By: Mike Koury | Woodward Talk | Published June 16, 2026
BERKLEY — Downtown Berkley was packed June 13 with thousands of people shopping at the 24th annual Berkley Art Bash.
Visitors took to 12 Mile Road in Berkley to visit and possibly purchase from more than 180 vendors selling anything from T-shirts and paintings to handmade jewelry and special scents.
Kim Field, of Royal Oak, walked around the road with her golden retriever, Quincy, as they perused the many vendors’ booths.
Field had just bought a shirt from Catching Fireflies. Field said she loves attending fairs like this to support “local artists and local businesses that are not the big box.”
“It’s a good time to come and check it all out in one place,” she said. “There’s a variety of different things, from pottery to dog collars to, like I said, an easy walk around. You don’t have to worry about cars in the way and you get to socialize. It’s a beautiful day.”
Megan Kraft participated in her third Art Bash, bringing her business, E. Maple Handmade, and her crocheted animals called “amigurumi.”
“I try to do fun little things like the rainbow bees or like the little mini mushrooms or frogs and things like that, but I do design my own patterns and I do a lot of woodland animals based on Michigan animals,” she said.
Kraft, a Troy resident, picked up crocheting after quitting smoking to keep her hands occupied.
Operating professionally for eight years now, Kraft said coming to shows like the Art Bash is important because it allows her to communicate with the customers and community.
“It helps me kind of creatively go back and see what sold a lot of or what people were talking about a lot … and kind of make changes,” she said. “I think it’s just important to do events kind of based on that.”
Pam Vartanian and Susan O’Leary, owners of Crystal Chicks Suncatchers, brought their business to the Art Bash for the third time as well.
The owners make suncatchers with chicken wire and frames that they thrift, and they use old necklaces and brooches for their designs.
“We have some special orders,” O’Leary said. “A lot of people, if they have jewelry that’s sitting around that was Grandma’s, but they would never wear it that way, we can make it into one of these and they have it hanging and they can put it in there.”
Vartanian said that participating in art fairs is the only way they sell their wares, as they don’t have an online store, with O’Leary adding that they like coming back to the Berkley Art Bash because it’s well organized.
It’s a sentiment Kraft also shared about the event.
“They take feedback very seriously,” she said. “I feel like anytime that you offer feedback — they do a survey afterwards — they do make changes based on what people want, and I think it’s easy to navigate because it’s paved. So, anyone with accessibility issues and things like that, it’s easy for them to get to.”