After looking back at 2013, I have decided to concentrate on applying to shows that are sponsored and run by local non-profit arts organizations. Those are the shows where I had the best sales. And after a solid crushing defeat at each of the 3 Amdur shows I did in the Chicago suburbs, I am hesitant to try for a professional promoter again.
I am curious if anyone else has noticed a difference between the type of crowd attracted by local arts centers and the crowds that attend the for-profit promoter shows?
I certainly have. The arts centers seem to draw from their member base and their respect in the community. I see avid collectors and shoppers on a mission. Many will visit every booth before they make their purchasing decisions. Even if they don't buy from me, I'm happy to see them, because I know I at least have a chance to succeed at that show. And overall last year, my sales were best at the shows run by local arts centers.
At the suburban Chicago shows, I saw very few collectors. The crowds were just walking by and looking. Few artists seemed happy. I'm not sure if it was because of the location of the shows, the way people perceive a professional promoter, or something else entirely, like the people just didn't like my work. Hey, it happens. I chose the Amdur shows because they are run so well. But that isn't much help if they don't attract people who will buy my work.
Perhaps, during the recession, art buyers are reserving their dollars for their community arts centers, to keep them going. Is the buy local movement supporting this?
Has anyone else been considering these points in their 2014 applications?
Comments
Definitely a yes in the South-West, NM, AZ and Texas also.
Thanks for bringing that up Kristin.
I also have the feeling that many of the "big" promoters just work for their profit,
which is fine if it would also work for the artists, but fees over $400 don't work for us
during this difficult times, so I stay with the local smaller shows and don't even do
the Plaza shows since last year in Santa Fe even so I live less than 3 miles away from the Plaza.
I went last year to visit my "old" companions and heard nothing but complains about the shows
and it was not about the weather....
I think the most important thing in choosing shows is to research, research, and research. I need to know the type of person who is most likely to buy my art and if it matches the demographic of the show. After that comes, what kind of crowd can I expect? What kind of crowd do I need? Artist organization shows can have great community support but it’s not a given. I know of one show in Florida where the artist organization does a wonderful job putting on the show. So much so, that I hated to write a bad review but the community support and the demographics just weren’t there. I had a decent show because a collector of my work showed up just because I was there and bought several pieces but artists all around me were zeroing.
A major factor to take into account for an arts organization show is if the director is rotating or changing. Another show in Florida went from my all time favorite show to my never again list in two short years and I only gave them the second year because they were my all time favorite. What did they do? They changed directors. The new one changed locations, doubled the number of artists and they have been struggling to get back to their former glory ever since.
There are Howard Alan shows that I will never go back to and Howard Alan shows that I pray to get into. Promoter shows, as a general rule, have the same conditions from location to location. I know what I’m going to get from Howard Alan and Paragon. I know that even though they are not even on the radar for me due to distance, I will never do an Amy Amdur show. I’ve read too many bad things and I can expect those bad things to be in every show, regardless of location.
Artist organization shows can vary from organization to organization, even the same show from year to year depending on what changes have happened in the organization. Artist organizations can be just as focused on making money as any promoter and it is less up front as well. No promoter that I know of has ever asked me for a donation.
In short there are no hard and fast rules except the ones you learn about your work and who it appeals to.
This was great, thank you all for sharing your thoughts.
I came to the same conclusion that Kristen did a couple of years ago. Having had limited success at shows run by promoters, I have been focusing on shows run by local arts organizations. Having said that, promoters do provide a service to artists in organizing and conducting numerous art fairs around the country. Some of them make it easy for an artist to fill in their entire art fair schedule with only a few applications. Many artists make a decent living participating in Amy's or Howard's shows. But I wonder what the nature of this art fair industry would be like without shows run by promoters. There would be far fewer shows. There would be a lot more artists applying to these shows. I would think that the quality of the artists chosen for these shows would increase dramatically. And the existing shows would become "special" events that our patrons would look forward to. The revenues of artist who are lucky enough to participate would also increase dramatically. And, finally, the crop of artists in art fairs would eventually diminish as the creme rises to the top.
I know its not going to happen. promoters are here to stay, but in their unrelenting push to establish more and more art fairs, they are diluting the industry and making it harder for us artists to make a living. There are just too many art fairs out there, and its not just promoters that are at fault. Look at Naples. There is an art fair in Naples almost every weekend during the winter months.
I'd like to see fewer art fairs, better art fairs. I'd like to see promoters (and arts organizations) trimming their schedules and not adding to them. Maybe its just us artists who have to make this happen by trimming our own schedules and being far more selective about the art fairs we apply to.
That's a wealth of information from all of you. I actually took some notes!
Gayle, you hit the nail on the head about Amdur shows. I bet the most heard question that artists get asked at her shows is will you be at ______(fill in the blank with another Amdur show)
There is no urgency to buy at her shows until the end of the season. And while I do love seeing my favorite artists, unless they are making new things, I probably already have it and won't keep buying the same things year after year. Sadly, her arrogance at not listening to what has been posted on this website and so many others is leading to her downfall as she is having trouble filling her shows this year.
But, back to the topic, you need good judges jurying the "local" shows or you won't have good artists and that means fewer people show up for the show. In Northbrook, Illinois, they had a great location for the show, lots of free parking, right in the downtown area but they had terrible artists. It wasn't worth going to. They turned it over to Erin Malloy and it is a great show and the crowds are starting to show up. The Adler Cultural Center in Libertyville, IL has a show, again lots of parking, great downtown location but their art is terrible. It is pretty much a craft show and not fine craft. I live about 10 minutes from it and don't bother to go. These are both upper middle class suburbs, homes with high ceilings and lots of wall space to fill but the shows weren't good.
The Art Center in Highland Park used to be a fabulous fine craft show. They let Amdur run it the past two years and it has fallen considerably. Last year there were so many jewelers, way out of proportion to not only all the artists but way more than most shows. I heard they will be taking the show back to its original incarnation when the contract is up. Lake Forest had a show that used to be mostly from their own Art League but they opened it up considerably and it has become a marvelous show, a great way to end the summer season.
So local shows can have their problems, you may not pay as much for a booth but you may not sell enough to net what you would have from a promoter show.
It is a crap shoot and all you can do is hope for the best when you make your choices.
Thanks for all your replies, it's great to hear so many different perspectives. I feel better about my own struggles to find my market.
Hi Y'all;
I really do hope that Amy Amdur is reading these posts, because there is a lot of good feedback here. I live in Chicago and I design jewelry. I've been host to an out of town jeweler who has done the Amdur shows in the Chicago area for the past 3 summers. She's been doing Amdur shows for a long time, but this year (4 shows) and last year (3 shows), she lost money at every one! That certainly put the kabbash on my desire to get in on the Amdur action.
This is only my opinion, but I'm a fairly seasoned artist and have been doing fairs for 12 years. I truly believe that Amy has overused her formula to the point of ennui for patrons. Every year, the same artists come back and very few of them have different work from the year(s) before. As each year goes by, less and less purchasing takes place because there aren't new patrons, or artists. Amdur runs a very well organized show, but that has little to do with it. Like a good marriage, there must be some passion, not just function. For the last couple of years, when I've attended Amdur shows, I have a "been there, done that" feeling. She really needed to change things up a long time ago because, at this point, she's lost the faith of too many of her regulars and they've dropped her shows from their schedules. If the shows were great, the high booth fees could be justified, but combine the cost with the lack of sales and it's disaster for both parties.
I have wondered about this, because I haven't done a show by a professional promoter yet. They are all more expensive than the shows I have been doing, which I guess are more local. So far I can't afford the higher booth fees they charge, so I haven't applied. I'm working my way up to it though.
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