August 2, 2000
Art fair draws huge crowd
6,000 attend Traverse Bay Outdoor Art Show
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Four decades and counting.
The Northwestern Michigan Artists and Craftsmen have sponsored the Traverse Bay Outdoor Art Show on the grounds of Northwestern Michigan College each summer for the past 40 years - and the show's popularity continues to grow every year. Although this was the first year organizers actually counted, they believe this year's attendance of more than 6,000 people is a record.
"I was very pleased at how the show went overall," said Don Shepard of Farwell, chair of the show for the past two years. "We had a lot of people there all day long and usually about 2 o'clock it slows down, but people were there until 4:15 p.m. when the thunder started."
Browsers and buyers both could visit their choice of 120 different vendors displaying art in 17 categories. Work offered ranged from sculpture and weaving (both baskets and fiber) to jewelry and painting to photographs and clothing. Bugs, brass, bottles and beads were just some of the raw materials put together for sale.
Artists at the show came from around the country, chosen by a volunteer jury of members from the Northwestern Michigan Artists and Craftsmen. While there are many multi-year veterans like Shepard, every year new artists join the mix.
"Just because you are in one year does not guarantee you will be in the next," Shepard noted. "I've seen a lot of growth and change in the 25 years I've done this show. It seems to be getting better and we try real hard to bring quality arts, crafts and fine arts."
Larry Bock of Ft. Wayne, Ind., was attending the Traverse Bay Outdoor Art Show for the first time, pleased to have juried in with his metal fountains. Bringing his family along for a long weekend in Traverse City, Bock kept busy during the fair soldering up more brass sprinkler heads for sale.
"They were selling so fast that I had bits and pieces around so I kept busy putting more together when I could," said Bock, who has worked full-time as a metal sculptor for 10 years. "I do the art fair circuit every year and I definitely like this one."
Michael Molenar of Caledonia was back as a displayer this year, bringing along collection of his unusual 'junk' sculptures that drew passerby in to his booth for second, third and fourth looks. Molenar cruises junkyards, garage sales, antique marts and flea markets for junk of all kinds and welds his finds together to create animals, aliens, birds or abstract shapes.
Rakes, cast iron skillets, glass doorknobs and old metal juicers will all find use in his abstract bird statues. He even found time Saturday to sneak across the street to the antique show at the Civic Center to scrounge more material for his work.
"My art started out as a joke," said Molenar, who carves time out for his art from his full-time night shift-work in a Grand Rapids factory. "But I have a good eye for perspective though I never studied art."
A new feature at the art fair this year was a raffle of two kayaks and the sale of commemorative tee shirts. The tee shirts grossed nearly $1,500 for the organization. Raffle tickets for the kayaks will be available from organization members, at Salamanders or the Grand Traverse Art Center. The drawing for the kayaks is scheduled for August 25 at the Grand Traverse Art Center.
"The money from these sales will be used for scholarships for our children's and adult's art programs," said Sherry Dillard, director of the Grand Traverse Art Center. "It will also help us pay our winter utility bills."