"I was born and raised in Ann Arbor so as a high school student I worked at several art fairs," said Shary Brown, executive director of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair. "(Being the director) just seemed like an interesting job and I seemed to have a number of skills that, when you put them all together, they just seemed to work out," Brown said.

The Ann Arbor art fair is a 44 year-old tradition that takes place on the downtown streets of Ann Arbor. This year approximately 1,185 juried artists will participate in the fair which consists of four separate art fairs, all with coinciding times and within a close proximity to one another.

Brown, who will participate in her fifteenth fair this Wednesday, said she sees her position of one to continually improve the quality and experience of the art fair.

"The trick here is to keep fundamentally sound and to keep improving and to build," Brown said. "There are more new things at the art fair this year than there ever have been."

The program that Brown said she is most proud of is the Emerging Artist Program, which works with the School of Art and Design to showcase three students' art in their own booth at the fair.

"(This program) has been a part of the fair on and off since the start. It's a connection between the audience and the artists, and a very satisfying way to bring new artists along and introduce the audience to these young artists who may be the art stars of the future," Brown said.

Other new attractions to this year's fair include daily carillon concerts by University alumni, artist demonstrations made possible by the Toyota Technical Center, two internet connections where fairgoers can access the art fair web site, and a guide called Street Art, which is a full-color pamphlet for the street art fair containing examples of each artists' work and contact information.

Brown has also worked this past year to relocate the event to the area surrounding the University's Burton Tower.

"It's a massive undertaking to relocate an event that has been in the same place for 43 years, and to relocate it within the constraints of the existing fairs," Brown said.

Ann Arbor's art fairs have won acclaim, ranking toward the top in the National Association of Independent Artists' annual survey, where top artists in the country rank the fairs they participate in.

"The quality of work here, top to bottom, is unparalleled. There are other rankings done on sales, but even if our sales aren't the best we are consistently known as one of the best juried fairs," Brown said.

This year's fair is expected to draw a total of 500,000 visitors over its July 16-19 run.

Last year the sales reported by the artists totaled about $1.8 million, but the artists are not the only people who make a profit during art fair.

"Our average lunch crowd is about 70 people on a Wednesday," said Steven Clausnitzer, dining room manager at Gratzi. "At art fair we will have about 300 people at lunch."

However, not everyone is excited about the big crowds.

"It's in my way," Ann Arbor resident Adrianna Buonarroti said. "I used to walk through it purposefully, just to see what was there, but now I purposefully avoid it."

Buonarroti is not alone, as other Ann Arbor residents and students will be avoiding the crowded downtown area. But for as many people who think it is in their way there appear to be an equal amount of people who think it is a beneficial event.

LSA senior Christian Kok, who has experienced the art fair for five consecutive summers, said, "I think it's a really good idea in the first place and a really good tradition because it allows people of all ages to enjoy different types of art. It's a good thing for the community and society."