COLUMN: Midsummer Nights' Fair a dream for all in attendance
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Melodie Lettkeman, The Oklahoma Daily
Local artists and live music brought Norman residents to Lions Park on Friday, July 13, 2012, for the first day of the 36th Midsummer Nights' fair.
The 36th annual Midsummer Nights' Fair started Friday at Lions Park in Norman.
The fair was made up of an assortment of white tents or “booths” that featured everything from pottery, sketches and paintings to sculptures, glassware and woodwork. In addition, there was a main pavilion that featured a plethora of activities for children, including wall painting, tinfoil sculpting and canvas drawing.
I think this was a great way to not only keep the children occupied but also let them express their inner sense of creativity. To top it all off, local bands played music throughout the duration of the fair and drew in crowds of people.
As I made my way around the fair, one booth full of handmade vinyl purses, bowls and clocks caught my attention. It was ran by multidisciplinary studies senior Michelle Simer, who has been making these vinyl crafts for more than a year. Instead of being made out of useless records, the crafts were actually made of records of famous musicians, ranging from oldies like the Beach Boys to well-known rappers like Ludacris and the East Side Boys.
The fair does not bring in any sort of money and is not a fundraiser for its host, the Firehouse Art Center, director Douglas Shaw Elder said.
"This is really a tribute to the Norman Community," he said.
As the fair went from evening to “Midsummer Night,” I found a group of students standing around a man making a face sculpture out of clay.
Philosophy graduate Jonathan Rutledge said this was his first year coming to the fair, and he had only come because a friend had invited him. His said his favorite medium of art was music. Rutledge said art was “any medium of expression, which could be expressing feelings or political opinions, religious opinions or expressing truth or knowledge.”
After experiencing all the art, music and people at the Midsummer Nights' Fair, I'd say the fair is a Midsummer Nights' Dream for both attendees and artists alike.
Max Meier is a broadcasting and electronic media juinor.
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