It's a rite of summer, the 57th Ann Arbor Art Fair begins today! Downtown Ann Arbor is ready!
Artists from across the country began setting up their booths early Wednesday in anticipation of today's opening of the 57th Ann Arbor Street Art Fair…The Original. This is the 45th year at the fair for artists Joel and Mary Jane from Woodstock, New York.
JOEL: "Here on Main Street, in front of the crazy...oh, the crazy Wisdom Book Store!"
Joel is a painter and Mary makes masks, and they are very excited about the change in days and hours for this year's Ann Arbor Art Fair.
JOEL: "I think it's wonderful. I think it's going to change the show a lot for the better."
MARY: "We met somebody on the way up that worked in the..."
JOEL: "The tourist office."
MARY: "The tourist office. And she said this is the first time that she could come to the show because she never could before. So I think it's going to be really great."
Tom Murray owns Conor O'Neill's Restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor. He was stringing outdoor lights in anticipation of the big crowds he's expecting between now and Sunday, the last day of the Art Fair.
"We get a lot of people coming in for lunch throughout the day. It increases our lunch substantially. Then, there's more people walking around, too, and they come in for dinner and a few drinks. So, it's a great boost for business."
Four fairs, one place is what the Annual Ann Arbor Art Fair is called, and, remember, this year it begins today and ends at 6pm Sunday.
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— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu
