Growing up, local artist Graceann Warn never dreamed she'd be one of the 1,200 exhibitors in the four Ann Arbor Art Fairs, let alone one of the 200 showcased in the Ann Arbor Street Fair, commonly ranked the best outdoor art fair in the nation by Sunshine Artist Magazine and the National Association of Independent Artists.

"I've always made art, it just never occurred to me that I could make a living at it when I was a kid. Now I do this full time - more than full time," Warn said.

The former landscape architect student, who has been showcasing her three-dimensional mixed media work at the Street Fair for the last 15 years, said participating in the fair, which will be held Wednesday through Saturday, is "irresistible."

"It's local, and I get to see a lot of my customers face to face, which is fun," she said. "The Street Fair is really a high quality show. I'm really proud to be there, I really like seeing the other art work."

And she's apparently not the only one who appreciates the art that will be on display this week. Ann Arbor Street Fair Executive Director Shary Brown said anywhere from 500,000 to 700,000 people from Ann Arbor and the rest of the country are expected to roam downtown this weekend, which is five times the number of people who can fit into the 110,000-seat Michigan Stadium.

Brown said the art fairs have become popular with artists because of "the quality of the audience. It's a very curious and knowledgable audience."

Visitors will be perusing not only the Street Fair, which began in 1960 and is the oldest of the Ann Arbor fairs, but also the Summer Art Fair in the Main Street area, the Art Fair Village on Church Street and the State Street Art Fair.

They can also listen to various bands and watch musical and theatrical artists perform on the streets. There will be comedic jugglers, a boogie-woogie pianist, fiddlers and improvisational specialists.

The four art fairs will close down 28 blocks of campus and the downtown area, Brown said.

"People who try to see the whole fair in one day need to take care of themselves," she cautioned. The Huron Valley Ambulance's 25-person paramedic bike team will be available to provide emergency services to those who may forget to hydrate themselves or spend too much time in the sun.

With thousands of extra cars on an already crowded campus, students can expect traffic and parking problems, but they have been downsized in recent years due to an agreement between the art fairs and the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, which will shuttle visitors in from the Briarwood Mall and Pioneer High School parking lots.

"The shuttle bus system has solved a lot of the access issues," Brown said. "The traffic jams that might occur downtown don't occur because of the shuttle system."