ArtFest in Dallas

Comment by Deb Steidel on May 25, 2009 at 12:09pm

Hope you did okay this weekend. My husband and I live in Dallas and do the show mostly because it is local. They have had to relocate the show several times in the last 6 years, which has taken a top rated show down to just surviving. They (500 Inc.) are trying to revive the show and hopefully it will come back,but it may take a few years. The layout this year was awful for a lot of people, including myself, but we managed to do okay. The artist amenities are water, ice tea, gaterade, make sure you have you own cup, a couple of loaves of bread and for p&j sandwiches, potato chips, few bananas. I guess it's better than nothing. The crowd was reasonable for all they have gone thru w/ the relocation. W/ the minimal amount of people I talked w/ , managed some sales. I believe next year will be a better layout for the artists, as they are doing construction at Fair Park. The 500 Inc. does have a very wealthy membership and I really hope they will get this one back on track. Dallas has a good economy and very few art shows. I fear the quality will only get worse before it gets better though and hope we can support this show to get it going again. My husband did talk w/ some board members about the layout of the show and they got a sense of how much faith we put into the show committee to bring customers to our booths and he put in such a way to make them understand that we are not out here just as a weekend hobby, but rely on shows for our livelihood. He asked them how they would feel if after traveling a day, money invested in hotel, gas and booth and to arrive and find their booth was behind a building with absolutely no traffic. Luckily we were not in that area but really felt bad for those exhibitors... absolute disregard for artists to put them in such a location. The other issue is the quality. The show had a lot junk mixed in with really nice work and the 500 inc. absolutely needs to tighten up or will lose the art buyers, several customers even commented that to me. We we support because it's local, but my neighbor, a very high quality glass blower, I don't think will come back. And to top it off, right a 6 on Sunday a down pour, with no warning from the show committee that it was coming, just great!

Comment by Dawn Waters Baker on June 3, 2009 at 1:18pm

ArtFest hosted some local restaurants for the Friday night winestroll and my neighbor (from Tenneesee, a jeweler) was balled out for getting a free burrito. She mentioned that she paid $300 to get into ArtFest and got peanut butter and jelly sandwich while the attendees paid $20 and got high quality food. This did seem unfair. I will admit that i never had one person stop to ask if I needed a break. If it wasn't for my kind neighbor I don't think I ever would have made a potty stop. I work alone at these things and really rely on those breaks. I am never away from my tent longer than it takes to go to the bathroom but I need their help. My neighbors all had lousy weekends. The Jeweler from Houston and from Tennesee will not be back. My other neighbor, a photographer, said it was his worse show to date. That was very disheartening. I managed good sales on Friday, ONE on Saturday and several on Sunday. Sunday seemed like people were there to buy art. I can't blame the 500inc. for lack of promotion as I saw ads everywhere for it as well as hearing radio spots. My neighbor did mention it was Byron Nelson weekend and he thought that kept a lot of people away from ArtFest. I managed to make double my booth fee which at least made me feel the weekend wasn't a bust but I'd much rather stayed home with my hubbie and girls than do it again. I hope 500inc. will hear what the artists are saying and make some adjustments. I think Dallas is due some great festivals besides Cottonwood. I'm not sure why a promoter hasn't drooled over Dallas since it is a well-to-do city.

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