Is There Art at the Fair?

“What’s the difference between a puppy and an artist? “
“A puppy will eventually stop whining.”

I stumbled on Sharon Donovan telling this joke to a Michigan Theater employee. “Do you work here at the Michigan?” I asked. “Oh no, I have a booth – I do jewelry.”

It’s an age-old observation by Ann Arbor residents that there seems to be very little ART at the Art Fair. They gripe about the outsiders who come into town, take up our parking spaces and congest our streets, all to simply go home with a garden ornament on a stick or a straw hat (seemingly particularly popular this year).

I am not one of the malcontents. I LOVE Art Fair. Have, ever since I lived on campus when I was in school. And of course, out of hundreds of booths, there’s lots of real art. One of my favorite artists is Bert Beirne, who is a part of the State Street Art Fair and always has the same spot under the Maynard Street parking structure. A couple visits to Amsterdam have made me a little bonkers for Dutch and Flemish paintings, a style Beirne is clearly emulating. Her prices also emulate the Dutch Masters – this painting was one of her least expensive at $1,900. Most are in the $4,000-$6,000 range.

Another favorite I always try to find is the Hibbs Art Glass Studio, with a booth usually on North University. Karen Hibbs' stained glass has a bit of a Craftsman feel, but incorporates fossils and other unexpected elements from nature.

After having such a nice conversation with Ed Walter during set up, I stopped by his booth to see his jewelry. One ring I admired had a lovely, simple square gold setting and a square iolite stone. Ed said iolite is from Brazil and similar to a blue sapphire or tanzanite. I asked Ed how business had been so far, and he replied “so so.”

The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair is the granddaddy of the fairs, and supposedly has the strictest jury. Of the Ann Arbor residents who shun the whole event, some will pop in just to visit the high-quality artists at this Fair. And most of my favorites tend to be there, too. For instance, I’ve admired the work of Kathleen Eaton for years. A neighbor bought one of her paintings a couple years ago, of which I am very covetous. Though I think they had to sell a car to afford it – Eaton’s paintings run in the $3,000 range or higher.

Frank Relle is a photographer I discovered last year, when he showed a number of amazingly evocative paintings of devastated houses in post-Katrina New Orleans. Relle uses complicated lighting and exposure techniques to achieve these wonderfully spooky photos in the city I love so much. I asked him about the gallery where he exhibits in NOLA, and he said he had recently left because it made showing at fairs difficult (he also does booths at Jazz Fest, plus fairs in Des Moines and Denver). A friend who is a fine artist once explained to me that galleries still require artists to give them commission (sometimes half the price!), even when the works are sold at a fair.

When the Value of Your House Has Shrunk 10%,
Do You Really Want to Drop $4,000 on a Painting?

The Award for Excellence and Originality at the Street Art Fair went to James Petran, another wonderful painter of still lifes. I asked James about business. “I haven’t talked to a single artist who said they’re having a good fair,” he replied. And we spoke for a while about the economy. I asked Petran if he and the other out-of-town artists had heard about the Pfizer layoffs, or the housing slump here in town. “Yeah, but Ann Arbor still has all the white-collar jobs at the University,” was his response. “Sweety, the 2,500 jobs Pfizer eliminated WERE white collar, “ I pointed out. “And we’re not that big a town – only 100,000.” He didn’t believe my population number, until a local artist nearby chimed in on the conversation.

This causes me to wonder if the out-of-town artists at the Fair have a clear understanding of the economic picture here in Michigan? Petran, like many of the other high-end artists, had priced his work in the thousands. Who is the market for that in Michigan these days? I understand that artists are business people who need to price their work fairly. But, have some of these folks priced themselves beyond what our market will bear? And if so, whose fault is it if they aren’t selling at the Art Fair?

So what did I spend at the Art Fair? $100 on blown glass balls that I save for Christmas to give as gifts. $100 on three sundresses from Betty’s Tropical Designs (I’m a loyal customer) in the much-maligned King’s Courtyard fair. And $65 each for two photo prints from Barbara Gundle, who exhibits in the South University Art Fair. Gundle spent her early career as a photojournalist for at a west coast newspaper, and her work really has the emotional immediacy of that genre. “Documentary photography is really my first love,” she told me. Gundle also gives 10% of her yearly profit to organizations that support grass roots social change in third world countries. Her booth was packed with customers making purchases, and I overheard conversations with two returning clients. So while her prints may not be one-of-a-kind and cost thousands, they sure seems to be giving people a lot of pleasure, and doing some good in the world, too.

“How many artists does it take to change a light bulb?”
“10. One to change the bulb, and 9 to talk about how much brighter the light was three years ago.”

Thank you for that dose of humor, Sharon Donovan

Art Fair Set Up

“Don’t quote me!”

Well, of course that’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Now I HAVE to talk about Daina Dickens, a jewelry artist setting up her booth on Liberty. “Who are YOU?!” she asked accusingly, and I introduced myself, explaining that I’m a blogger. Daina didn’t want to talk, and she was pretty hostile. Maybe she’d had a rough day – but I won’t be buying any bling from her.

I was downtown assisting my commie-pinko friends with the setup of the ACLU booth on non-profit row on Liberty. Darren, David, Dixie, Mary, and I made short work of putting up the booth, so I decided to wander around and experience Art Fair behind the scenes.

After fleeing the angry jeweler’s booth, I encountered some of the kids who work at the Michigan Theater changing the marquis. I asked how many years of training and apprenticeship is required for that particular job. “We don’t like to talk about it,” replied Clark Baxtressa. “We’re very secretive.” I told Clark about my earlier encounter, and he very sagely observed that artists should be required to take some sort of customer relations class in fine arts school. Kind of like med students taking classes on patient relations.

In sharp contrast to the angry jeweler, I found Ed Walter to be very jolly. He was setting up on State Street, just south of the William Street intersection. Ed is a jeweler from Florida, so I asked him how gas prices are affecting the artists. “Horrible!” he exclaimed. “How can gas in Michigan cost more than Hawaii!?” Ed has a system though – he described which states on his route have the cheapest gas, and how he plots when to fill up his tank. Georgia, for instance, is usually cheap and a good state to gas up. “Gas prices definitely impact how far you’ll travel to participate in a show, “ he told me. “It’s a business decision.”

Leaving Ed and wandering down William, I stumbled on Dorie Mickelson, an old acquaintance from my corporate days. Dorie is showing her pottery for the first time at the Ann Arbor fair – it’s been so long since I’ve seen her that I had no idea she’d chucked the rat race to become an artist. “It’s my second career,” she told me. “I took a class five years ago, and loved it so much I bought a wheel after the fourth session. Then six months later got a kiln. Then did my first show a year later!”

Here's wishing Dorie and Ed have a successful fair. Hopefully the slow economy won't impact fair-goers, and with the latest forecast it appears that the weather gods are smiling. Which is good, cause my enthusiasm for defending the constitution might suffer a bit if I have to sit in that little ACLU booth in 95 degree heat.

Ann Arbor Antique Market

“I know, I know. But we could get a mattress custom made…”

Antiques, like love, can cause people to do crazy things. I overheard this gentleman suggest a custom-made mattress to someone on the other end of his cell phone call, presumably because he was lusting after the Victorian bed frame two booths over. Wisely, he chose to have the conversation away from said bed frame, and its seller. Wanting an antique (or anything, for that matter) so badly that you’ll have something purpose-built simply to make it usable does not make for a good bargaining position.

April through October, the Ann Arbor Antique Market takes place every Sunday out at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds. It’s been around in one form or another for 39 years, founded by Margaret Brusher in the Farmers Market. In fact, I remember when we used to call it the “Brusher show.”

Several years ago, Mrs. Brusher retired and sold the Market to Tom Monaghan, former pizza magnate and Catholic philanthropist. I have a long-standing (though now pointless) policy of not ordering pizza from Dominos because I don’t agree with the man’s politics, or his religious enthusiasms. So one would think I’d extend my boycott to the show. But the lure of antiques, again like love, is too tempting. A medium pepperoni with extra cheese I can resist. But not the 1930s Double Wedding Ring quilt I just bought. Hey, at least I don’t have to have a bed built to go under it.

Depending on the month, anywhere from 200 to 300 dealers sell their wares in stalls throughout tents and the fairground buildings. Vendors selling large pieces of furniture usually set up in the tents where there’s more room to maneuver, while smaller and more fragile collectibles are in the buildings. I spoke with one dealer who told me that gas prices make it harder this season for the out-of-state vendors to show. And while I have to imagine that a de-Pfizered Ann Arbor will have less money to spend on antiques, dealers I spoke to said that this season’s early shows have been busy.

In 15+ years of attending, it seems to me that prices haven’t really gone up that much, at least on pieces that I can afford and am interested in. For instance, Victorian dining room and bedroom furniture appears to be priced at about what it was five or ten years ago. Quilts seemed to peak about seven or eight years ago, particularly on geometric Amish styles, but that seems to have leveled off. However, items that fall into the “folk art” category, and anything that is particularly graphic – vintage posters or tin advertising signs – seem hot. Antiques, like anything else, have their fashions. One wonders at the popularity of prosthetic legs, for instance. Unfortunately, the policies of the current administration may mean they are in demand.

T.O.P. Wrap Up

"Errr, what should I call you?” I asked.
“Honey, you can just call me Sunshine.”

And that was my first encounter with Lady Sunshine, several years ago when I was booking her band for an event. Six years later, she and The X Band knocked everyone’s socks off at Top of the Park (view clip). There had to be over 200 devoted slaves to Sunshine dancing and singing along in the street alone, not counting the crowd jamming in the seats of the beer garden.

Hey Mister Man, I’m gonna tell your wife on you
yes I am
Hey Mister Man, I’m gonna tell your wife on you
yes I am
Cause you’ve been messin round with girlfriend
Now you’re messin round with her sister, too.

TOP lost a tent and a cooler to the wind during Thursday’s afternoon storm (thankfully no one was hurt), but otherwise near-perfect weather seems to have brought out the crowds. “I’d say we’ve averaged about 30% more people this year than previous years,” said Steve Guttman, TOP Manager. “The weather, plus our location here on Ingalls Mall, has really been in our favor.” When I asked Steve whether he thought the University would allow TOP to remain on Ingalls, “I don’t really know at this point” was his response.

Hundreds certainly came out for InFlight. What a terrific band! With steel drums, funky keyboards and vocals, the band brought a taste of Trinidad and Tobago to Washington Street (view clip). This gentleman was in the spirit of the evening, and former mayor(and current Summer Festival Board Member) Ingrid Sheldon was a dancing machine. And let’s face it, the cable guy could sing “Hot! Hot! Hot!” and I’d dance like a fool.

See people rockin’ yeah people chantin’
Feelin’ hot hot hot
Keep up the spirit come on let’s do it
Feelin’ hot hot hot

Top of the Park traditionally closes with a performance by George Bedard and the Kingpins (view clip). Sandor Slomovits called them “Ann Arbor’s house band” in a review on ArborWeb, and the crowd Sunday night was digging the tunes and dancing up a storm. The Kingpins’ brand of rockabilly isn’t quite my cup of tea, but it was great to see TOP go out on a high note with such a huge, happy crowd.

So that’s it. Dozens of staff put in some brutal hours over the course of three weeks to make TOP happen – not to mention the months of planning by Summer Festival staff. Their efforts made this year's event one big, continuous party for the people of Ann Arbor, of which I was happy to partake. I usually spend the bulk June traveling, but this summer was the first in many years that I’ve been in town for virtually the entire run. Though at this point I feel a little bit like a kid who’s just eaten an entire bag of Hershey’s Kisses. Maybe too much of a good thing. Thank heavens Art Fair is only four days…

A2 Questionnaire: Colleen Crawley

(Same 6 Questions, Different Victim)

Colleen Crawley, Project Designer for Motawi Tileworks

Colleen, what’s your favorite dish to cook?
Pasta with grilled vegetables – it’s delicious, easy to make and everybody loves it!

It’s Friday night and you’re exhausted – what do you do for dinner?
If my teenage daughter is home, we often grab a pie from NYPD – our favorite pizza in town. But Jerusalem Garden is usually the first choice if it’s just my husband and I.

It’s Saturday night and you’re ready to go out and have a great time – what do you do?
We might start with dinner downtown – maybe Shalimar in the cold weather or Prickly Pear’s courtyard in the summer. While we’re waiting for a table, we’ll stroll into the shops and galleries on Main Street, especially Four Directions and Selo Shevel. Afterwards we’ll either go hear some music or catch a flick at the Michigan Theater. Of course it it’s early summer, we’re probably heading to Top of the Park.

What’s your favorite restaurant (besides Zingerman’s!) to take out-of-town guests?
Often we head to Seva, but we’ve also had great luck with Quarter Bistro.

What do you love about Ann Arbor that you think is unique among other cities?
The quality of life! Not just hospital and school options, great restaurants, groceries, coffee shops, amazing parks, bike trails, low crime, cleanliness, etc. But also the fact that we live less than a mile from downtown (an easy walk) but we’re off a dirt road, surrounded by vegetation and wildlife – now that’s unique!

Last question – if you were to write a Blues song about living in Ann Arbor, what would the title be?
“(I Got) The Birkenstock Blues”

Trader Joe's, and Stating the Obvious About Downtown

“Good intentions, but as long as I can’t find a place to buy toilet paper and Tide downtown, I’m going to need my car.”

(Hmmm. Quoting myself? Must be feeling particularly self-important today.)

Recognizing that this doesn’t exactly qualify as a news flash, if Ann Arbor wants to achieve a truly urban, high-density, livable downtown, there has to be a viable small grocery within easy walking distance of said density. Kerrytown and the People's Food Co-Op serve the Kerrytown district, but something more centrally located would be ideal.

In a previous post about loft-living downtown (the origin of the quote above), I also speculated that possible buyers at Liberty Lofts might have second thoughts, given the unknown factor of the tenant for the 20,000+ feet of commercial space currently vacant in that building. Don't you think a Trader Joe’s would fit the space, and serve the downtown and Old West Side community, perfectly?

TP and Frozen Pizza

Strip malls like the Lamp Post Plaza are not necessarily Trader Joe’s only habitat. Before the store opened here in Ann Arbor, my first encounter was with a Trader Joe’s in the Back Bay area of Boston (photo left). And I have friends living in Wrigleyville in Chicago, who for years have extolled the virtues of “Two-Buck Chuck.”

Think of what Trader Joe’s could offer downtown, all under one roof. Fresh produce, meat, and flowers. Bread, milk, and dairy. Cereals, coffee, beverages. Fantastic gourmet goodies. And many of the staples that, to my knowledge, are not currently easily available downtown – paper products, dish and laundry soap, pet supplies. Oh, and frozen pizza. Don’t forget frozen pizza. In taking an inventory of what Trader Joe's has to offer, the only necessities to my “modern” life that I found lacking (at least in the Ann Arbor location) were Pop Tarts and soft drinks.

Even though Trader Joe’s carries food-stuffs and products that appeal to a high-end lifestyle, their prices are not high end, which would be a boon for downtown residents on a budget. And I would think that, after dropping half a mil on a loft, many of these folks oughta be on a budget.

I know absolutely nothing about Trader Joe’s growth or business plan (though click here for an interesting article), and whether they would consider that Ann Arbor could sustain a second store. I do know that the 20,000 square feet of space at Liberty Lofts is expensive. When you consider that most grocery stores require a low per square foot lease rate/cost, I suppose it’s unlikely that a Trader Joe’s, or any comparable market, would open in that space. Or any other downtown, for that matter.

But a girl can dream, can’t she?

Mountain Stage Radio Show

You know when you’re at a party, and a friend tells a story that you’ve heard at least a couple times before? But you laugh your butt off anyway, since you like the guy so much and because with each retelling the embellishments are more over the top?

That’s the way I feel when Jeff Daniels performs what has become his “Where Did My Wife Go” Blues. At this point in its life cycle, a 28’ RV from Lloyd Bridges, two bags of snacks, and a theology student from Princeton are just a few of the accoutrements of the story (in addition to the wife). And even though it had to be at LEAST the third time I’d heard the tale, I still laughed so hard that tears rolled down my cheeks, at the Mountain Stage Radio Show performance during the Ann Arbor Summer Festival.

The Mountain Stage Radio show is sponsored by West Virginia Public Radio, and the episode recorded in the Power Center will air later this month on WHFR, public radio out of Dearborn. The show is Prairie Home Companion-esque, with host Larry Groce reading snippets, bios, and sponsorships during set changes. That’s Francis the recording engineer at the recording boards, back stage. In addition to Jeff Daniels, Catie Curtis performed several songs, including one she co-wrote titled “People Look Around,” which won the grand prize this year at the International Songwriting Competition.

A sample of the award-winning lyrics….

When the water is rising and there is no higher ground,
You can wave your hands up on the roof,
But you might be left to drown.
In the streets of New Orleans; a makeshift funeral pall,
Here lies Vera, God help us all.
And the truth is bigger than these drops of rain, falling.

Antje Duvekot, a German-born folkie with a beautiful voice, was also on the bill, as was Duncan Sheik, who has earned much acclaim recently for writing the music for the Tony-award-winning musical Spring Awakening. But honestly, I’d just as soon hear him sing “Barely Breathing.”

The Empire Strikes

The highlight of the evening was the set by Cat Empire, this crazy band from Australia with a rather unfortunate name. I don’t know who these guys are, but they woke up the crowd in the Power Center! (video clip) Six members playing a mix of instruments, including one who was literally smokin’ on the trumpet, and a kick-ass organ player. And the music? Whacked. Genre-defying. High-energy. I heard Latin. I heard funk. I heard jazz. Loved ‘em!

Cat Empire’s only shortcoming was vocals. At one point, my friend turned to me and asked, “can you understand anything that they’re singing?” Maybe it was the Aussie accent, or perhaps something to do with the levels set for the radio taping, but both men who took lead vocal seemed like they could work on making their pipes stronger. But you know what? when a group is so pretty to look at, this sheila will cut them some slack.

("sheila" reference too cheezy?)

In the lobby I bumped into Jessica, John, Nick, and Sarah, young friends who work at Kosmo in Kerrytown, and Cat groupies. Count me among the converted, too!