343 artists + 375,000 fans: Uptown Art Fair by the numbers

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

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

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

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)

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