A2 streets filled with art buyers

The Ann Arbor Art Fair marks the largest event of its kind in the nation. During the four-day event, which consists of three separately-run fairs including the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, State Street Area Art Fair and Ann Arbor Street Fair, artisans and artists, street musicians and vendors alike make the most of beautiful weather by displaying their talents and merchandise.

More than 500,000 visitors came to Ann Arbor last week to join community members in celebrating the artists' works. Their crafts represent a massive variety of media, ranging from watercolor to brass sculpture.

Many artists travel from their home towns such as from Ann Arbor and even Spokane, Wash., to take part in this yearly event.

ADRIANA YUGOVICH/Daily A bronze sculpture of a little girl peeks out onto William Street at the Art Fair, Wednesday through Saturday. The piece by Jane DeDecker, a Colorado artist, was one of many works of art on display for the crowd.

Stan Miller, a watercolor artist from Spokane, after first showing his work at the Art Fair last year, decided to come back for a second round. He said he was pleased with the experience the fair had given him, as well as the visitors' reactions.

"I heard about the Ann Arbor show from an artist friend of mine who used to live in Michigan. Ten or 15 years later, I finally got here," Miller said. "I did it for the first time last year and was invited back."

Miller said the weather did not stop many from shopping.

"The response is pretty good, though when it gets hot, people get lethargic, Miller said. "But they are always appreciative."

But not all the artists are new to the ambience that pervades the streets of Ann Arbor during the Art Fair.

"Actually, my parents were doing art fairs since before I was born," said Ananda Bricker, a native of Empire, who creates delicate porcelain flowers, along with her mother and sister. "My father was a jeweler, and my mother made these porcelain flowers, so I practically grew up under the table at the art fair."

The flowers in her exhibit are inspired mostly by images of Northern Michigan wildflowers and are formed with porcelain, sheet copper and paints.

"We did the Ann Arbor Art Fair in the mid-'60s to the early '70s, and then began again in the '80s," Bricker said.

Bricker added that touring at art fairs around the country "is really a lifestyle, and I love it."

Although artists and artisans are the main attraction of the Art Fair, residents of Ann Arbor and visitors have come to expect much more from the celebration.

Eastern Michigan junior Joe Davis said he looks forward to visiting the Art Fair each year.

"I've been coming to the Art Fair for a lot of years now, and I've been having a lot of fun," Davis said. "I'm a former fine arts major, so I'm really interested in what works people are doing nowadays."

Davis said there are many inexpensive items that people can buy .at the various exhibits

"There are a lot of good sales," Davis said. "Stores are having sidewalk sales, so I'm pretty stoked about that."

Stores all over Ann Arbor set up booths and tables to sell their merchandise Wherehouse Records on South University was one of the businesses which was represented on the sidewalks, taking the opportunity to sell sale items and music accessories. Erick Haight, an assistant manager at Wherehouse Records, said he was very pleased with the business that the Art Fair generated.

"We've had a really good turn out and have beat our sales numbers from last year by a sizable margin," Haight said. "Although, I wish we would have done more advertising.

"As for the customers, one would think that during hot days, people would get abrasive, but that hasn't been the case," Haight added.

LSA junior Andrea Lipps agreed with Haights. She accepted a temporary Art Fair position at the Footprints booth outside its store, located on South University.

"The customers I have been dealing with have been pretty good," said Lipps. "They have been pretty laid-back."

Lipps also said active selling on the sidewalks has been very effective at the Art Fair.

"We've been selling a lot and been having lots of great sales," Lipps said. "People are out there wanting to spend money, albeit the heat."

The high temperatures and extreme humidity may have discouraged some visitors, but it did not dampen their excitement.

"I've been living in Ann Arbor for six years, and have attended the Art Fairs years after year," said Peter Joh, an LSA senior.

Alumnus and current resident of Fenton, Diane Wujiak said she enjoyed the art and atmosphere of the Art Fair.

"I've been here for a couple of hours, and I'm not shopping for anything in particular," Wujiak said. "But it's nice to be here, enjoying the art and listening to the music."

Street performers are another ancipitated aspect of the Art Fair. Many of these performers are from dance and instrumental troupes from around the area. But some have traveled much further to gain a new audience to experience their music.

Bakra Bata, a percussion group from Seattle, Wash., visited Ann Arbor with its infectious rhythms and ancestral beats. Using steel drums, chimes, bongos and more, the band's music lit up the faces of its audiences and picked up their feet when Bakra Bata performed on the corner of Thompson St. and Liberty St.

Art and music weren't the only things that visitors feasted their senses on. Food vendors selling snacks from gyros to elephant ears surrounded the area. But the most sought out vendors were those that could most successfully quench the mid-July heat and humidity.

"The art fair has been great. We've been selling tons and tons of water," noted Amy Barbee, an Eastern Michigan senior and worker at the Absopure Water booth on South University Ave. "It was such a good idea to set up a booth like this and has been oodles and oodles of fun."

Tina Mason, Barbee's fellow Absopure worker and a Lansing Community College second-year student, said she was happy with the crowds and satisfied with her experience at the Art Fair.

The Art Fair is fabulous, darling," Mason said.

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