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.