Arbor Art Fair, visit www.theannarborartfair.com
or download their iPhone app here.
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| PHOTO
BY GLORIA RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com |
Jewelry
Artist Gabriela Horvat from Buenos Aires, Argentina (Booth #E164)
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| PHOTO
BY GLORIA RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com |
Wicker
Baskets from Patronella Shepard of Kingsport, Tenn. (Booth #C092)
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| PHOTO
BY GLORIA RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com |
Original
Oil Paintings from Midori Ueda-Okahana of Tokyo, Japan (Booth #B231)
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| PHOTO
BY GLORIA RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com |
Pure
Existence - Modern & Jazz Dance on the Fountain Stage
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| PHOTO
BY GLORIA RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com |
George
Tait - The Living Statue returned to North University at Thayer
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| Graphic
credit: Crowdtorch LLC |
Click
here to download the official Ann Arbor Art Fairs app for iPhones.
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