aoga6-9/dnessd y, July 19, 1978-The Michigan Daily
Artists must qualify to exhibit work in fair
By SHELLEY WOLSON
It's not easy to become one of the
select artists who get to show and sell
their works at the Ann Arbor Art Fairs.
Being a good artist in no way guaran-
tees one the honor of exhibiting.
The three different art fairs follow
their separate procedures, and each
has an acceptance committee which
decides the lucky artists-to-be.
For the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair,
which runs along both South University
and East University Avenues, the 300
artists are carefully picked from hun-.
dreds of applicants. Commonly known
as the "juried show" because of its
rigorous screening process for
exhibitors, the selection begins at the
previous summer's Art Fair. Each
year, returning artists comprise about
80 per cent of the fair, leaving 30 to 60
spaces available for new artists.
To fill these spaces, the acceptance
committee sifts through hundreds of
applications, each accompanied by a
few slides of artwork. The acceptance
committee chairperson appoints the
jurors who will select the artists in each
area.
As the jurors view the slides, they
grade each applicant, and a certain
number of artists in each medium are
chosen, depending on their ranking as a
result of the grade. The jurors are
chosen from people actually working in
that particular art medium, in order to
have qualified judges making the final
decision.
The State St. Art Fair, though the
smallest in size, is not lacking in quality
exhibits. All artists are judged the
previous summer, and all exhibitors
awarded an excellent rating are invited
back. Applications with slides are sub-
mitted for the remaining spaces, as in
the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair. The
judging board, comprised of the board
of directors of the State St. Area
Association, review the applications
and make the difficult choices.
"We try to have a mixed media," said
co-chairperson Geri Willson. "It's such
a painful procedure - you have so
many magnificent artists and you just
don't have the space to choose them,"
she added.
The Main Street Art Fair is com-
prised of student artists who are mem-
bers of the Artists and Craftsmen
Guild. Memberships cost $15 while
F OL L E T T 'S
CELEBRATES
ART FAIR!
We're celebrating with a salute to
MILT KEMNITZ illustrator
of Ann Arbor Now and Then and
London and Back. Selected prints
available. Kemnitz Art Fair t-shirt
And with a huge interdisciplinary
BOOK SALE
Selected textbooks at /2 off.
Selected tradebooks at discounted
prices. Browse through the selection.
FOLLETT'S MICHIGAN BOOKSTORE_
322 South State Street
booths cost $45. Non-students may also
join the Guild in hopes of exhibiting, but
there is a long waiting list for these ar-
tists. For those who decide to exhibit
their works, there is a lottery for the
available spaces as there are a variety
of locations, with some areas hotly
sought after.
Ann Arbor merchants who wish to
sell their merchandise on sidewalks
directly in front of their property
during the fairs must apply for a street
occupancy permit from the city. The
permits will not automatically be
issued to artists who wish to participate
in the fair; they can only be obtained by
participants designated by the Art Fair
sponsors or merchants who are selling
their goods in front of their established
business location.
This permit policy rose out of a recen-
tly approved City Council ordinance
controlling issuance of the permits.
Super
umbrella
tops it
By SHELLEY WOLSON
A unique exhibit, "Superumbrella,"
will make its debut at the Ann Arbor
Street Art Fair this year, joining its
fellow artifacts on South University.
"Superumbrella," which weighs 150
pounds and covers a circular area 34
feet in diameter, was developed by
University Architecture Professor Kent
Hubbell and his architecture class.
Using funds from a $10,000 grant from
the National Endowment for the Arts,
the work was developed in Hubbell's
design studio and the stretched mem-
brane structure will replace several of
the previous wooden coverings
sheltering the outdoor exhibits in the
past.
"We were interested in using fabric
structures to cover the exhibits instead
' of the usual wooden covers. We went
ahead with the designs which ended up
being the superumbrella," said recent
University graduate Pat Hagerty, who
participated in the structure's design
and conception.
According to Hagerty, this year's ar-
chitecture class project was to study
the use of canopies for, short term fun-
ctions, such as art fairs. One of the
main features of the course is a real
project, with a real client, but the task
must be small enough to be completed
by the end of the term.
This summer the prototype
Superumbrella will be fabricated and
tested as a shelter for the Ann Arbor
Potter's Guild exhibition area at the
corner of South University and East
See SUPERUMBRELLA, Page 20
OPEN 9am - 8pm DURING ART FAIR