AUGUST 9, 2024 ON MY CORNER MEET YOUR VENDOR GROUNDCOVER NEWS Undercover art intel: party time at the Ann Arbor Art Fair My journey through the Ann Keith Wilson, vendor No. 637 In one sentence, who are you? I am a father, coach, pipefitter, as well as a great guy. Where do you usually sell Groundcover? All over — but you can catch me on Ashley and Liberty. When and why did you start selling Groundcover? Earlier this year. I was broke. What is your favorite thing to do in Ann Arbor? Shoot pool. What words do you live by? Never forget what a person does for you or what a person does to you. What is something about you that someone on the street wouldn't know? I'm a hopeless romantic. What motivates you to work hard selling Groundcover? My brother James Woods. What is something you wish you knew more about? The stock market. Arbor Art Fair (July 18-20, 2024) was very exciting and much anticipated. Art is loved in this town and mural art has been exploited over the past five years. One cannot drive anywhere in Ann Arbor without seeing large art installations on buildings and underpasses. There are new flowers painted on the bridge and underpass near Delonis Center and on the nearby railroad bridge on Miller Ave. This was finished during the Art Fair this year. (See “The Art of Gentrification” in the July 12 Groundcover News.) This year, walking along the downtown Main Street Art Fair I saw many different kinds of art — two-dimensional, three-dimensional, personal favorite has always been animals from an artist named Mr. Faun who is always in the same location. He does wonderful images of so many different animals as well as flowers, including my faves: pandas, dragons and roses. As I walked up Liberty Street I saw so much color this year, from abstract paintings to colored blown glass and the vibrant illustrations of fantasy scenes. I was awestruck with the details in much of the work this year. Hours upon hours of love goes into some of the work and the price doesn't do it justice. What I find hard for artists is the level at which art is graded by price. jewelry and more. My As I walked down to William CINDY GERE Groundcover vendor No. 279 What I feel is cheap art is by far priced out of a common person’s reach, and yet what is considered cheap art is so wonderful to look at and needs to be in a higher price range. The argument has always been over what art is truly worth and so artists struggle with this forever. Almost to the end of Liberty Street, I came upon the political and nonprofit organization section for social justice issues, religions and electoral politics. What I chose to get was the free candy they give out, fun fun yum yum! I walked up to State Street and turned right; this is where I found the African American art bead vendor. He remembered me from last year and so I got some wonderful beads. As a Native American, it's hard to come by beads now without paying a huge amount. Each vendor on State Street is fun to see, from discounted clothes to wonderful food. Street, I chose to look at the different precious gems and metal workers who create totally custom-made art — one of a kind. Every jeweler was unique: some were totally modern while others had a time period attached to them, such as the 1800s. I wandered up past the University of Michigan Law School and this one artist stuck out like no other. She was a Fimo artist (Fimo is a type of clay) with very vibrant colors, and being a colorist myself, I fell in love. She had just about everything someone could want, from magnets to pins and freestanding caricatures to sculptures that looked like they were right out of a Jim Henson Muppet movie — she had it all! This was for me the ultimate fun this year. Each artist touched me with their artwork and as I wandered down a lonely path on a side street, I found the hat that has eluded me for years. This vendor artist had wonderful vibrant colorful hats for sale. I chose to get a black one as others looked like Indiana Jones was ready to show up. It was fun to see the large variety of hats at this booth. My Art Fair was full of fun and colors and new ideas. I hope you had as much fun as I did this year. 2025 Art Fair here we come … 3 Dave Bing NBA Hall of Famer David (Dave) Bing played nine seasons for the Detroit Pistons, two seasons with the Washington Bullets and one season with the HOSEA HILL Groundcover vendor No. 532 (the inventor of basketball). “Everything that I’ve ever done, I Boston Celtics. According to hoophall.com, “Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting, preserving and celebrating the game of basketball at every level.” The Naismith basketball Hall of Fame is named after John Naismith have attacked it,” Bing said, according to the Detroit Free Press in November 2020. Leaders are readers and Dave Bing certainly read often on long road trips during his NBA career. In 1989, he became involved in politics and Detroit because the city announced plans to cancel all sports programs in public schools due to budget cutbacks. He launched a campaign that raised money to save the programs. He was elected to replace former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in 2009 and was reelected for a full term. He is an inspiration to all because he’s a good example of a person changing careers and being successful at both careers.
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