L

Art Fair '84
Certain forms of art
don't fit inside a booth

a

Most of the 400,000 people who flood
Ann Arbor for four days every summer
come to see booths filled with han-
dmade arts and crafts. More than 300
exhibitors offer almost as many dif-
ferent kinds of artwork for sale.
But each year the throngs of tourists
are joined by a group of artists who
bring a different kind of art to the fair.
Their work doesn't appear on canvas,
in clay, or on T-shirts. They are per-
formers.
The performers come to sing, dance,
do magic tricks, tell jokes, and try to
impress the crowds with their special
talents. Some are professionals, like the
musicians who travel from city to city.
Others may be local teens who want to

try their hands - and feet - at break-
dancing.
Most of the street performers will of-
fer three reasons for what they do: It's
a way to make money, it makes the
crowd happy, and it's fun to do. Some
are paid for their appearances, but
many solicit donations from the spon-
taneously created audience.
The shoppers want a break from
hours of walking booth to booth, and the
street performers provide the diver-
sion. The art fair will always be known
as a collection of some of the world's
best and most bizarre artistic objects,
but it will always be able to boast the
other form of art - the performers who
don't fit on the wall of a booth.

a

a

I
I

Photographs
by

a

Carol L. Francavilla