A modest art fair in a charming setting that has easy-in-and-out access and an appealing range of objects and prices is Art on the Mall.
The show will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 26 on Centennial Mall in the heart of University of Toledo’s main campus. There’s neither admission nor parking fees.
Glass blower Mark Wagar has brought his colorful pieces here for a good 20 of the 23 years it’s been presented by UT’s Alumni Association. He creates a 3-D effect via dimension and optics in his work, be it paperweights, large sculptural vessels, or scooped-out bowls.
“I try to get color contrast,” said Wagar, of Riga, Mich., a 34-year glassblower, 18 years full-time.
For textile artists Carrie Mickey and Kathy Bella from Ypsilanti, Mich., and Blissfield respectively, next Sunday’s event will be their first. Using multiple fabrics, they make ladies’ accessories such as long, draping vests, mobius wraps, infinity scarves, ponchos, tunics, and hats with matching pins, said Mickey, a graduate of Adrian College.
Janey Payne-Short is another newbie. From her home on 40 acres outside Frankfort on the northwestern Michigan coast, she uses vintage and antique materials along with handmade clay and mosaics to embellish shadowboxes, dimensional pictures, and even small cabinets ranging from $38 to $400.
Booths will be set in a circular pattern, there are plenty of benches for resting, and nearby air-conditioned buildings will be open.
The 109 artists each pay a $100 booth fee — modest by art-fair standards — and were selected from a pool of 140 who applied, said Ansley Abrams-Frederick, UT’s director of alumni programming. Crowds average 12,000, depending on weather, and the alumni group nets about $15,000.
Especially popular is jewelry and garden art, said Ms. Abrams-Frederick. John Ladd crafts copper, brass, nickel, and silver into jewelry that appeals to the steam punk (Victorian, mechanical, fantasy) and bohemian (earthy, organic) cultures. A web designer by day, he moved to Toledo from Fort Wayne two years ago and works out of a home studio in Deveaux Village.
Artists who describe their genre as "mixed media" sometimes create pieces suitable for outdoor as well as indoor.
Rick Heard's been assembling garden and household art from old copper, brass, and silver teapots, casserole dishes, and pots, for 43 years. The metals don't rust, he said, in fact silver tarnishes much more slowly outside than inside because there are fewer chemicals outside than in. Bird houses, baths, and feeders as well as small fountains and other whimsical but functional objects sell for between $15 to $450, with most about $30 to $50.
At 72, why does the Murfreesboro, Tenn., man continue fashioning goods then trucking them to fairs hither and yon?
"I persist simply because I'm afraid if I quit I'll die," he said in a wry Southern drawl.
Food and snack purveyors and a beer tent with picnic tables will be set up. Entertainment will be continual with performances by UT student and alumni groups as well as ensembles from the Toledo School for the Arts.
In the children's tent, small fry can build their own art and get their little mugs painted.
Credit cards can be used as payment for art purchases at a payment booth inside the Student Union.
Parking is in lots 1 South, 1 North, 10 and 13, and golf carts can shuttle visitors to and from Centennial Mall. Information: toledoalumni.org and 419-530-4316.
Contact Tahree Lane at tlane@theblade.com or 419-724-6075.
First Published July 19, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
