The Michigan Daily/New Student Edition - Thursday, September 6, 1990 - Page 13
'\ Art fair draws artists,
students back to
A2
by Jennifer Armstrong
Daily NSE Contributor
Where can you find more people,
exhibits, events, food, music and
fun than you've ever imagined
jammed into four days? Bet you
didn't know it's all here in Ann Ar-
bor's the art fair.
The art fair is a long-standing
tradition in Ann Arbor. This year's
celebration will mark the event's
31st season.
Every year, more than 400,000
people jam the streets (and parking
spaces) of Ann Arbor, the third week
in July, to attend the event. Artists
from across the country arrive to sell
their art - anything from paintings
to pottery, wood carvings to wear-
able art.
Many students home for the
summer come back to Ann Arbor to
see friends and attend parties planned
for the weekend.
"It's the best weekend of the
summer," said LSA senior Darby
Miller. "It's a four day party."
The art fair has something for ev-
eryone. For the hungry, there's a
potpourri of cuisines to choose
from, for those seeking entertain-
ment there are live musical and the-
atrical shows daily. The fair even
boasts special children's activities.
And, of course, there's plenty of art
to go around.
The art fair actually consists of
three separate art fairs. The oldest
fair is held on South University and
East University. The other fairs are
held in the State Street area and on
Main Street.
In order to participate in the fair,
artists pay a booth fee of $150, plus
a 4% commission on their sales.
"This is relatively low for a fair of
this size," said Susan Froelich, coor-
dinator of the Ann Arbor Street Art
Fair Inc. (AASAFI). Profits earned
above the 4% fee artists keep
Froelich added.
A total of 1000 artists participate
in all three fairs. AASAFI, which
coordinates the South U fair, re-
ceives about 1400 applications an-
nually for the 200 positions avail-
able.
The non-profit organization also
purchases artists' works for public
buildings. One work, by local artist
Grace Ann Warn, will be dedicated in
June to the Catherine McCauley
Health Center. In the past AASAFI
donated works to the Ronald Mc-
Donald House and the new edition of
the Ann Arbor Public Library.
But not everyone appreciates the
art fair. Ann Arbor residents often
The original Earth Day was held in Ann Arbor in 1970 Ann Arbor citizens still actively work for environmental
causes. Some of the groups that do this work are Greenpeace, the Rainforset Action Movement, and Recycle Ann
Arbor.
CIty seeks solutions to its
*environmental problems
complain about the large crowds,
volumes of litter and lack of parking
spaces the art fair spawns.
In an attempt to respond to the
problems caused by the art fair, this
year a system will be used to register
visitors and allow them to give their
input on the event.
While the art fair annoys some
Ann Arborites with the inconve-
niences it creates, other residents
turn the problems into profit by
charging visitors up to $5 to park on
their lawns.
Others, however, appreciate the
event's excellence. Artists often tell
Froelich that Ann Arbor's art fair is
one of the top three in the country
she said.
Local artist I.B. Remsen demon-
strates his pottery skills on South
University during the art fair. He
travels throughout the year "as far
east as Boston and as far west as
Minneapolis," but attends the Ann
Arbor event each year because he can
depend on its attendance and sales. ;
"You can always count on it. It's
unique in that it has held its own in ,
an indifferent economy," said Rem-
sen "It's a quasi-community, quasi-
business and quasi-artistic event."
"Everyone talks about how much 4
money the artists make," Remsen :
added, "but the businesses make the
most money."
Organizations other than the three
art fair associations also plan activi-
ties to coincide with the art fair. The
Ann Arbor Y organizes children's
events including painting, wood
sculpting, and sun visor fashioning.
The Washtenaw Council for the
Arts organizes several performances
for the art fair. Live bands, theater
groups, mimes, and children's
groups perform throughout the
week.
Of course, with 400,000 people
in the city for one weekend, there are
a few parties as well. Some fraterni-
ties throw open parties to celebrate
the occasion while other students re-
lax on their front lawns at their own
private get-togethers.
When the artists pack up their
displays, the fun doesn't end. So
even if you're not an art enthusiast,
there's a reason to come to Ann Ar-
bor for the art fair.
by Mike Sullivan
Daily Staff Writer
Living up to its reputation as the
most liberal city in Michigan, Ann
Arbor has a long history of envi-
ronmental leadership. Nevertheless,
the city faced rude news in the last
few years: its landfills are almost
full.
In response to reports that Ann
Arbor's current landfill sites will be
full by the year 2000, April's city
election ballot included a proposal
issuing $28 million in bonds for
waste management. The proposal
passed by a four to one margin, a
record level of support for any bond
issue in Ann Arbor history.
Part of those funds will be used
to establish a voluntary recycling
program in the city, including the
distribution of sorting bins to all
residences and weekly pick-ups.
The proposal also allocated $5.4
million for the design and construc-
tion of a recyclable materials recov-
ery facility (MRF).
MRFs come in all shapes and
sizes, from simple collection facili-
ties for pre-sorted recyclables to au-
tomated plants that can sort recy-
clable from unrecyclable material.
Designs for Ann Arbor's facility
have not been completed, said John
Newman of the Ann Arbor Solid
Waste Deptartment, but a 1989
Washtenaw County report on Waste
Management calls for a "Class IV"
MRF in Ann Arbor. Class IV
MRFs include manual sorting of
waste and a transfer station for relay-
ing unusable waste to either an
incinerator or a landfill.
Voluntary recycling is not new to
Ann Arbor. Since 1978, Recycle
Ann Arbor has sponsored volunteer-
operated trucks that pick-up pre-
sorted recyclables once a month.
More than one-third of single-
family dwellings participate by
seperating newspaper, glass, tin and
aluminum from their other garbage.
Recycle Ann Arbor also operates
a Drop-Off Station at 2050 South
Industrial, where would-be recyclers
who missed, or can't wait until,
their pick-up day can bring recy-
clable. The' Drop-Off Station also
accepts office paper and corrugated
cardboard from commercial donors.
In addition, the Ypsilanti Recy-
cling Project recently began a pro-
gram that accepts PET and HDPE
plastics, such as milk jugs, plastic
peanut butter jars and liquid detergent
bottles.
The University celebration of
Earth Day in 1970 laid the ground-
work for city's environmental efforts
since. Held a month before National
Earth Day, so students could study
for finals, the University event fea-
tured speeches by prominent ecolo-
gists Ralph Nader and Barry Com-
moner and several national politi-
cians. Crisler arena couldn't hold the
more than 13,000 people who ar-
rived for the finale, which included a
free concert by Gordon Lightfoot.
The Ann Arbor Ecology Center
is the most obvious legacy of Earth
Day. The Ecology Center operates a
small office and public library on
Detroit Street, and runs a vareity of
programs including Project Grow
and Recycle Ann Arbor.
Last year in an attempt to demonstrate how much trash is produced in one day at the University, a group compiled
one day's refuse on the Diag. The results were staggering.
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