2016 Summer Shade Festival, Atlanta, GA
August 27-28, Grant Park
This show had me in such high hopes. Professionally done Artist Handbook, emailed out in plenty of time. Option to purchase an ad in the Festival Guide.
There was smooth check-in, excellent communication with the volunteers, and smooth load-in. The artists around me were excellent, in my opinion. Good proximity to the port-a-johns, an "intersection" of the sidewalks, and a local craft beer tent. I was near the center of the intersecting sidewalks, on "The Loop," so I hoped it was a good spot. I had paid extra for an ad, and to be in the juried section of the show.
What I didn't realize until walking around a bit was the real scale of this show. It had a meandering layout of artists, through sidewalks of the park, leading to three separate stages where the food areas were located. So once someone passes your booth, they likely weren't coming back. One of my biggest competitors was ten booths away from mine. I never found the artist hospitality tent.
I did my setup, buttoned up, and gave a neighboring artist (who had traveled from Guatemala for this show and one more) a ride to the train station.
The next morning, I did some wandering around to the artists that were open, bought a new mug, and a small new art piece for my wall. After all, I'd recoup the costs today, right?
Wrong. A very slow start to the show, with only three small sales by 2 pm. Lots of people walking by, on their way to the stages. Small burst of sales from 3-4, then nothing until I closed at 8pm. I again gave my neighbor artist a ride to the station.
The next morning, the artists are talking. No one has seen the Festival Guide we bought ads for, nor did we see any of the judges or talk to any at all. It turns out it was only digital, viewable on the festival's facebook page... if you knew where to look for it. The artists who were there the previous year said that they had doubled the size of the artist section this year.
The second and last day totaled less than $100. Total for the entire weekend was around $700. Everyone said the same, that sales were dismal. The show ends at 7pm, and we start breaking down. They delay the artists getting in until all the food trucks can get out -- hey, at least they made money this weekend.
Smooth load-out, and well coordinated exit. Time to drive home. Peanut butter for dinner.
The high point for me for this show was my artist neighbor. His art was amazing, and fascinating stories about his small village and his travels. All of his art was painted on hand-woven cloth, made by his mother. I ended up trading for one of his paintings that depicted "market day" in his village and bought a scarf for my wife that his mother wove.
I honestly hate writing a bad review for a show that was this well planned. The people were there, but not to buy art.
Pros:
Good load in
Good load out
Variety of artists
Music and alcohol
Water for artists
Comments
It came up in my email -- I do so many shows I had to check my calendar from last year to realize which show it was. I didn't fall for it! I do wonder if that artist next to me came for it again. His art is still on my wall.
A year later, you saved me and my partner from a lost weekend! and lots of lost $$!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your honesty, and just declined my invitation- which came into my Zapp box 4 HOURS AFTER WE APPLIED! Something very suspicious there. Many thanks again!
Enjoyed reading your critique, Joel, sorry it wasn't a better show for you but like Paul said, by reviewing it honestly, you've helped other artists make up their minds about it. It sounds like they're doing it right but the folks are coming out for the food and music and not to buy art...a sad commentary.
Don't ever feel bad about writing bad reviews...you just saved an artist a ton on money. I wish there was a way that you could track back and see exactly what each reviewer was selling. Sure some folks will do well in some places, but, trends like photo/2-D/painting will usually trend over an entire show.