Art Activities, Music, and more!

Summer Sounds – Stage on Main

Featuring

The Stage on Main features one of the top music clubs in the world, The Ark – a non-profit organization presenting the best of traditional and contemporary live music in downtown Ann Arbor over 300 nights each year – presenting acts starting at 6PM each day of the fair.

Additionally, we’re excited to bring live music and entertainment each day of the fair to the Stage on Main found at the corner of Main and William in the Palio lot. Performances include the Amplify Project, Neutral Zone, The Outloud Chorus, The Saline Fiddlers, and more! Stop by and join us for some Summer Sounds, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of our partners The Ark and WEMU 89.1, and for one of the best street parties of the year!

LOCATION: Corner of Main & William in the parking lot next to Palio Restaurant

[left to right]: Chris DuPont + Kylee Phillips, Brain Plasticity Ukulele Collective & BLUESHOUSE, Joe & The Ruckus, Rabbitology, and Nathan Graham

2025 Performance Schedule:

Thursday, July 17

12-2pm – Neutral Zone Takeover
3-5pm – Street Fiction 2.0
6-7pm – DuPont Phillips
7:30-8:30pm – Nathan Graham

DuPont Phillips – Southeast Michigan favorites Chris DuPont and Kylee Phillips met a decade ago at a Tree Town Sound radio appearance for Ann Arbor’s 107.1 and have been fans of each other’s writing ever since. In the summer of 2021, after countless path crossings, Chris and Kylee finally learned each other’s material and discovered an incredible vocal blend and stage synergy.

As word spread, they co-headlined nationally treasured folk venue The Ark in August 2022, were a featured artist at the 2022 E-Bird and Friends Holiday Show and headlined the Ann Arbor Summer Festival in June 2024. They have also performed around the midwest in support of artists like May Erlewine, Steve Poltz and Vienna Teng among other accomplishments.

They each released solo EPs in the fall of 2023 and their first duo EP – “Big Sky Sessions” – in April 2024.

Nathan Graham says it probably isn’t somebody who looks like he does, and he wants to change that.

Born and raised in Chicago, Graham meshes South Side Blues with Nashville Americana, beginning his career backing blues singers at famous haunts like Buddy Guy’s Legends and Kingston Mines. He spent a decade as a guitar-for-hire before picking up a mic to tell his own stories on the stage.

Soulful and steady, Graham’s music offers a raw introspective of the human condition that’s both painful and comforting. His guitar conveys heartbreak, lyrics tell stories of regret, but his rich vocal delivery offers the remedy.

Having brought his songs on international tours with both major label and indie acts, Graham is challenging the notion of what it means to be a singer-songwriter. He’s driving inclusivity within the genre, and he hopes to evoke a sense of understanding in the process.

“I’m writing about universal experiences,” he says. “I’m writing music to connect my story to yours, show you all that we have in common, and maybe help both of us feel less alone.”

Friday, July 18

11am-5pm – Amplify Project Stage Takeover
6-7pm – Rabbitology
7:30-8:50pm – Joe & The Ruckus

Join the Amplify Project and the Formula 734 DJs for a day of diverse music and fun at the Ann Arbor Art Fair on Friday, July 18 from 11am to 5pm. The goal is to show the unity that music provides through various regions and styles. Each DJ will be playing music from different time periods and areas of the world. We will also have a live acoustic performance from Lori and Janine, a former Amplify Project fellow.

Rabbitology – Everyone has their own world. Fragments of moments lived, translated and understood through metaphor and storytelling. Rabbitology is the world created by the odd-running mind of Michigan-based alternative-folk singer/songwriter Nat Timmerman. A little land of the harebrained and burrowing. Venture into these eclectic soundscapes, and there you will discover a collection of memoirs turned into fantastical sonic short stories.

THE RUCKUS is a collective with the goal of recontextualizing classic funk and soul music within our 21st century world. They formed during the pandemic and emerged from lock-down as changed people in search of new live music experiences from those typically seen pre-pandemic. The Ruckus rose to and surpassed that expectation, providing electrifying live concerts with repertoire ranging from the father of funk, James Brown, to the king of soul, Stevie Wonder, and beyond into more modern artists and have now expanded from their hometown to NYC, Chicago and Detroit. Their upcoming debut single is set to release in early 2024 in preparation for their debut EP later in the year.

Saturday, July 19

1-2pm – Out Loud Chorus
3-5pm – Saline Fiddlers
6-8pm – Brain Plasticity Ukulele Collective and Blueshouse

BRAIN PLASTICITY UKULELE COLLECTIVE is an open community of musicians playing at all levels and abilities. Ukes? Well, it’s more like 30 different instruments. Plasticity? Yes! The Brain Plasticity Ukulele Collective is dedicated to improving cognition through music and the organization believes that by sharing music and

learning how to play a new instrument, you can: “Drop a brain bomb. Fire up the synapses. Rewire some neural pathways.” And what’s more, it’s a ton of fun!

MIKE BROOKS, veteran blues guitar player/singer/songwriter from the UK has been playing guitar since the age of 10, and professionally since the age of 16. His musical career and accolades are many and varied, but include hitting the UK charts in 1979 (#28 on “the New Wave of British Heavy Metal” despite being a blues band), getting a cease and desist order from Walt Disney Corp for using a band name too close to that of a cartoon mouse, opening for bands such as the Yardbirds, the Animals, Wishbone Ash and Nine Below Zero, and playing in some of the most famous venues anywhere such as London’s Marquee, and, well, The Ark! In addition to leading BLUESHOUSE and fronting the Brain Plasticity Ukulele Collective, he also works with Ann Arbor’s youth at the Neutral Zone, a continuation of a youth music project begun in the UK called Electric896, which taught disengaged youth how to rock the blues.

[left to right]: Street Fiction 2.0, Saline Fiddlers

Chalk the Walk with David Zinn

Chalk the Walk, supported by WJR, features Ann Arbor’s own world-renowned Artist David Zinn. Recognized globally for his clever and improvised chalk street art, Zinn will be creating his original temporary chalk work live during the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair event now in two locations! Sidewalk chalk will be available during all fair hours so that fairgoers can join in on the creativity and add their own mark on this year’s Ann Arbor Art Fair.

HOURS & LOCATIONS:

(LOCATION 1) Liberty + Fifth Ave.: 1-3PM Thursday (July 17), & Saturday (July 19)

(LOCATION 2) Church Street near South U: 4-6PM Friday (July 18)

Interwoven: A Community Tapestry with Doodles Academy

Doodles Academy will work with fairgoers to create a collaborative large-scale weaving installation, called Interwoven: A Community Tapestry. It ties in beautifully with their summer programming theme centered on connection and community.

In addition to the main piece, Doodles Academy will offer smaller, portable versions for younger children to enjoy and contribute to. Additionally, there will be an educational element, exploring weaving traditions from around the world and highlighting artists who have mastered this powerful, communal craft.

Join Doodles Academy at Paint the Town, July 15 and each day of the fair on Church Street.

Kid Collectors Club: Growing Tomorrow’s Art Appreciators

The Guild of Artists and Artisans is excited to add, new this year, The Kid Collectors Club which is a program to inspire the next generation of art collectors. Artwork donated by various artists participating in this year’s Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, will be exhibited in the Kid Collectors tent where kids 17 and under can come and select a piece of artwork priced just $10.

Kids will be inspired to learn more about the artists work they selected by receiving a card with information about the artist, the art, and the booth number. Likewise, kids will be encouraged to write a thank you card to the artist telling them why they selected the piece. This connection between the artist and the buyer is one of the unique aspects of buying art at art fairs and hopefully this exchange of information will provide a similar impactful connection.

LOCATION: Church Street near South U: 10-6PM Everyday

Creative Art Project with T’onna Clemons

This community made art project will be led by local artist, T’onna Clemons. Fairgoers will have the opportunity to paint a kite that will be integrated with other fairgoers kites to create a moving aerial display.

T’onna Clemons is dedicated to empowering and showcasing the creativity of upcoming artists and youth in Ann Arbor and Detroit. With an aim to foster community-led initiatives that nurture local talent and promote innovation, representation, and opportunity for minority artists, Clemons is committed to building connections, evoking emotions through painting, and giving back to the community by supporting youth and aspiring Black artists in realizing their dreams.

LOCATION: Details coming soon

Paint the Town – July 15, 2025 | 5-9PM

Presented by

Come out and Paint the Town to be a part of this year’s Block pARTy – A community event preluding the Ann Arbor Art Fair:

Downtown Ann Arbor, on Liberty, State and Main Streets
Free Entry
LIVE David Zinn Chalk Art at 5 PM and 7 PM
Plein Air Painting
LIVE Music and Silent Disco
Street Activities & Local Partners featuring AFC Ann Arbor, Wolverine Pickleball, Doodles Academy & more
Great food and drinks!
Coincides with Dart for Art

2025 Paint The Town Map of ALL the Activities!

Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair - Art Activities, Music, and more!