Like pretty much everything these days, art fairs generate data. Lots and lots of numbers that tell the story of how much fun people have strolling around outdoors munching kettle corn, tacos and fudge while debating whether to buy a salad bowl, handmade sandals, an engagement ring or a giant moose sculpture for the backyard. With three art fairs in Minneapolis this weekend, the numbers will fly from Uptown, Powderhorn and Loring Park.
The following are from the Uptown Art Fair, which is the biggest and oldest of the three events and, well, has the most numbers.
1 beer garden
1 first aid station
$1.6 million of art sold at last year's fair
3 foreign countries sending artists (Argentina, Canada, Japan)
34 U.S. states sending artists
6 ATMs
12+12 chefs and artists competing on the fair's "culinary arts" stage
13 entertainment acts
16 types of music (blues, reggae, folk, jazz, rock, dance, etc.)
21 percent of 2014 visitors who returned 10 years in a row
26 percent of 2014 visitors who were first-timers
26 food vendors
50 porta potties
52nd anniversary of the Uptown Art Fair
61 kids in Tomorrow's Stars Youth Art Fair
79 Uptown businesses participating
162 decorated paint cans for sale
225 trash bins
343 artists, including 64 jewelers, 48 painters, 38 photographers, 24 sculptors and 21 woodworkers
729 volunteers
1,100 bikes per day valeted by Nice Ride at last year's event
7,280 pounds of plastic, paper, trash and organics recycled in 2014
12,743 free Metro Transit rides last year (info at bit.ly/1DlBksM)
$19,000 raised last year to support Uptown maintenance, cleanup and promotions
375,000 visitors expected
600,000 dots in Brian Delozier's painting, "Wings Over Uptown," featured on the 2015 commemorative poster.
0 dollars — the amount that the art fair's executive director, Maude Lovelle, spends on art at the event. "I would buy everything if I could," she said, "but I don't want to have to explain why I picked someone's painting, sculpture or jewelry over someone else's."
Mary Abbe • 612-673-4431
