In the winter us Michigan artists look for warm weather and a reasonable market for our art (that market is not here in the frozen North). Marcia and I have been heading south to Florida every winter for shows during February and March. We've had reasonable success at the shows and had the added benefit of getting in some beach time.
Next winter we're wondering if we can have the same success out west. My brother lives in Arizona and I haven't seen him in years. It might be fun to spend a month or two in Arizona and California. In February there are shows in Tubac, AZ, Scottsdale, AZ, Palm Springs, CA, and Fountain Hills, AZ. Art Fair Source Book ranks these shows 5, 8, 6 and 7 respectively.
In March there is the big one in La Quinta, CA, then Scottsdale, AZ, Carefree, AZ, Tucson, AZ and Tempe, AZ, with rankings of 10, 8, 7, 7 and 7 respectively.
In April, we have the option of heading home through Texas to hit Woodlands, Tx, Ft. Worth, and Southlake with rankings of 9, 9 and 8.
I know the Texas shows have a pretty good reputation among artists, but, with the exception of La Quinta, I haven't heard much about the Arizona shows in February and March.
Any Northern artists out there who have chosen the West for their winter schedule? And how did it go?
Comments
Robbie echoes what I said upthread about the costs to do California shows and others in the West vs. the returns. I know other artists who did Sausalito, those in Seattle area, and Cherry Creek and they can't justify the booth fees and expenses for the returns. And I'm talking about seasoned pros, one of whom won Best of Show in Smithsonian Craft recently. But Smithsonian is an expensive one to do, fer sher, but maybe there's more potential to doing it than those in the West? Maybe.
Challenges are intriguing. I'm looking forward to figuring this one out. WOOHOO!
Thanks, Robbie. I appreciate that you shared your experience. Still have lots of time to decide, but I do have to travel somewhere warm too do shows in the winter. Not much of a market for us outdoor artists in Michigan in February and March. For me, it looks like its either Florida or Arizona (with a possible excursion into California for La Quinta, if I can get in).
Thanks for the good info, Richard.
Just as I thought, Carrie Jacobson might be a good person to contact directly with your post, John Leben. She's apparently in Arizona right now and I suspect she'd been doing shows. She posted something for sale and mentions she's driving home to Virginia from Arizona. So you might contact her and direct her to your thread here. She's a go-getter and might have some insight into winter in Arizona.
Thanks Barrie. A couple things I can add. I have been told that if your are a C or S corporation, CA wants an $800 tax deposit up front. Travel in the mountain states is not easy as roads follow valleys and only cross mountains in a few places. Getting to Crested Butte is an example. You can take the paved road to Gunnison and the go up the valley or you can take the more direct route on dirt roads over Cottonwood or Keebler Passes. CB has gotten a little weird and I don't do it anymore. It used to be my best show($7K last time), but.....new management.
I believe La Quinta Arts Festival requires a 20% commission on sales which they refer to as a show fee on their website. That is a deterrent for me. But it certainly has the high ratings! So it's a loved show, obviously.
Tubac looks pretty good. I see that the La Quinta Inn in Tucson is $95 right now, but don't know about hotels in Tubac. So it's a 5 day show for $600 booth fee. Tubac also sponsors a 3 day Fall Arts & Crafts Festival in November for $295 booth fee. But I'm like you and interested in winter months.
I also recently participated in the West Coast Art & Frame Expo in Las Vegas as a Speaker in the National Conference and Exhibitor in the Expo with Society of Gilders and featured artist in the Hahnemuhle USA booth one afternoon after teaching one of my classes. You might look into this venue. It's in Paris Hotel & Casino and this year it was January 22-25. It's not an art show, but rather a trade show related to the picture frame industry. But some artists were there and did very well. $3,500 booth fee plus $150 for electricity. Just a different environment completely. Galleries from all over come to this.
I don't mean to steer your thread into a WCAF Expo discussion. I'm just thinking that I can build a short tour to AZ like you are trying to build with the Expo being my first venue and then do a few shows ending with Tubac. Pretty good idea, maybe.
So Tubac looks interesting, really. $600 booth fee is pushing my limit, though. But I could probably do well there with some of the southwest imagery we have available. But it's not my main subject matter I'm interested in developing much more of.
I'm doing Florida in February. Well, it's almost over. Then I'm going back up north for March to work. Then it's off to Texas and OKC in April, for whatever that is worth.
Thanks, Barry. Could be that Florida is the place to be in the winter. But, looking at a potential March schedule, I can start at La Quinta, CA for a booth fee of only $275, Scottsdale the next weekend with a booth fee of $475, Carefree, AZ the next weekend with a booth fee of $475, then Tucson with a booth fee of $505 and, finally, Tempe to round out the month. Couldn't figure out what the booth fee would be in Tempe.
Would love to have some first hand info from people who have done these shows, but, based on what little research I've done, La Quinta would be the big money-maker (they claim an average of $12K per artist). None of the Arizona shows take a percentage of sales (Palm Springs takes 10%), and all of the Arizona shows have a Source Book ranking of 7 or 8.
The Tucson show on the 4th weekend in March looks like it could be good. 400 artists with visitor attendance at 600K. I tend to do well when the turnout is high.
The Tempe show on the last weekend is also pretty big with 300 artists and attendance of 275K.
Again... these are all statistics that may have no bearing on sales. I wish more people would fess up about their successes or lack of success at these Arizona shows.
As for hotel rates, I really haven't researched them in Arizona, but, they can't be much higher that hotel rates in Florida. Lately, Marcia and I have been having good luck with airB&B, finding great places for less money than hotels and motels.
Firstly, what I find interesting about this post is 446 views have been made of it and only one person has commented. You are a popular guy, John Leben. Too bad no one but Richard Sherer has any advice or answers to add here publicly. I'm sure his post generated some excitement since he's a popular guy, too.
I'm not going to be much help, but I'm jumping into the game because I'm researching the same places now that my wife and I cannot travel to Florida and the South East. The fact that we cannot travel back to wet and moldy Florida for health reasons is hurting our show game, fer sher. Florida has been awesome for a very long time and continues to be for some who can make it there.
What my problem with the West is this: shows cost more money to do since booth fees are considerably higher, some want commissions on sales, hotels cost more, there's little to no award money, shows are farther apart, etc. What else can I say about it? I live in Wyoming and I can't justify a tour the way I could for doing Florida and the South East. I have little confidence in this market based on the expenses it will cost to chance it.
I am considering doing August summer shows in Crested Butte, CO, Park City, UT, Bend, OR, and/or Ketchum, ID. I'm also considering once again the two venues in Estes Park, CO on Memorial Day and Labor Day. Plus I'm looking into Sedona, AZ and whatever in New Mexico.
I think I can handle the hotel expenses in Estes Park, but I am aghast at how much hotels cost in Crested Butte and Bend. $200 per night is typical. The booth fee in Park City is $585 and the application fee is $50. YUCK! Why that much money? Just 'cause they can get it? Hotels won't be cheap in Park City, either, but there's more competition in that area so I can guess I'll find something one hundred-ish. Same for Estes Park.
No award money whatsoever. Just higher fees everywhere. I miss Florida. I kiss a healthy sum of my show income goodbye because I can't go back to Florida to win it. I'm happy to comment more if we strike up a good dialog here. Good luck with your picks, John.
Check into SW Group. Check reviews for Tubac, Scottsdale and Tempe. I did Tubac and Scottsdale and did well ($1K minimum per day) but not well enough for me to travel there versus work on orders in studio.