10 GROUNDCOVER NEWS ART SPACE Ann Arbor is burning — arts and culture for whom? ALEXANDRA GRANBERG Groundcover contributor I met Petals Sandcastle (they/them) on the grass in the Diag-State-Hill triangle. It's familiar grounds for Petals, who studied at the University of Michigan. A stone's throw away is Now Studios, run by and homebase for the Express Your Yes Foundation. Petals is founder and guiding light. It's a 501(c)(3) creative nonprofit fusing activism with art. It's an underground art and performance venue, political playhouse and more, full of “creative disruptors and thought leaders.” It's also a safe space for people to be themselves, away from the heat of the neutral gaze — one that is “passively active, indifferent.” Last year the studio arranged over a hundred free events in the city. Most recent is an event series under the project Ann Arbor is Burning — a celebration of radical queer imagination, part of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival. Now Studios advocates for the city's abundant resources to go to the homeless, queer, Black, immigrant, disabled and other marginalized communities. “I keep coming back to this place [Ann Arbor] thinking, certainly it doesn’t want to be a soulless playground. But very few want to give money or leverage an inch of their privilege. It's a hard pill,” Sandcastle says. “This place does not want us.” Beyond art This year Ann Arbor was named the number one best place to live in the United States, based on a “10 expert list” search by StudyFinds.org. “Best for whom?” asks Petals, see STUDIOS next page Sandcastle holding one of their paintings "Gerf" at Now Studios. JULY 14, 2023 A2 Artisan Market should be your Sunday destination about finding parking and admission is free as well. In 1991, artists and craftsmen from MIKE JONES Groundcover vendor No. 113 Ann Arbor's best kept secret is the Sunday Artisan Market. It is located in the Farmers Market pavilion from April until Christmas, from 11a.m. – 4 p.m. every Sunday. For those who don’t know, parking is free every Sunday in Ann Arbor, so you don’t have to worry the Farmer’s Market felt they needed another day when they could highlight their art because of the lack of good space at the Wednesday and Saturday Farmers Markets. Thus began the Artisan Market. This Sunday destination in the Kerrytown District is a wonderful place to bring the family to soak in the sunshine and to enjoy the many restaurants and places to shop. My friend TJ, who is a vendor at the Artisan Market (Kinetic Re-Design), has a booth that sells tie-dyed shirts and fabric. I purchased a shirt from my friend TJ and I love it. One can also find vendors that sell jewelry, wood crafts, photography and much more. Far left: Lloyd Holdwick and his display, Artistics in Wood. Left: TJ sells funky tie-dyed suits at his booth Kinetic Re-Design. Top: TJ and Mike Jones together as Jones models a Kinetic Re-Design original button-up shirt. Above: Jewelry display at the Sunday Artisan Market.
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