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  • Thanks for the info Charles - very helpful.
  • This will be the first “show” report so I might miss a few things☺

    I did this show in 2010 and all in all was not a bad show. Although, this was the first time I have done this show and I only live 2 hours from it so that is why I applied.

    I think the booth fees were $25 and $300 so not cheap but not outrageous..

    The weekend in general was HOT!. 100 + temps with insane humidity so we actually had pretty darn good crowds. Also, had storms on both nights that damaged a few tents in at the other outside art fair. It was nice to be awoken at 3 am hearing the thunder and seeing the lightning and not have to worry about my tent and all my pics.

    They do run free shuttle buses from the Des Moines art show ( the big regional ) outside show so I lot of people I talked with did go to both shows – not sure if from hot weather or not as I have only done this show once.

    Set up was nice. I think 4-8 pm Friday. When I pulled up about 4 pm Friday the temp reading on my car was 96 degrees but I was able park right in front of the building and the air conditioning was running. Must have been 70 degrees inside. Was able to dolly right to the spot that was well marked.

    Check in was easy given a packet and free water bottles.

    The show itself was pretty standard about 200 booths set up. Good mix. I do photography and probably had about 15-20 photographers, potters, jewelers, glass artist, painters, etc - as you would expect in your typical show. Did not really notice one medium more than the others. I think overall the quality of art was pretty darn good.

    Crowds were pretty steady and so were sales. Sold mostly matted prints but did sell a couple big framed prints ☺. I really only paid attention to other photographers and sales were steady most people were happy with the sales given the economy. I was behind a photographer from California selling large canvas travel prints. He must have sold at least a dozen canvas in different sizes and his prices were not cheap his bigger canvas were around $1200 or so.
    Did talk to a couple of other artist who did not do so great at this show but for the most part most artists were happy with sales. Still down from when the economy tanked but better that last year. Still lots of tire kickers

    Tear down was nice. In fact after the first hour they let everyone drive in the building to the booth and load in the building. Only complaint about tear down is they turned off the ac and it got pretty hot toward the end.

    All in all I was happy with the show was well organized and run, had decent crowds, good set up and tear down and plan to apply again and hope for 100 degree temps ☺
  • I did this show for 3 years, the last time was in 2008. Sales were only fair but seemed to decrease each year. It is heavy in jewelry and too large for the attendance. The crowds are at the Des Moines Art Fest down town. If you are in the area, maybe, but don't travel far for this show.
  • Yes, thank you Dawn - this does help a lot. I don't think I'll apply as it doesn't seem worth the travel.
  • Is this "The Other Art Show" in Des moines? I tried it last summer based on the recomendation of another artist. The indoor and airconditioned part was like an art fair vacation. The traffic was moderate. This show was slower than most for me but it was also beautifull weather and I am told this show thrives when it is typically blasting hot, humid or storming, then poeple come in droves from the street fair down town. I have midrange jewelry, another jewlry artist had beautifull gold and fine jewels... mostly rings in the $1000 plus range... I think he may have left without a sale. The woman in the booth behind me had glass nicknacks and did not sell well either. This show is not in the scratch off category but it is on the second teir of choices. Overall the show was a bit crafty but reasonably good quality. Hope this helps.
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