The Fairy Folk of Ann Arbor

While in Ann Arbor, Jessica showed us a fairy door! This Fairy door is underneath a store window display, apparently these doors can be found all around the city!

The Wee Fairy Doors of Ann Arbor, Mich.
by Celeste Headlee
May 9, 2006

Fairies are settling in the Michigan college town of Ann Arbor. At least, that's what artist Jonathon Wright would like you to believe.

All across the city, "fairy doors" are popping up. The miniature openings into imagined fairy homes are unsponsored, unauthorized works of public art that have captured the imagination of the city.

A six-inch white wooden door with a carved jamb framed by miniature bricks was the first to appear, outside Sweetwaterz Cafe. Since the spring of last year, seven more doors have appeared at businesses around Main Street.

The human behind the fairy tale is illustrator Jonathon Wright. In 1993, his wife ran a preschool program in their home. On a whim, Wright installed a fairy door in the house. The children's delighted response prompted him to build more.

Noting that businesses in Ann Arbor's downtown section were struggling to attract customers, he thought fairy doors might help. "I'd like to see them thrive, and that's part of what I want to contribute," he says. "Something that's lasting and fun and that can maybe revitalize some interest in the downtown area."

Now children are leaving gifts for the fairies: pennies, candy, hand-knit socks made with tiny needles, teeny felt hats and fairy-sized coloring books. http://www.npr.org

From the creators website...

definitions, catagories:
Now don't go and get anything all bunched if my definition doesn't match yours or if someone/something is omitted.

The Fae or the Fey; The WORLD of the Faerie and the inhabitants which include, but not limited to:
Fairies (regardless of spelling): At one time a "fairy" was a woman with magical powers. Later "fairy" also meant "elves". Early on "fairies were much larger (4-5 feet tall...some MUCH larger) than our popular conception. Some say that the notion of little winged Fairies is a literary embellishment from the Victorian period. Regardless, as with most things of the magical-imagined world...they change. Folk tales/songs change with telling...they grow and shrink and become richer with time.

ALL of the following beings exist in the Fairy Rhelm. Their attributes and characteristics can be debated ....(elsewhere).

Elves, Pixies, Brownies, Gnomes, Sprites, Leprechauns, Goblins, Trolls, Dwarves, Ogres.....etc

More info on the fairy folk of Ann Arbor and Jonathon Wright: urban-fairies.com.