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    Graffiti Alley

    4.3 (24 reviews)
    Open Open 24 hours

    Graffiti Alley Photos

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    Graffiti Art
    Michele M.

    This is a neat free art immersion experience that you can visit in Ann Arbor. Check it out while you are walking around Downtown Ann Arbor.

    Layla D.

    its super cool in there, i took some pics with one of my friends! it was super fun and really nice. we saw some people spray painting thwre too :3

    Graffiti Alley, Ann Arbor MI
    Bruce K.

    There is some excellent graffiti here but it's a short tunnel and there isn't much of it. Talented artists who have done great work in a limited space. I've just come from the Graffiti Alley in Toronto https://www.yelp.com/biz/graffiti-alley-toronto?hrid=aTRp4igmW1OqmYwphGF_aQ which is much larger but just as talented. Worth a stop for sure! [Review 11122 overall, 895 of 2019.]

    Art
    Joy M.

    This place has such beautiful art work that will be remembered here. I absolutely love it here!! If you are anywhere near here, I recommend coming to look at the art and it's messages. So beautiful and vivid, I could stay here forever!

    Long and narrow alleyway.
    Al M.

    While some call it Poet's Alley and others call it Bubble Gum Alley, it is most commonly known as Graffiti Alley. I found it to be the perfect colorful and artistic outdoor adventure on this very cold but sunny Sunday morning in mid-February. The narrow alleyway sits on East Liberty, just steps from the historic Michigan Theater and two blocks from UM's Central Campus. For well over 20 years, it has served as a symbol of Ann Arbor's thriving public art scene. In mid-summer, you'll find this alley full of both admirers and artists who leaving their mark of artistic expression on the brick wall canvas. On this cold Michigan morning, I'm the only visitor enjoying the smattering of vibrant colors in this unique corridor. If you are looking to get out for some fresh air in the midst of the pandemic, you may find that a stroll through Graffiti Alley to be just the ticket.

    Spraypainterings everywhere!
    Kevin J.

    Honestly, I think every city of decent size should have something like this - a graffiti-friendly zone where novices and experts and everyone in between can come to express themselves with a spraycan, a paint bucket and rollers and brushes, a fat tipped marker or even a fire extinguisher that's been emptied of water and refilled with paint. Graffiti Alley is a practice space, a message board and a local landmark. And it draws youthful selfie seekers like a light draws moths. With it's equal opportunity of expression, well, at least for those who can make it here and procure supplies, Graffiti Alley isn't always going to have outdoor museum quality work. And you might see a precision piece with something utterly lazy, trite and unskilled scrawled atop it. Some paintings are great, some good, some mediocre, some hilariously bad and some just bad. But that's the nature of the beast and if you don't like something come back in a week or two and it'll probably look different. Or better yet just paint over it yourself, whether you can paint or not. Worst case scenario, you can supply a fresh base coat for the next aspiring spraypainter. Graffiti Alley is constantly changing and mutating, like a block-long, multi-colored Etch-a-Sketch, or a graffiti tunnel lava lamp. So get pics of stuff you like, especially if you painted it cause who knows how long it'll hang around. Clearly people have brought ladders here, too, and even repelling equipment to descend from the rear wall of the parking garage on the end of the alley for one balls out multi-colored tag several stories up just surrounded by a sea of red brick. I can't say I'd recommend going that route, not unless you have no fear of heights and spotters to flank the alley and any other vantage pointers as I assume the authorities laissez-faire attitude about Graffsterdam here only extends so far. I doubt the owners of the parking garage would much appreciate it either. But hey, that's one piece out of many thousands that's maybe a little over the line. And it is a marvel to behold, and still hanging in up there, perhaps cause it would be such a pain to buff it. Music might fill the air here and weed smoke might waft through it. Graffiti writers might leave behind freebies on pieces of cardboard. The paintings even extend to the ground below. It's an eye candy emporium. And I think it's time for me to upload some new photos for this listing as all my old ones have been covered over. Never change, Graffiti Alley, and by that I mean always change.

    Racheal S.

    Graffiti Alley is awesome! Rarely do I willingly walk through alleys by myself, but this one is worth checking out.

    Graffiti Alley

    My daughter decided she wanted her senior pictures taken here. I was skeptical, but they actually turned out so amazing and unique! This is a very neat place to check out!

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    Review Highlights - Graffiti Alley

    I found it to be the perfect colorful and artistic outdoor adventure on this very cold but sunny Sunday morning in mid-February.

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

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    Ann Arbor FestiFools

    Ann Arbor FestiFools

    4.7(3 reviews)
    0.3 miDowntown Ann Arbor

    Just a fun homemade- community made festival and parade. We have never been to the Friday night…read morepart of the fest, we attend the Sunday parade. We have been going from time to time since the kids were really little, at least a decade. We have not always made it out here, but we were able to attend this year then take a nice walk around the city. This is a fun little event, nothing fancy, but great for all ages and the kids love the bubbles.

    The kickoff to the Ann Arbor festival season and by far one of the funnest gatherings in town…read more Festifools is split up into two events--the original and flagship "Festifools" and a younger twilight party called "FoolMoon." Here's the dish on each. Firstly--Both typically take place on the second weekend of April. FoolMoon goes down on Friday night and Festifools on Sunday. FoolMoon is a night time processional through several streets of Ann Arbor made up of locals who have made luminaries and are dressed up in lovely glowing garb (in the weeks leading up to FoolMoon you can attend luminary workshops to help make your own or buy kits at a few local shops like Downtown Home and Garden). The processionals all end downtown by Washington and Ashley for a nightime block party filled with cool sights, light projects and shows, beer, food, music and merriment. And all those eye popping and impressive luminaries. The party, on a nice weather night, goes until midnight. So it's truly a party. In general FoolMoon is my favorite of the two and is one of my favorite things to do in town. Sadly this year it was raining and I'm just not built for elements like that so I didn't make it down but next year I shall be sure to return. Festifools is what they call "a gigantic public art spectacular, created by members of the community and U of M students." Folks get together in the weeks leading up to the event and make huge papier-mâché puppets (most of which need several people to help control) which they then take to Main Street and march in a parade (along with costumed revelers and marching bands) for folks to enjoy. The puppets typically veer into the silly, the surreal, and maybe a little creepy. This year I saw some Pac Man ghosts (silly), big headed replicas of notable locals (the surreal), and a big fat baby with a phone that said "send nudes" (the creepy). There was also a huge Vincent Van Gogh, little kids dressed up as robots, Chinese dragons, an octopus controlled by about 10 walkers, and so so much more. This event is short, it only runs about an hour (4-5 pm) but they pack in a lot into it. Lots of fun, great for kids, pet friendly (I walked my dog down to watch the processional), and most importantly-- FREE! Great cheap fun for the whole family! Or just curious onlookers on the street! Happy to have such a cool, creative community in town working on this. Hoping they continue this tradition for many many years into the future!

    Photos
    Ann Arbor FestiFools
    Ann Arbor FestiFools
    Ann Arbor FestiFools

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    Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - Awesome find at the art fair this year

    Ann Arbor Street Art Fair

    4.2(36 reviews)
    0.2 mi

    Local in A2. Very interesting time to be here because the foot traffic downtown explodes. The art…read morebooths are fun to see but a lot of it is stupidly expensive. Food options are also super limited; it's a few food trucks with local businesses selling overpriced iterations of some of their fare. A couple of happy hour spots I like in town shut their discounts down for the weekend. Most art is unexceptional. I really don't feel like anything is worth purchasing but it is fun to browse. With that said. It was fun to see the variety of works on offer. The La Croix booth (free la Croix seltzers) and pickle booths ($8 for a small, $11 for a large), were some of the most popular stands I saw. Perhaps there could be more of a consumable stand next year.

    AA Art Fair is one of the best events of the year in AA and definitely one I look forward to every…read moresingle year! My challenge to myself each year is to visit every nook and cranny of art fair because it is EXPANSIVE! My strategy is to go more than one day (obviously a little difficult to do if you're coming into town for this each time, but still completely worth it) so that I can spend at least one day looking at everything, MARINATE on it all, and then come back another day in the same weekend to buy everything in a less impulse-centric way! The AA Art Fair goes on for a whole weekend in July each summer, normally ranging from Thursday to Sunday! There are well over 1,000 vendors to look at and it basically spans across many of the streets throughout all of Ann Arbor (Main, Liberty, State, South U, East U, University, Washington, and more!). It's not only Michigan's, but the WHOLE NATION'S, largest JURIED art fair and it worth checking out a thousand times over! I've been checking out the art fair basically every year since 2010 and I've loved to see how it has evolved over the years! Obviously there are some vendors that keep coming back and that I have gotten to know over the years, but there's also so many new and incredible vendors that show up from year to year just waiting to be discovered and it's absolutely the funnest thing ever! The only downside to the art fair is how HOT it can be given that it takes place at the peak of Michigan summer, so take precautions with sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, and PLENTY of water breaks and/or duck into shops throughout AA for brief respite as needed! It's wonderful because there are also tons of the AA storefronts that you can check out during art fair as well because they'll put on massive deals knowing that art fair is going on! AA Art Fair is truly the best! I hope everyone gets to check it out at some point in their lives and am eagerly looking forward to next July's art fair again!

    Photos
    Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - Glassblowing demonstrations @ AA Art Fair 2023

    Glassblowing demonstrations @ AA Art Fair 2023

    Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - My dog with the Welcome to Art Fair sign!

    My dog with the Welcome to Art Fair sign!

    Ann Arbor Street Art Fair

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    Rabbit Hole - Koel Bird

    Rabbit Hole

    4.4(25 reviews)
    0.5 mi

    Ann Arbor is always such an interesting spot for a night out. During the school year, the streets…read moreare teeming with college kids bouncing around, which of course is what you would expect from a great college town. What I do love about Ann Arbor is that they balance out the drunk haunts of young adults with great restaurants and high end bars for the people looking for more than a pitcher of cheap beer. Rabbit Hole is one of those spots. Down the same little alley way as Circ Bar, this underground bar is tucked away, stone hallways and open up and lead to different openings that provide seating, a dance floor and an amazingly stocked bar. If you like bourbon you will love this spot. Our bartender was fantastic, absolutely worked with me on working out a drink. I know I took a pic of an espresso martini, but my drink was made perfect also. Another nice surprise was that it wasn't some crazy price on the drink (I mean any crazier than other places and quite cheaper than around my home), especially for Ann Arbor. Walking away from the bar is a dance floor, and surrounding it are booths in a separate rooms and tables on a level up from the dance floor. There are also two hallways that lead to more booths and tables in different areas of the bar. As you can imagine this is a huge place. We came on a Friday and it wasn't very busy, but school is out and the weather had just broke so not surprising. I really enjoyed my time and the company I was with, and I would definitely go back.

    Another place actually open later, I needed to come and try…read more Rabbit hole definitely has a unique look. It reminded me of visits through caves I just needed some Stalactites. Definitely a bit confusing to figure out where to go. I wish I had been given some direction. There is seating against the wall throughout the winding halls. There is a dance floor and a couple bars. I loved the look which would definitely bring me back if I had also loved the Cocktails. The drink I ordered was way too sweet. I was underwhelmed. Most of their drinks looked on the sweeter side even the bartender mentioned. For my second I just ordered a glass of bubbly. It was also on the sweeter side but an improvement. For the prices, I really don't want to have to get up, find my way back to the bar to order my drink, then walk back to my seat avoiding the people and trying not to spill.

    Photos
    Rabbit Hole - Vaulted Substrate (Old fashioned)

    Vaulted Substrate (Old fashioned)

    Rabbit Hole - Dealer's choice cocktail - just a few descriptions and our craft cocktail bartenders will make your perfect drink.

    Dealer's choice cocktail - just a few descriptions and our craft cocktail bartenders will make your perfect drink.

    Rabbit Hole - Root interior

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    Root interior

    Graffiti Alley - publicart - Updated May 2026

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