Make sure you visit our NANA booth located on Ingalls Mall.
The selected NANA artists begin working together as they design a shared booth and support one another in successful sales. Our NANA college students are involved in one-on-one mentoring from the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Original's staff from the time of acceptance in April until the Fair in July. Our student artists participate in meetings where they learn to present their artwork, write a successful Artist Statement, design an art fair booth and receive tips in interacting with the public and selling their artwork. Each student is also paired with a participating Art Fair Artist Mentor who provides additional guidance. Many of these relationships turn into year-long mentorships as they help these young artists break into their artist ventures.
My work focuses on the experience of American life in the twenty-first century. I am drawn to the poignant and absurd in modern life. I hope viewers of my work can relate to the portrayal of human experiences and find the mysterious intersection where lament meets hope. I paint this intersection by showing figures in the moments that make us most human.
The Love Struck Necklace was inspired by the three rose quartz stone’s shape. Wanting to elongate each edge, sterling silver encapsulates the stone and is balanced with extruded silver.
Creating innovative designs using a variety of materials and learning the nuances of producing wearable products has always interests me and influences my work.
My work and creative interests often revolve around themes of spaces and environments to explore emotions such as fear, trepidation, and simultaneously, curiosity and exploration. I like to juxtapose geometric and/or symmetrical forms with organic elements based on nature.
Over the past three years photography has given me the ability to share my perspective with the world around me. As a transfer student from Los Angeles, taking photos has helped me learn the environment around me and share my thoughts with those closest to me. I love capturing the everyday moments that would otherwise pass by.
Protection through absence. The shared stories of my mother's pregnancies and the grief one passed during. I hold my siblings as they hold me. I close my eyes as I spend years reaching out. I held out my hand until it turned blue. I was also looking into depictions of tlaz?lete?tl— the deity of vice, fertility, and purification; how they were said to devour these evil deeds and forgiving acts that were punishable by death in Aztec Society.
Wheel thrown ceramics focusing on refinement of form.
Several of our NANA artists have gone on to become professional art fair artists.
NANA artists from every year have gone on to have extremely successful careers in the Arts! We are so honored to have been part of these young artists paths.
"I was lucky enough to be part of the New Art, New Artist group right after graduation from the University of Michigan, School of Art and Design. The AASAF was the launching pad that helped my fine arts career begin. I gained access to mentors, resources, and an education in a field that doesn’t have many open doors. Because of the experience with AASAF I exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Contemporary Craft Show in 2014. I am proud and so happy to be part of the AASAF because of their standards in selection of talent and quality in the work that is displayed every year. The group of artists that frequent the AASAF, who I get to now call my friends, are truly some of the best in the country, and the reason I keep coming back!"
After participating in the New Art, New Artist program, Jake applied to the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Original and was accepted his first year. Jake has successfully participated each year since and has grown his furniture business.
Taylor Mazer graduated Kendall College of Art and Design in 2012 with a BFA in illustration and has gone on to win various awards such as Best of Show at the Rockford Art Museum Greenwich Village Art Fair and Best in Show and the Mayor’s Award at the Penrod Arts Fair.
Tefari has stayed in the Ann Arbor Area and currently runs a photography studio in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
"I really really loved being in the Emerging artists group at the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair. It was an amazing way to learn the skills needed to run my own booth the following year as an actual artist in the same fair. I learned how to interact with guests in the booth and I got to meet other artists participating in the fair. My current career does not really reflect my experience in the fair, however, I am still very grateful for my experience as an Emerging Artist."
Austen has continued to create and has had his art displayed at Grand Rapids City Hall and the Charles H. Wright museum. He continues to show in gallery exhibitions and art fairs around Michigan.
Janelle graduated from the College for Creative Studies in 2008 with a Bachelor of Fine Art. She continues to attend various art fairs and has her work for sale in a number of different galleries.
Sophia has a background in architecture and graphic design and currently specializes in fine art photography and mixed media artwork, which she sells on her etsy shop. She also was a part of PowerArt! in 2015, an Ann Arbor program to cover traffic signal utility boxes with artwork created by the participants.
"So far in my career I’ve worn many hats, and currently my title is simply "Designer." More specifically though I’m a Product Designer. Generally, that means that I design interfaces and user flows for apps. While I didn’t launch into a fine arts career, and while the art fair circuit isn’t necessarily for me, AASAF helped me realize that I still do quite enjoy making, talking about, and selling my work in a capacity other than as just a freelance designer. There’s something really enjoyable about seeing someone use or appreciate something that I’ve produced—be it photograph, typeface, app, or screen print—and AASAF was where I got that first taste."