Page 12 /July 24, 1984
Get set for entertainment
galore at art
By RICK MAGDER
ART FAIR regulars know that
crising the streets of Ann Arborduring
the four-day fair is not a trip through a
museum but rather a journey into a
world in which macrame can be found
next to oil paintings and where jugglers
perform beside glass blowers.
The diversity of music and street per-
formers is part of this atmosphere at
the fair. Most forms of music will be
performed somewhere outdoors during
the four days. Some yet unrecognized
forms will be presented as well, like the
stick or ihe simmons drum which Herb
David describes as "space-age folk in-
struments," making their debut in Ann
Arbor at Herb David's Guitar Studio on
the corner of 5th Avenue and Liberty.
Country-rockabilly, funk-dance, and folk
will also be featured on the converted
porch-roof stage, open only on Satur-
day. "It doesn't bring in a heck of a lot
of revenues," said David, "it's just fun
to do."
The stage with the widest range of ac-
ts and the longest hours is the Graceful
Arch on East University; presentations
there include theatre, dance, mime and
music ranging from folk to jazz. The
stage is made out of sail cloth and
aluminum supporting rods and its
design is the result of a competition
among University architecture studen-
ts in 1978. "It's the place where at any
time of the day you can bring your
family," said Kathleen Slater,
executive director of the Washtenaw
Council for the Arts, which schedules,
auditions, and books acts for the
Graceful Arch.
"I feel like a cultural ambassador,"
said popular Graceful Arch dancer
Malini Srirama, whose students from
her Dances of India School will be per-
forming this year. "It's not the at-
mosphere of a formal concert," she
continued - "anybody walking by can
see the act. There is more one to one in-
teraction because people can ask me
questions."
Across the diag in front of the Union
the Eclipse stage offers an alternative
with its jazz format. Even here,
The pur
By PETE WILLIAMS
L EATHER, WOOD, canvas, metal.
Photography, jewelry, music and
food. The diversity of the Ann Arbor Art
Fair is best exemplified in the various
media of expression on display.
Joan Susskind, an Ann Arbor resident
and a long-standing art fair spectator,
said although there is a wide selection
of purchaseable art, she is more in-
terested in the crafts than the paintings
and classic art.
"I tend to pay more attention to the
crafts," she said. "I look at it as a
super-duper craft fair." She said the
kinds of things that interest her most
are "not art per se," but that "the art is
within the craftsmanship."
Of course, what is available from
year to year is subject to the trends and
attitudes of the buyers. No art show is
immune to the laws of supply and
demand.
"You have to stay away from the
things ... that look like you could buy
fair '84
however, different kinds of jazz will be
presented each day, beginning with folk
and soft jazz on Wednesday, main-
stream jazz on Thursday and Saturday,
and louder more "rowdy" jazz on
Friday.
This year the stage will be on the
grass in front of the union instead of in
the street "so people can bring blankets
sit on the grass, and listen to the
music," said Jeremy Loeb of Eclipse
Jazz. Unlike some of the other stages
around town, Loeb points out "our
stage is a more sit down and relax kind
of thing; it's not oriented toward dan-
cing."
If you want to dance, then the stages
run by Rick's American Cafe on Church
Street in front of Morellis (formerly
Pizza Bob's Midtown Cafe) and Joe's
Star Lounge on Main Street are the
places to be.
Crowds are large at these locations as
favorite local and out-of-town rock 'n
roll bands play for free. Even with the
sometimes sultry conditions and the
partying, a manager at Rick's said
there 'never has been a problem with
security due to the light atmosphere of
the fair along with the extra patrolling
of Ann Arbor police.
The police don't bother the street per-
formers during the art :feir, said Al
Stranger a member of The Jugglers of
Ann Arbor and The U.M. Juggling Club,
and there will be more jugglers at this
fair than ever before "because the word
is getting around that this is a good
place to come."
Most of the popular juggling acts,
such as The First Church of Fun,
Stranger's group, The Schlepper
Triplets, and unicycling juggler Milo
Max should all be there. The abundance
of jugglers, however, should not be a
problem "because the acts are dif-
ferent enough that people don't just
pass by the other jugglers," says
Stranger.
One street performer who won't be
there because of other commitments
and who usually occupies the corner of
East University and South University
near the bank is popular musician Jeff
Wawrzaszek. Because he is on the
road often with his act, "It's the little
0
0
0
Jugglers and mimes are among the many street performers who will be
providing entertainment at the fair. Of course, there will be all sorts of
musical groups performing as well.
reunions with old friends" that makes
the Art Fair special.
It's also exhilerating, he said "to
start with any empty corner and within
ten minutes have 50 to 100 people
surrounding you. It's the interaction
with the people, seeing the smiles on
suit of 'good art' in Ann
Diverse media provide
something for everyone
them at a gas station," Susskind said. though the offerings of these plywood
"Where everythng is so much the same. establishments are so rare or different.
It is derivative art - there is no It is again the supply-demand syn-
originality to it. drome. Art fairs build appetites.
Susskind gave another example of And with several kinds of food to
trendy art: basketweaving. "Five choose from in an outdoor atmosphere
years ago there just weren't people conducive to eating, these weekend
doing that," she said. "Now everybody chefs can't avoid success-assuming
wants that stuff so basketmakers are their product resembles something
everywhere." commonly fed to human beings.
The art fair offers a great deal more If you are looking for a bargain, take
than visual art. Musicians, enter- a walk down State Street after lunch.
tainers, and food booths are also among The State Street area merchants,
the frequented attractions. Jugglers, famous for their diversity, hit the
pianists, vocalists, and dramatists are streets with sidewalk sales on mer-
among those who will perform to the chandise arguably not considered art.
open streets. And, of course, no If you need anything from a new
donation will be refused. waterpipe to a cheap pair of tight
And then there's the food. Susskind designer jeans to a maize and blue bow
puts it, "There are all those different tie emblazened with 'M's, this is the place
food booths all sitting out in one place - for you. It gives the storekeepers a
now that's fun." And it is fun. Not as much needed chance both to show off
their faces, that makes it worthwhile."
From the artist booths to the stages
and the street performers, the Art Fair
crowds enjoy a multitude of art forms.
The fair is special because it's diverse,
interactive, and free.
Arbor
their wares and clear out their stock-
piles into the hands of the 600,000 eager
customers.
You only have four days to fight off
the crowds, the heat, and the somewhat
over zealous artists and merchants to
bring home an original metal sculpture,
a velvet, black-light impression of
Elvis, or whatever else fits your
description of art, and more importan-
tly, suits your pocket book.
"Take the first day of the art fair off
work," Susskind advises. "Get there
just as everyone is setting up their
booths. Look everything over fresh,
when people haven't sold as much."
Spend the rest of the four days
figuring out what you want. For with
the diversity 600,000 people inherently
possess, the Ann Arbor artists' com-
munity is safe in assuming that the
variety they offer is enough to suit each
individual purchaser. In fact, you bet-
ter bring a couple friends - there is a
lot to see and more to sell.