Art Fair season in Ann Arbor 
just ended, and, this year, I had a 
mission: to find a specific ring from 
a specific artist who had a booth at 
the fair two years ago. The prob-
lem was I only had a vague mem-
ory that the artist was a woman 
who made jewelry out of antique 
silverware with her husband. I 
tried Googling “antique silverware 
jewelry” beforehand, but there 
was a surprising number of people 
on Etsy who make things out of 
antique silverware. So, out into the 
field I went. 
The Ann Arbor Art Fair is a 
yearly affair and has been a city 
staple for the last 60 years. Art-
ists from all over the country 
flock to the streets, only to sit in a 
small, white booth in what is often 
90-degree heat. It’s magical. And, 
according to the Ann Arbor Dis-
trict Library archives, not much 
has changed. In a series of pho-
tos from the summer of 1971, art-
ists stood by their wares, just as 
they do today, and I, as a faithful 
Art Fairgoer, am still confused by 
some of the things people choose 
to make. For instance, take Jane 
Hawkins and her macramé, or Vic-
tor Ing and his prints, a style of art 
that is still favored by the Art Fair 
today. This year, I saw what looked 

like paintings but were actually 
images made entirely out of string. 
Vastly different mediums and sub-
jects, yet the artists still have their 
audience scratching their heads, 
wishing they could craft some-
thing similar.
The next closest thing to being 
able to do it yourself, of course, 
would be to buy it from the artist. 
It’s fulfilling to support an artist, to 
know that your hard-earned money 
is supporting a tangible thing that 
others can enjoy, rather than hand-
ing it off to the corporate entities 
that are so entrenched in our lives. 
That said, the masked capitalistic 
vibe of the Ann Arbor Art Fair did 
nothing to deter downtown busi-
nesses, local or otherwise. The 
fair is a time of sales galore from 
MDen to Urban Outfitters, Cherry 
Republic to Moosejaw. It’s not only 
a place to find eye-catching paint-
ings of seascapes, but also a new 
dress or hiking boots at half the 
price. This shouldn’t be surprising, 
though — in the 1985 Street Art 
Fair brochure, it’s revealed that the 
fair actually started as a partner to 
the Summer Bargain Days of local 
businesses. A fitting beginning for 
one of the biggest attractions Ann 
Arbor has to offer.
Aside from the actual art and 
the sales, the other appealing part 
of the fair is the people-watching. 
The number of times I saw some-
one walking around drinking from 
a full-sized fruit is surprisingly 

high for day-to-day life, but, at an 
art fair, what else would I expect? 
People come from all over the coun-
try, not only to showcase their art, 
but to look around and do some of 
their own shopping. I spoke to one 
woman doing just that as she vis-
ited the city from Texas. Though a 
seasoned art fair shopper, this was 
her first time at the Ann Arbor Art 
Fair. Even better, she was scoping 
out the competition for her son, 
the artist (what he actually makes, 
I didn’t quite catch.) Her goal was 
to figure out what people are doing 
and how they were doing it so he 
could adapt his techniques and 
stay relevant to the art fair circuit.
But where am I in my hunt for 
the ring? Sadly, after walking up 
and down the various branches 
of the fair, I found myself coming 
up empty. It seemed I was going 
to remain ringless, a sad fact given 
how I decided the Ann Arbor Art 
Fair was my moment to become 
a ring person. It’s not that there 
weren’t any rings; there were 
plenty of jewelers (and potters and 
painters) throughout the fair. I just 
couldn’t find the kind of ring I had 
been picturing ever since I lost the 
original in the depths of my grand-
parents’ couch.
Fear not. I persevered like any 
good shopper, kept an open mind 
and stumbled on some really great 
pieces that weren’t just rings. Fur-
ther down Liberty Street, closer to 
where it intersects Fifth Avenue, 

there was a man selling bowls. But 
not just any bowls, vegetabowls. 
(I’m mostly mentioning them here 
because of the magnificence of the 
pun.) Although an interesting con-
cept, I didn’t end up purchasing 
any because the bowls themselves 
weren’t really my idea of dinner-
ware. Instead, I found solace on 
Main street with Corbé, a Detroit-
based pottery company. The brand 
catches a shopper’s attention with 
mini vases in a white wire basket 
sitting just outside of the booth, 
but then it’s the patterns that 
force someone to really consider 
how great this pottery actually is. 
There’s a spotted design reminis-
cent of a dalmatian mixed in with 
strong oranges, blues and a speck-
led motif that somehow all came 
together into a cohesive aesthetic. 
My parents bought four of their 
mugs and a vase.
The most surprising part of this 
year’s art fair, though, was run-
ning into a Utah-based artist, The 
Bearded Jeweler. A first-timer, 
he and his wife both had booths 
on Thompson, just outside The 
Michigan Daily’s building. I knew 
his jewelry from a Sunday market 
in Park City where my whole ring 
hunt originated — which is also 
where his wife just launched her 
own brand. So, imagine my excite-
ment when I found out he was here 

in Ann Arbor! Though his pieces 
aren’t made from antique silver-
ware, they’re gorgeous in their 
own right, and both he and his wife 
were fun to talk to.
Despite the welcome surprise of 
running into The Bearded Jeweler, 
my ring hunt was still on, and I 
was getting frustrated. It was hot; 
I had worked four shifts at MDen 
with one more to go, and I was still 
ringless. What was a girl to do? As 
always, it was my mom who came 
to the rescue. Both my parents 
enjoy walking around the Art Fair. 
With both kids employed at stores 
in the heart of it, they had plenty of 
reason to stroll around the area for 
hours — serving as an extra pair of 
eyes on the lookout for some rings. 
It was on North University, 
booth NU714, that my quest for 
rings finally ended. Made out of 
a variety of silverware, the rings 
manage to be both delicate and 
edgy and a marvelous way to 
assuage my ringless woes.
The Ann Arbor Art Fair is a 
unique experience — some townies 
enjoy all it has to offer, in spite of 
the absurd heat and its painstaking 
traffic, while others leave town that 
weekend to avoid the tourists that 
descend on Ann Arbor. Whichever 
way you choose, just remember to 
shop local, and send me an email if 
you see any rings worth wearing.

7
ARTS

Thursday, July 25, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

My quest for a ring at the
2019 Ann Arbor Art Fair

ALEC COHEN/DAILY

EMMA CHANG 
Senior Arts Editor

COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK

