Street Art Fair returning to Birmingham

As the leaves begin to turn crimson and gold, it’s time to enjoy the Common Ground Birmingham Street Art Fair, returning to Shain Park in downtown Birmingham Saturday, September 15, and Sunday, September 16.

Common Ground's Annual Street Art Fair will celebrate its 44th year by moving back to its original home, Shain Park, after several years on S. Old Woodward in downtown Birmingham. The popular art fair has been a destination for art lovers and fairgoers for decades.

More than 80,000 people are expected to attend the weekend event, which will feature 150 juried artists representing a diverse array of art mediums, including ceramics, painting, knitwear, woodworking, photography, glass, jewelry, sculpture, drawing, printmaking and more. The artists set up booths along Shain Park. Fairgoers are invited to shop in downtown Birmingham as well.

The art fair is a major fundraiser for Common Ground, an Oakland County non-profit agency which provides emergency help for families and individuals in crisis, runaway teens, homeless youth, victims of violence and persons with mental illness. Common Ground offers several crisis management options such as mental health and anxiety services, substance abuse disorder programs, a 24/7 resource and crisis hotline, a text and chat crisis hotline and programs for runaway homeless youth. The center served more than 82,000 people through all of its services last year.

The art fair is put on by The Guild of Artists & Artisans, a non-profit, membership association of independent artists, best known for its award-winning Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair. Established in 1970, The Guild’s mission is to promote community awareness, understanding and appreciation of the visual arts and to maintain a support network for artists, which provides educational, mentoring and marketing opportunities. The Guild is recognized and valued for its ability to showcase independent artists, bringing their artwork to the community via its juried fine art and fine craft fairs.

Young artists will have the chance to be creative with free hands-on children’s art activities, where kids can create their own art and take it home. There will also be a silent auction tent filled with beautiful art work, with proceeds going to directly benefit Common Ground.

The art fair will take place, rain or shine, Saturday, September 15, 10 a.m. – p.m.; and Sunday, September 16, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Admission is free.

Visitors are encouraged to park in any of the city's five municipal parking structures, where on Saturday, the first two hours of parking is free. On Sunday, parking is free all day.