arts & life

art fairs

Big Red, Holland, left, and a 1957 Chevy Bel-Air, right, both by photographer Stan Goldberg

:

ern'Ann Arbor

One event,

four fairs, 1,000

artisans — and lots

more — take over

the college town.

The Ann Arbor Art Fair
runs Wednesday-Saturday,
July 15-18, across 30 city
blocks. The fair lets visitors
go behind the scenes to
see artisans at work on
their designs, including
painting, drawing, fiber art,
sculpture and more. For
details about each fair, visit
theannarborartfair.com .

I

Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer

A

ncient coins, genera-
tions-old lace patterns
and photographs of
vintage cars factor into new cre-
ative approaches shown by three
Jewish artists chosen for this
year's Ann Arbor Art Fair, which
runs July 15-18.
The artists and some 1,000 col-
leagues will be spread out along
four events scheduled simultane-
ously and enhanced with diverse
food concessions, entertainment,
skills demonstrations and activi-
ties, some especially for children.
The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair,
the original event, started in 1960
to boost the economy during the
summer months. Over the years,
other groups produced art fairs for
similar purposes only in different
locales.
The State Street Area Association
launched the State Street Area
Art Fair. The Guild of Artists
and Artisans developed the Ann
Arbor Summer Art Fair, and the
South University Area Association
planned the South University Art
Fair.
Due to construction on Ingalls
Mall, the original will be moving to
North University and will not have

an entertainment stage this year.
However, the Art Fair Main Stage
at the South University Art Fair
features groups from the Cadillac
Cowboys to the EMU Jazz Combo.
Karen Delhey, Guild of Artists
and Artisans marketing director,
reports that the fairs have a $79
million impact on the community.
Some 500,000 fair visitors have
opportunities to browse art forms
including paintings, ceramics,
sculpture and mixed-media as part
of a tradition that has appeared in
Ann Arbor for more than 50 years.
Among them, Yair Stern, who
owned a gallery in Jerusalem
before moving to Ontario,
models pendants and rings
with second-century coin
faces as one aspect of his
talents.
Nancy Wasserman,
who owned a gallery in
Ohio and lives in the
nation's capital, adapts
patterns from her
grandmother's lacework
into fused glass shaped
into jewelry and Judaica.
Stan Goldberg, who
retired to Louisville after
practicing dentistry in New
York, transitioned into a travel
photographer with images of
places he has visited and vehicles
he has admired. A 1940s Ford

truck stands out among his most
popular pictures.
"This will be my first year
in Ann Arbor:' says Stern, who
has appeared at outdoor shows
throughout Canada and near
Chicago over the past five years.
"I'm a self-taught artist who
likes creating designs and doing
everything myself, from casting
to stone setting:"
Stern, who uses some Japanese
techniques that layer mixed-met-

al laminates, will be at the South
University Art Fair, where he also
will display watches, earrings and
bracelets with clean lines.

ANN ARBOR on page 39

A 14K gold yellow and pink
hollow necklace by Yair Stern

