ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Ann Arbor, MI

Weekly Summer Edition
MichiganDaily.com

INDEX

NEWS ....................................
SUDOKU................................
OPINION ............................... 
ARTS ......................................
CLASSIFIEDS.........................
SPORTS.................................

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Vol. CXXVII, No. 78| © 2017 The Michigan Daily 
michigandaily.com

NEWS
Local mother 
faces deportation

Hundreds of community 

members gather in protest.

 >> SEE PAGE 2

OPINION
Gun control
“We shouldn’t forget 
that almost all debates 
are not black and white.” 
 

>> SEE PAGE 5

ARTS
Red Card for 
‘Ballers’
HBO comedy flounders 
with telegraphed story

>> SEE PAGE 7

SPORTS
Dakich transfers

The former walk-on guard 

will play for Ohio State as a 

graduate transfer.

>> SEE PAGE 10

inside

The 58th Ann Arbor fair cultivates creativity, culture

Art Fair celebrates, connects artists and their audience

Construction paused on 
South University to make 

way for art vendors

By JENNIFER MEER

Summer Managing News Editor

The annual Ann Arbor Art Fair will 

take place this Thursday through Sunday 
across several city streets and sidewalks, 
looking to draw in students, residents and 

artists from around the world. The event 
— now in its 58th year — is a collabora-
tion among four smaller fairs: The Guild’s 
Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, State Street 
Art Fair, Ann Arbor South University Art 
Fair and Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, The 
Original.

The event covers 29 city blocks in down-

town Ann Arbor and serves as the larg-
est outdoor juried Art Fair in the nation. 
Pertinent to this year’s fair are the State 
Street Art Fair’s semicentennial, as well 
as the pausing of construction on South 

University Avenue. 

Karen Delhey, spokeswoman for the 

fairs and the executive director of the 
Guild of Artists & Artisans, which over-
sees one fair, said the fair is unique each 
year by nature.

“What we always say is that the Ann 

Arbor Art Fair is never the same twice, 
it’s different from year to year,” she said. 
“Yes, you’re going to always come out and 
see quality art, but the artists are dif-
ferent year after year, as is the artwork. 
You’ll have some new artists, you’ll have 

some returning artists that have new art-
work. What we try and emphasize with 
this event, which is focused on the art, is 
that the art is what’s new, year after year.”

Last year’s fair was the first time the 

fair ran Thursday to Sunday instead of 
Wednesday to Saturday; the change will 
persist this year. 

“Back in the ’60s when the fair start-

ed, times were very different, things 
weren’t open on Sunday, there were a lot 
more women that stayed home during 
the week, so it was easier for them to get 

Local artist and 

University student discuss 

the upcoming event

By WILL STEWART

Summer Managing Arts Editor

From July 20-23, hundreds of thousands 

will flock to Ann Arbor for the 58th annual 
Street Art Fair. After 57 years, the Fair has 

expanded into four concurrent events — The 
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (The Original), 
Ann Arbor State Street Art Fair, Ann Arbor 
Summer Art Fair and Ann Arbor South Uni-
versity Art Fair — all located around Central 
Campus and downtown. It’s one of the busiest 
and most energetic weekends in the city, even 
rivaling football Saturdays in terms of crowd 
size.

The Art Fair celebrates the intricate rela-

tionship between artists and their audience. 
In a phone interview with the Daily, Bloom-

field Hills-based artist Lisa Farris described 
her fondness for outdoor art fairs.

“It feels more accessible in a way that gal-

leries don’t,” Farris said. I think a lot of people 
come to an art fair for the fun of it, and they 
end up buying pieces that they like and want 
to have in their home. And these same people 
may never feel comfortable going to a gallery.”

“An art fair isn’t intimidating. You’re actu-

ally talking to an artist, there are other activi-
ties, there’s food… it’s like a big party,” she 
said. “To get the actual work done, I spend so 

much time just isolated. So to finally come out 
and have your work out there and have people 
react to it is really invigorating.”

Farris, a graduate of the University of 

Michigan, earned a dual degree in Fine Arts 
and Honors English and speaks fondly of her 
experience in the Stamps School of Art and 
Design: “The professors were amazing. The 
school itself, like the student body, was so sup-
portive of each other’s work — it was a great 
four years.”

Although her education was focused in 

See 58TH ANNUAL, Page 3

See ART FAIR, Page 8

