Designing an art fair's future

New director charged with keeping Ann Arbor Street Art Fair among nation's elite

The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair is working to expand its palette of artists and art buyers and build more year-round relevance in the art community.

Executive Director Maureen Riley is preparing the backdrop for this month's 2010 show. Her mission — besides wrangling 100 volunteers, 150 artists, half a dozen staff members and a $350,000 budget — is keeping her event among the top art fairs in the country at a time when art fairs are changing with e-commerce trends.

The fair has fostered a more competitive process to select artists, works closely with the other Ann Arbor fairs held the same week and is refining the ways it courts and nurtures relationships with donors.

The fair runs July 21-July 24 in tandem with the State Street Area Art Fair, The Guild Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair and the South University Art Fair.

AASAF is on North University Avenue in the shadow of Burton Carillon Tower on the University of Michigan's central campus.

“I feel well-prepared but it's what you don't know that's scary: the things that aren't written down — you do this before you do that — the things people have in their heads,” said Riley.

The art fair business isn't easy but remains a popular route for artists to sell their wares. Some Michigan art fairs have relocated and some have merged, but there are as many as ever, said Sue Bila, executive director of Michigan Festivals and Events Association. The Chesaning-based group is the largest state-event association in the U.S.

“In harder economic times, festivals tend to flourish,” Bila said. “Some outside artists question the Michigan economy, but when they get here, they find sales are still good. They're surprised at the outpouring of people attending and their ability to purchase.”

“The ROI on the Ann Arbor art fairs is huge for our state. It (AASAF) has the reputation of being one of the finest art fairs in the U.S. In size, it's about average. I've been to some in other states that you hear are larger, and they aren't. I'm impressed with setting and the community,” Bila said.

Just what is the ROI of the Ann Arbor art fairs? Assuming the often quoted half-million people attending is accurate, and accepting Sue Bila's conservative spending estimate of $20 a person — not counting art purchases — the four-day gross is at least $10 million.

In terms of artist sales, the AASAF projects an average of $7,000 per artist for the four days. That makes the total take around $1 million. Specific artist sales figures for the other three fairs were not available by deadline.

However, a 2008 economic impact study conducted by all four art fairs together found that 46.7 percent of the people attending the fairs in the survey planned to spend less than $200. Another 19.2 percent planned to spend between $200 and $499. Six percent planned on spending $500 to $999. Three percent were going to splurge with $1,000 to $4,999 budgeted for art spending. The survey interviewed 800 people; it has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percent.

Riley's efforts to grow those numbers come with her past experience producing one of Detroit's longtime signature events. She came to AASAF six months ago from the University Cultural Center Association in Detroit. As special events director there, she produced the Detroit Festival of the Arts for nine years.

Riley was hired after a national search to replace Shary Brown, her highly regarded predecessor, who retired after 12 years.

“We wanted someone mature, with significant experience, who knew art and artists, and had been a professional in the event business. While it is not expected that a new director will know everything and be able to initiate a lot of changes in the first year, we did not want a caretaker,” said Tom Venner, a search committee member. Venner is dean of Eastern Michigan University's College of Arts and Sciences.

Riley is working on an MBA in marketing and leadership at Wayne State University. She'll need expertise in both fields to lead the AASAF into a successful future.

Given the current economic climate, strong fundraising experience, including grant writing, was also an important consideration, Venner noted.

AASAF was launched in 1960, a joint effort of the Ann Arbor Art Association (now the Ann Arbor Art Center), UM and campus-area retailers. It was the first outdoor art show to require that artists be juried, beginning in 1965.

It's a big part of the reason Ann Arbor is ranked 10th among midsize cities on AmericanStyle magazine's 2010 list of top 25 art destinations. The Street Art Fair itself is also top-ranked among its peer festivals.

And while event sales can be modest for many artists, many make more in post-event sales to customers they come in contact with, she said.

A furniture maker may get orders for custom pieces. Many artists make money from commissions or are contacted afterwards, she said.

Because the art fair revenue numbers aren't inspiring, websites such as Etsy.com are replacing art fairs as the venue of choice for younger artists. Yet Riley feels up to the challenge of reviving her part of the art fair industry.

“To stay on top of the game, you've got to be innovative. The art fair industry is no different. I would love to say in two or three years, we'll be leading the charge in new practices,” Riley said.

This year, 750 artists applied for 100 spots at the AASAF. Another 50 slots are filled by invitation, granted to select artists each year — about one-third of the previous year's exhibitors, including the 10 award-winning artists from the previous year. The top 10 artists each year are chosen by two outside judges, usually an academic or DIA curator, for $500 prizes based on artistic merit.

“This year, there were a couple of artists who got the jury excited — it was new work or a new body of work from an existing artist — old favorites, beloved of jurors and audience, working in a new medium,” Riley said.

Looking ahead, the AASAF is looking for a way to sell the art fair artists year-round.

The simultaneous Ann Arbor fairs collaborate to enhance visitors' experience. Trolleys continuously circulate through the four sites, to ease navigating the vast sea of art.

Representatives of the four fairs meet weekly.

Riley said, “It's a terrific collaboration, enhanced since I came on board. The more we talked, the more we found we have to talk about. Generally what's good for one is good for all.”