There was a time when more than 90 percent of U.S. industry revolved around agriculture. Today only 2 percent of industry involves agriculture.
But fairs showcasing the creativity and education related to agriculture have remained popular despite this industry shift.
“It’s Fairtime!: Today’s Fairs,” an exhibition celebrating fairs and how they’ve affected the United States, opens Sunday at the MSU Museum.
“Fairs have historically been a place where people can learn about new things,” said exhibit co-curator Julie Avery.
The exhibit will display aspects of contemporary fairs, including sections about youth education and leadership, volunteerism, technology and recreation. Two other parts of the exhibition, Fairs of Yesteryear and Floral Hall, will open Dec. 10.
The exhibition was inspired in part by Avery’s participation in fairs as a child and by her doctoral dissertation at MSU about early fairs as art exhibitions.
The youth education display will feature the work of young people from around the state. The museum gave out awards for outstanding projects from nearly 40 fairs across the state. The exhibit will feature 36 of those award-winning projects, including a bug collection, a stamp collection, a handmade saddle, a handmade oak cradle, quilts and a peacock that has been stuffed and preserved.
Colleen Myers, 15, of Ada, Mich., was selected to display her Ukrainian Easter eggs at the exhibit after earning high honors at the Kent County Youth Fair. She has been designing the eggs with wax and dye for three years but has participated in 4-H Club for nine years. She shows chickens, crafts and nutrition exhibits at fairs.
“(Fairs) are a great way for kids to get together and show what they can do,” Myers said. “It’s the future of America.”
Another highlight of the exhibit is a quilt put together by each of Michigan’s 90 fairs. Each fair contributed a square showing how it is different from the others. The quilt will be raffled off in April.
To celebrate technology at fairs, the cab of a trade-show model Case IH MX240 tractor will be at the exhibit.
“This tractor illustrates that high level of technology that people would learn about,” Avery said.
A PBS documentary, “Blue Ribbon Walkways: 150 Years of the Michigan County Fair,” will show during the exhibit. The documentary is another part of the It’s Fairtime! project.
Marilyn Thelen, exhibit co-curator, is the coordinator of Michigan’s 90 state, county and community fairs through the Michigan Department of Agriculture. She said she hopes the exhibit will help people see fairs in a new light and understand what opportunities they bring to society.
“I have a better understanding of how fairs shape the community now,” Thelen said. “‘Today’s Fairs’ shows that diversity and opportunity are still available today.”
