Art Birmingham, Birmingham, MI

Comment by Lorrie Dallek on May 16, 2011 at 11:04am

I was there as well.  It was my 1st time.  I loved the immediate neighborhood, park & lay out.  The weather was cold but tolerable on Saturday- attendance was poor & buying very weak.  I was told by my fellow artists that it normally packed with solid buying in years past.  Hard to explain the change given a few changes- date, location & organizers but the bottom line was that I lost $$$.  Say no more.

Comment by Connie Mettler on May 16, 2011 at 2:36pm

This show often is weather dependent. This is the second washout in the last three or four years. Too bad. The art is really good, the neighborhood lovely and the show does usually bring strong buyers in. I wouldn't blame anything on the layout. Most of the attendees have been going to the Spring and Fall shows in Birmingham in Shain Park for many years and know what to expect. Last year's move to Old Woodward was the anomaly.

Comment by Julia D. McGrath on May 16, 2011 at 3:50pm

My first year there too.  Was really disappointed in what transpired but I think a lot of it had to do with the weather.  Sales were poor for me on Saturday, so I was hoping for a better Sunday.

However, we loved the room we had for set-up - and how organized it was.  I thought the show was a good one as far as the artists go, but the weather didn't lend itself to anyone wanting to get outside.

I hope to get juried in again next year - even though we were soaked from head to toe on Sunday.

Comment by Warren Townsend on May 16, 2011 at 8:16pm

Connie, I do not think that it was a real bad layout, but I felt like a tour guide at times.  Luckily The Guild had a nice pamphlet with a good map that I shared a lot. I kept getting asked things like where is the food (one sausage wagon with $8 sausages on the far corner and a mini donut vendor behind me), are there artist too down this side street (note I was on the corner by the statue next to some vendors and folks I think thought there was just more vendors down the street).  But I liked the room I had around me and the big marble balls. Now if only Mother Nature wasn't trying to tell Al Gore that it is not too warm.

Comment by Shawn Malone on May 17, 2011 at 12:31am

Mother nature was not kind this weekend. Threat of rain all day Saturday with dropping temps really affected attendance, then Sunday happened :( Thanks to the Guild to shutting it down Sunday so early when it was evident this freakish blob on the radar refused to budge from B-ham. Hope everyone made enough on Saturday to get a good dinner and have enough gas money to the next show... I know we enjoyed a Redcoat burger and an Avery Maharaja IPA... mmmmmm..... Heard Little Tree Royal Oak is good too if you are into sushi.. I thought it was great Sunday when we were finally packed up and heading out, drenched to the bone, and saw a ceramic artist next to us make a sale in the pouring rain, return customers looking at different pieces in the rain as his canopy was packed up.

Comment by Barry Bernstein on May 17, 2011 at 12:41pm

I wrote my impressions of this show in another post:

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/artbirmingham-another...

 

As far as the Birmingham crowd, I walked around Friday night after setup and I think the atmosphere in Birmingham has changed.  I think it would make a good reality show called Housewives of Birmingham,MI. 

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