Well, I waited...Oscar- you were there....no review? Bet you are on the road to Ann Arbor...So anyway, it's a dirty job but somebody has to do it. Last weekend the 10th thru the 13 was one of the Big Daddy's of art fairs, the Central Pennsylvania Fine Arts and Crafts Festival. It's a long one...four days -10 till 8 each day on the week before Ann Arbor with lots of artist's heading there this weekend. I got into both but I heard such mixed reviews about Ann Arbor last year that I chose to do CP instead, which now I kind of regret.
Central Penn a well organized show, people are nice and the load in is well organized and works pretty seamlessly. It's laid out all over State College in the town most famous for Jo-Pa and Penn State and people come in from Pittsburg and Philly to see this show. There is no electricity available or generators allowed, because it's on campus and in town and it was hot. But there also was a nice breeze and luckily I was under some beautiful big elm trees. Other's were not so lucky and were in full sun. If you were set up on campus you had a bit more room. Artist's were only on one side of the street and the flow of people was better. It seemed that in the town part it was a bit more chaotic because they were on the merchant streets...more distractions.
There was coffee served every morning, but if you were in my section on campus, you were too far away to take advantage of it. There wasn't any food or water in my section and I was very glad I bought a cooler since I got pretty dehydrated at times. We were however closer to the ice cream which is famous here...to the chagrin of my waistline.
Ok, down to the nitty gritty. The crowds were off...last year I had 12 deep at times in my booth and lots of lookers and buyers, this year it seemed that everyone was walking ten feet in front of booths and just strolling by. Of course in a show like this, where there is four days to decide on your purchases, maybe that was what was happening. Nevertheless, it was truly noticeable. I talked to many who said they had a good show but nobody who said they had a great show.
It seemed that is was a pretty conservative crowd. The realistic oil painter down the way did very well, selling big paintings and small and walked away with a good return. The contemporary photographer next to me sold many small and medium size pictures but nothing big. I sold only 2 medium sized paintings and a slew of mono prints and small work. Last year I had a very different outcome. So, maybe it was me, maybe the new work isn't as well received, but I think I speak for more artist's than not- it was kind of an off year with a different crowd.
The awards judging was a bit weird with most of last years winners winning again. It seemed that a lot of regional artist's were judges... I guess I'm just bitching because there were, out of more than 20 award and 17 thousand dollars awarded only two photo, 2 painting and no 2D awards....it was heavy jewelry and fiber....maybe it might be better if they chose by categories- it seemed a bit slanted. But hey, that's just my opinion (I hope I don't sound like a sore looser- i don't mean it that way. I sure never bet on awards-they are just gravy if they happen).
Saturday was my busiest day and the most crowded. Sunday was dead, as I think that most people drove home that day. I didn't see the organizers at the show, at least they didn't introduce themselves. There was a very nice dinner and drinks at the Penn Stater Hotel on Friday night, last year I went, but skipped it this year as I was really tired. Maybe they were there and that is why.
On Thursday morning I came to my tent to see my awning pole laying halfway across the green lawn and my font tent zipper unzipped. I reported it and apparently there was some other student shenanigans on the town side where there are more frat houses. Some paintings missing and one was found by the police. I believe that is what happened with mine. Thank god, I could tape it back together and nothing seemed to be missing.
Load out went very smooth and I was out of there and drove the 9 hours home that night. Probably not the smartest thing to do but the call of my own bed was pretty strong.
All in all, I kind of wish I had done State Street instead. I hear it's going to be great weather up there this coming weekend and people are always excited about it. I think that is what was missing...nobody seemed that excited that we were there....shows do have ebb and flow years and this seemed a bit of a down year for me. I would love to hear what you all thought.
Comments
I do like to give shows a second try to maybe I'll do that Margaret! Thx Amy for the kind words.
As to the Boalsburg show, I believe both shows are about the same price booth fee.
People who do Boalsburg seem happy with Boalsburg, and people who do State College say they are happy to do that one.
I have lived in the area for a few years, and I have done the State College show 4 years now.
Every year it's dead on for me, same amount of $$ sales, very close,, and has been a good show.
I have had the same space every year, which is at the end of Allen.
It is difficult for me to gauge how other artists are doing, as I don't have visibility from my booth.
So glad you're show was great Amy, on the other hand,mine was the opposite situation-last year -best show ever, this year, not so much....I guess the point is that in this business you can never be sure which way the wind will blow....who knows what next year will bring? I always try to be optimistic.
This was my second year at State College. The differences between last year and this year were like night and day for me.
Location-This year I was on Allen Street and loved the location. I was under a tree, I was close to my hotel... Last year I was on Nittany which wasn't the original spot. Due to some kind of construction, we were relocated there and it was on a hill at the end of the road.
Temperatures-Last year was hot and muggy and then just seemed to get hotter and hotter.
This year is was warm but with the breeze blowing through, it almost felt like early fall. Sunday was the pits. It rained, stopped and then decided to rain again as we were tearing down. UGH!
Sales-Last year, "Worst show EVER!" This year, "Best show EVER!" Not sure what the difference was but I was relieved that I didn't have a repeat of the year before.
I saw a few people from the year before that still carried my business card with them. I met a family who, after attending the show for nearly a decade, had never bought anything until they bought a painting from me. I felt so humbled and grateful!
Overall, the weekend was simply lovely weather-wise and the sales were very good for me. I will apply again next year and hopefully have similar results as this year.
my wife and i (with her work) also did state college. she was called off the wait list and we were both very happy to be there. she gets juried in every 2-3 years. coming off the list, you have to take the booth location vacated so we were on the upper end of fraser st.
initially we were a little aprehensive about the location but it turned out that we didnt need to be. she had one of her better shows of the year after almost a bust in the lund lot of edina and a moderate show at the beautiful botanical gardens in toledo.
we have always heard about the vandalism problems but knock on wood we have not had a problem. i talk to a lot of artists particularly on fairmont st but for some reason have never found an artist that was directly affected. i think that it does happen but not to the extent that rumor would have it. having said that, my wife forgot her wallet in the tent on sat night and we had to drive over in the dark at almost 10pm with students walking and running all over the place(it is a univ town after all).
we drove up to our tent only to find half a dozen police officers grouped near our tent. turned out our neighbor had been broken into and a $65. item was taken. nearby tents with liquor bottle lamps and one with found metal robots (both terrific work to have in a dorm room) were untouched. so go figure.
crowds have always been light to non existent on sun but we did have some sales and given some shows, we were happy to have them. others were not so fortunate. the crowds did seem to be somewhat standoff ish until they saw something of interest to them.
easy load in, booth sitters, we had shade, not much in the way of amenities except for fri nite get together and easy load out if you dont count the seemingly traditinal downpour at takedown. all in all very good work, seems spread out-campus side and town side but crowds are used to it. was very happy to be there and hope to go back. now, anyone want to tell us how state st went?
The campus spots at State College are lovely, especially if the weather is hot. Not so easy to load into and out of, but you can't have everything. So glad to hear you did well at AA Alison. You had an awesome space and it was fun to drop into your nice shady spot for a few minutes. You also had great neighbors.
I was B-43-under the two big oak trees...sort of in the middle. I meant to get down your way to meet you- but I got caught up and didn't get to leave my booth much....I really meant to- as I love your posts and always like to meet another AFI'er....... next time promise.
Margaret Luttrell what was your booth number in CP. No wonder you knew I was there.
Hey Alison, I was on Burrows also, maybe that was it. In hind site it wasn't a bad show for many and I'm kicking myself for not doing SS at AA but that's the way the ball bounces sometimes. Glad that AA was a great show for you. Try CP again, I am, it's still a good show- I just think I was off a bit.
Did State College for the first time. The area is beautiful! I was on Burrows, which is a street on the campus. Sad to say but I did not sell well. :-( I was then on my way to SU at AA so basically I had a body of work to sell over these two shows. Thank God A2 was great! Don't know if I should try State College again, especially since it is so far from my home in the Chgo area. Most of the artists around me did sell well so maybe I need to give it a second chance.
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