Call for Artists, Making Money at Juried Art Fairs, Craft Shows and Festivals
Houston, we have a problem......
Ugh.... Zapp time again. So many shows telling us how they REALLY CARE about the artists out there, yet jury fees at a minimum on Zapp are $30. Now I'm starting to see $40 regularly and the occasional $50. I refuse to enter the $50 ones, no matter how good they are. Anyone out there care to give some insider information how Zapp is presenting their services to promoters of shows? Is part of the pitch recouping the Zapp service fees through jury fees, effectively passing thoses costs on to the artists?????? I understand the desire to have a more streamlined application process, but what's obviously happening here simply isn't fair. I'm researching all my alternatives to boycotting Zapp and anyone else with these high jury fees.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Larry Berman on -
ZAPP has nothing to do with the shows raising their fees. I perceive it to be the shows looking to get their investment back in two ways, increasing jury fees and increasing application numbers. What they don't see is that ZAPP can save them time and money because all the background work is getting done for them. That's why a single person can now be a promoter and handle ten shows with a minimum of overhead or office staff.
One thing you can do is offer to be an artist advisor to a show and see if you can get them to make their fees more artist friendly.
Larry Berman
Digital Jury Services
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
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Permalink Reply by Julia Niles on -
Zapp has NOTHING TO DO with shows raising their jury fees Larry? May I ask what information you are basing that statement off of? Any other opinions out there from show promoters or other artists?
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Permalink Reply by Linda Anderson on -
Hi Julia..... I don't think it's Zapp. I was pleased to find both last year and this year, Amy Amdur has had the artist in mind as last year, she waived the extra fee on the 2 pay setup and this year she has reduced jury/aplication fees to $25.00. Also - due to medical reasons, I had to withdraw from (3) Howard Alan events for January after I was accepted. Howard kindly issued a credit to me for jury fees paid to be used over the next two years. I believe the application/jury fees required by Zapp are those established by the promoter.
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Permalink Reply by Diane Wright on -
Hi Julia, I agree. If Zapp set the jury fees then they would all be the same rather than a ranget of fees. I think that yes, they are trying to make up some of their costs. This reminds me a little of the college application fees that just keep rising. I think in part the colleges raised their app fees so that they only had serious applicants. Maybe promoters lose a percentage of exhibitors because we apply to more than one show for the same weekend to protect ourselves. They may feel that by raising jury fees, fewer artists will do that and then cancel out of their show. I think that if that is the reason, there are other ways to do that. This is just a conjecture.
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Permalink Reply by Linda Anderson on
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Great analogy Diane - I had not thought of that but sure makes sense, especially for those shows that have 2000 applicants for 150 or so open spots. Zapp likely has increased their fees to promoters over the years, like everyone else, and perhaps promoters are just responding to that by passing along the increase to artists.
Diane Wright said:Hi Julia, I agree. If Zapp set the jury fees then they would all be the same rather than a ranget of fees. I think that yes, they are trying to make up some of their costs. This reminds me a little of the college application fees that just keep rising. I think in part the colleges raised their app fees so that they only had serious applicants. Maybe promoters lose a percentage of exhibitors because we apply to more than one show for the same weekend to protect ourselves. They may feel that by raising jury fees, fewer artists will do that and then cancel out of their show. I think that if that is the reason, there are other ways to do that. This is just a conjecture.
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Permalink Reply by Connie Mettler on -
I think the shows set their fees partly to cover the online application costs they incur, but the shows that have been using it for awhile should have that figured into their budgets by now. Mainly, I think, they are set by what the shows think they can get, or some of them look around to see what the others are doing -- it is what the traffic will bear.
I think anything over $40 is unconscionable and believe $25 to $30 is appropriate.
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Permalink Reply by Julia Niles on
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Linda Anderson says,"perhaps promoters are just responding to that by passing along the increase to artists."-
Isn't that what I said in my first post?
I'm glad to know some artists find Amdur, and HA artist friendly. So artist friendly in fact, these promoters have no problem adding many more shows to their yearly lineup. Win, win, right? Oh and it's not too late to get in on Amdur shows with a $25 late fee PER SHOW....... I think HA has at least four new shows this year, Amdur two or three......opportunities abound.
Back on topic,
I'm not questioning WHO sets the fees with Zapp. My whole point is, and what I was trying to convey in original post was:
Fees have been going up on Zapp $10 a year it seems.
ZAPP service obviously is not a cheap venture for promoters = oh, just recoup that expense through the higher jury fees passed along to the artists = is a $50 jury fee REALLY FAIR TO THE ARTISTS? Where does it end? Are we going to see $75 jury fees next year?
An example of what I consider artist fair/friendly is Belleville. They find a way to keep their jury fees around $25. Their booth fees are very reasonable especially for the show they deliver, which is second to none. Why then, are some of these other,at best marginal shows, becoming so outrageous with their fees, both booth and jury?
Maybe I'm in the minority on this issue, but I guess that'll just make it easier on the jurors with one less artist to jury, so I guess in that respect, the strategy works.
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Permalink Reply by Connie Mettler on
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I am totally with you on the jury fees, Julia. Really way too high.
However, you can't compare Belleville to many of the other shows that use the online services. Belleville is an ENTIRELY volunteer run event! That in itself is amazing. Patty Gregory and her friends are doing what many events did in the very beginning, working (for free) for their communities. Wouldn't it be great if this was the way more shows are run? As art fairs have developed they've gotten way past being able to be run by a total volunteer group. Me, I work as a volunteer for my little home town show, but can I afford to give this time and effort to something more? No, I need to earn a living. What the artists need are more Patty Gregorys. Wish it could happen.
Julia Niles said:Linda Anderson says,"perhaps promoters are just responding to that by passing along the increase to artists."-
Isn't that what I said in my first post?
I'm glad to know some artists find Amdur, and HA artist friendly. So artist friendly in fact, these promoters have no problem adding many more shows to their yearly lineup. Win, win, right? Oh and it's not too late to get in on Amdur shows with a $25 late fee PER SHOW....... I think HA has at least four new shows this year, Amdur two or three......opportunities abound.
Back on topic,
I'm not questioning WHO sets the fees with Zapp. My whole point is, and what I was trying to convey in original post was:
Fees have been going up on Zapp $10 a year it seems.
ZAPP service obviously is not a cheap venture for promoters = oh, just recoup that expense through the higher jury fees passed along to the artists = is a $50 jury fee REALLY FAIR TO THE ARTISTS? Where does it end? Are we going to see $75 jury fees next year?
An example of what I consider artist fair/friendly is Belleville. They find a way to keep their jury fees around $25. Their booth fees are very reasonable especially for the show they deliver, which is second to none. Why then, are some of these other,at best marginal shows, becoming so outrageous with their fees, both booth and jury?
Maybe I'm in the minority on this issue, but I guess that'll just make it easier on the jurors with one less artist to jury, so I guess in that respect, the strategy works.
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Permalink Reply by Julia Niles on
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"Connie Mettler 50 minutes ago
I am totally with you on the jury fees, Julia. Really way too high.
However, you can't compare Belleville to many of the other shows that use the online services. Belleville is an ENTIRELY volunteer run event! That in itself is amazing."
Good point. To that I did not give much thought.
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Permalink Reply by Larry Berman on
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Your reference to Belleville is not comparable to ZAPP or JAS. This year, Belleville is using a jury system that is costing them $2 per application. That's far cheaper than what either ZAPP or JAS costs.
Both ZAPP and JAS are licensed by the shows and they pay a fixed amount per year for both the image and data management and to use the system. There is no recommendation by either system on what they should charge the artists. Jury fees were going up (along with all other related fees and expenses) before online application systems became the norm.
Larry Berman
Digital Jury Services
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
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Permalink Reply by Connie Mettler on
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Right you are on that, Larry, regardless of the jurying system. It is sort of what I said earlier. Shows charge what they think "the traffic will bear."
Larry Berman said:Your reference to Belleville is not comparable to ZAPP or JAS. This year, Belleville is using a jury system that is costing them $2 per application. That's far cheaper than what either ZAPP or JAS costs.
Both ZAPP and JAS are licensed by the shows and they pay a fixed amount per year for both the image and data management and to use the system. There is no recommendation by either system on what they should charge the artists. Jury fees were going up (along with all other related fees and expenses) before online application systems became the norm.
Larry Berman
Digital Jury Services
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
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Permalink Reply by Barry Witt on -
Yes, it can be done without raising fees to artists.
As the show director of the Bonita Springs National Art Festivals, I had to make a major decision about converting to digital in March, 2009. I evaluated the two major available systems and both were expensive. My alternative if I used them was to increase jury fees.
The alternative was to find or create a system that would do the job and be less expensive so we did not have to raise the fees artists pay. I discovered and worked with a very sophisticated programmer (Chris Ritke) and helped him develop a new system which he called EntryThingy using the latest available technology.
Using EntryThingy will prove much more cost effective for shows. It also includes in my opinion many more features than the other systems. Art on the Square in Belleville, Illinois is also using EntryThingy.
Our show profits go to support the programs of the 501(c)3 Art League of Bonita Springs.
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