Preparations begin for 2023 Ann Arbor Art Fair
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Preparations began Friday morning for the Ann Arbor Art Fair, which returns next week.
Art Fair staff began mapping the streets in phase one of the setup for the annual event, which spans 30 city blocks.
"Today we are out mapping, which means we are putting chalk lines, so all the artists know exactly where their booths go and where all the sponsors go," said marketing director for the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, Allison Buck. "Basically, (we're) breaking the streets up into 10x10-foot squares.
"We're doing some today, some next week, so it will all be ready for Wednesday when they all show up to move their tents in."
The art fair is put on each year by three separate nonprofit organizations: The Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, the Ann Arbor State Street Art Fair and the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Original.
To the average fairgoer, it looks like one big event, but each fair has its unique jurying process and artists.
The State Street area has been under construction since June 2022 for streetscape improvements and a water main replacement. But for the Art Fair, it's all going away.
"There's a lot of construction work in the city of Ann Arbor right now, and Spartan is doing the barricades for most of them," said executive director of the State Street Art Fair Frances Todoro-Hargreaves. "So, they're also doing the barricades for Art Fair. What we'll do is we'll take these down, we'll switch them up, redeploy them around the boundary of the fair to secure the fair. When the fair's over, they'll come back and put everything back together and continue the construction."
The fair is extensive, and temperatures can run high, so the event's organizers encouraged visitors to prepare for the event ahead of time.
"The fair is massive, so don't expect to come out here and walk the whole fair in one day without taking breaks," said Buck. "I encourage people to go inside the restaurants, take a long leisurely lunch, enjoy the air conditioning, hydrate, wear lots of sunscreen and comfortable shoes."
Todoro-Hargreaves said the event's website has useful information for those planning to visit the fair.
"Get a feel for the map and the area," she said. "It's really big, so it's a long walk. Make sure you have your water. And if there's any of your favorite artists that you really want to make sure you want to see, you can always circle them."
Each fair has a list of all of its artists, including booth locations.
Shuttles will be running around the clock for fairgoers who want to park and ride from Briarwood Mall and Huron High School.
Also returning to the event will be the Art-Go-Round shuttle that runs around the perimeter of the fair.
The Ann Arbor Art Fair will run July 20-22.
For more information, visit www.theannarborartfair.com.
