I have seen a few blog posts where folks have commented that college towns Art Fairs are good ones to attend because they are young and good buyers. This is counter to my intuition, the reasoning is that college students don't have the disposable income for artwork. What has everyone else found? Are there enough well-paid professors to provide adequate buyers? Are college towns a good target-market? Thoughts?
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One of my best shows last year was a 6 hour show in the farmers market structure in Ithaca, NY. It was July, so I assume there weren't too many students around and the crowd was "mature", but they bought like crazy, had a great time with the entertainment. The town pretty much is all about Cornell and Ithaca College so I am taking the leap that the customer base is academia.:)
regarding Elle's comment, about the Missouri and Iowa shows she referenced, College Hill always works really well for me. So opposite experience.
Which points out that the "rating system" as a "good show/bad show" definitive, is not enough. Use that rating system to know if the focus of the event is on side shows, kettle corn & lemonade, or visual art. And then apply your knowledge of how your work is received in each situation to make decisions.
I agree that it depends on the college or university and the town it's located in but overall I think students, their parents, professors and those associated with academia seem to be more inclined to purchase and/or appreciate original artwork more than most.
Gordon, I can see that it would depend on the college town. Some cities that have large Universities would have a community of academic people living close by. Smaller little colleges may not support that type of a community. For example, the University of Michigan is a very academic city with the university and the hospital right there. It isn't far from the Detroit area and they host the Ann Arbor Art Fair. People do come from all over to go to that show. Of course, the last few years have even taken a toll at that show but it has been a very good show to do for many years.
I have had good shows and bad shows in college towns. I think you just have to evaluate each show and decide from there. One of my better shows lat year was in Columbia, MO (Mizzou) and one of the worst was in Cedar Falls, IA (Northern Iowa Univ.).
I like university/college towns and will look forward to doing shows in them. Firstly, they attract progressive thinkers to the area and they usually are culturally-minded. Secondly, there are a host of people who visit university/college towns who may have just a passing association to the school (i.e., people who are taking workshops, meetings/conferences, athletic events) and these folks generally are looking for some fun and do have the means and desire to spend. Lastly, I've done shows on "parent weekends" (when parents visit their student-kids) and it always is bump in my sales.