St. James Court

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Connie Mettler on March 12, 2010 at 10:37am

Hi Jackie,

The most "prestigious", where the majority of the best work is in the actual St. James Court Show itself. But the show sprawls over many city blocks. I believe the St. James area is where everyone who visits does the "must see." Belgravia Court is adjacent to St. James, runs off of it perpendicularly and so sees much of the traffic moving from the Court to the other streets. In general good quality, but very tricky loading in and out and the booth spaces are in shade all weekend and are set up on a heavily treed median making for uneven ground.

One of the other streets shows (maybe south 3rd street?) is run by Susan Coleman, formerly the director of the SJCS, and has pretty nice work.

Many of the members here do this show. I hope they will chime in. But put St. James Court Show in the search box and you can get lots of information right away, including reviews of the 2009 show.

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Permalink Reply by Jackie Russo on March 12, 2010 at 10:45am

Thanks Connie, I'll do that.

Connie Mettler said:

Hi Jackie,

The most "prestigious", where the majority of the best work is in the actual St. James Court Show itself. But the show sprawls over many city blocks. I believe the St. James area is where everyone who visits does the "must see." Belgravia Court is adjacent to St. James, runs off of it perpendicularly and so sees much of the traffic moving from the Court to the other streets. In general good quality, but very tricky loading in and out and the booth spaces are in shade all weekend and are set up on a heavily treed median making for uneven ground.

One of the other streets shows (maybe south 3rd street?) is run by Susan Coleman, formerly the director of the SJCS, and has pretty nice work.

Many of the members here do this show. I hope they will chime in. But put St. James Court Show in the search box and you can get lots of information right away, including reviews of the 2009 show.

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Permalink Reply by Marguerite Esrock on March 15, 2010 at 4:15pm

Jackie-
I would be glad to tell you the differences regarding St James. I think some of the other coordinators of the art show are on here too so they can add their input. What I tell artists is this...
All 6 areas have good traffic flow. When a patron comes to the Art Show they don’t really know when they are walking from one section into another. We don’t advertise the different sections to the public. There are several differences that I like to tell artists about. You are welcome to call me and I can explain further.

Applications:
4 sections are listed on Zapplication and only take digital images and applications through Zapp.
The other 2 sections, West End Baptist Church and 1300 Association only take paper applications which can be downloaded on our web site under “Artist Corner”.

Fine Art & Craft and Art & Craft:
Belgravia and St James Courts tend to have the most of fine art and craft (approximately 90%). All the other sections except for The West End Baptist Church also have fine art however there are art and craft exhibitors also.
Both 3rd and 4th Streets used to have art and craft buy/sell but they have gotten rid of those people and have stepped up the quality in the past few years.

Parking: You can park behind your booth space all weekend long on 3rd St.(Both South Third St. and 1300 Association) The other streets have off site parking – first come first served.
Belgravia Ct. is pedestrian only so you will have to dolly your work in from the car/truck.

On a side note for Susan's sake let me just say that she is a volunteer for the Fourth St. section but doesn't act as a coordinator for any of the sections. She's enjoying her retirement from the art show!

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Permalink Reply by steve turnre on April 4, 2011 at 10:20pm

do you know the reason for the application extension for your art show on Zapp...curious , because I am  thinking for an extension the reason would only be lack of apps and with your great show that can not be the reason.....thanks

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Permalink Reply by Jackie Russo on March 15, 2010 at 9:40pm

Thanks Marguerite. Sounds a bit like the Ann Arbors fairs.

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Permalink Reply by Marguerite Esrock on March 16, 2010 at 11:15am

We all meet once a month and operate under one umbrella of "The St James Court Art Show". Our funds are "pooled" in order to pay for our infrastructure expenses like port o johns, security, daytime police, etc. I believe the Ann Arbor shows are all very separate.

Jackie Russo said:

Thanks Marguerite. Sounds a bit like the Ann Arbors fairs.

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Permalink Reply by Bill Sargent on March 22, 2011 at 4:50pm

I'm a bit confused about the third street shows.  We are in the Third Street Neighborhood Association show and I have to read carefully to make sure we're sending the checks to the right place.  Does the other third street show fall under the same umbrella with the same directors?  Are all the spaces on Third Street handled through Zapp for jurying and payments?  We've done the show for years and have enjoyed the same wonderful spot, but I was never clear as to the distinction between the third street shows and who gets the coffee.  I might be setting a record here for long term dumb so bear with me.

   We have enjoyed doing this show and it's always nice to be invited back.   

 

Thanks,

  Bill 

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Permalink Reply by Marguerite Esrock on March 23, 2011 at 11:00am

There are 2 shows that operate on 3rd St. The first is The South Third St. Show which is on Zapp. The second is 1300 Association which is not on Zapp but only takes paper applications. They each have their own coordinator.

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Permalink Reply by luisa velasquez on March 22, 2011 at 8:57pm

Hi Marguerite! It's great to have you here answering questions about St James.

So I'm still deciding if I should apply, other artists talk about how impossible is to get into the show. That most of the artists are already chosen  and a smaller % is left for jurying with thousands of applications. Others say that my art is too contemporary for St James. So, Is any of that true?how many application you had for the St James Court section last year?

 

Sorry for the questioning.  I wanna make sure is worth applying for, It's a long drive for me.

 

Thanks,

Luisa

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Permalink Reply by Marguerite Esrock on March 23, 2011 at 11:03am

I am only speaking for the St. James Court section of the show, but I invite back 55% of the show each year. I typically get about 45% returns do to retirement, sickness, family issues, out of the art show business, etc. The rest of the show is juried in April from Zapplication applications. The most applications I have ever gotten was 1,000. That was about 3 years ago. Last year I received 678.

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Permalink Reply by Connie Mettler on March 22, 2011 at 9:22pm

Do not believe, ever, that there are thousands of applications for ANY show. I'm thinking never more than 1500 for even the very best show, with most shows not getting anywhere near 1000. Still, it is tricky to navigate, but not so impossible as some would believe.

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Permalink Reply by luisa velasquez on March 22, 2011 at 9:30pm

Thanks Connie, for giving me more hope! :) Lu

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