This was the 13th consecutive year that I have done this show.  Golden is the county seat for Jefferson County whose motto is “Gateway to the Rocky Mountains”.  Golden is known for the Colorado School of Mines and the Coors Brewery.  The weekend of the art show is the time that students are moving into dorms.

The show is set up for three blocks along Eleventh Street.  Food courts were at both ends of the show and a music stage where beer was sold was at the east end.  The Golden Chamber of Commerce manages the event.  This was the 26th year of the Golden Fine Arts Festival. In my opinion, the show is successful with buyers in attendance because it is run by local business people who understand EFFECTIVE advertising and marketing.  The jury fee is $30 and 10’X10’ booth fee is $390. Application is made with Zapp.  Local merchants support $1800 in awards.

SET UP & TAKE DOWN: Both are usually easy, but this year their seemed to be less control.  Security tries to keep the center lane of the street open and you can drive to your booth location. I did not have any problems as I completely unload and remove vehicle before setting up and completely knock down before bringing the Suburban in to load up.  Other artists had problems with vehicles with trailers taking up space in front of their booths for several hours both during set up and takedown, making their work difficult.  No vehicles are to come on the street until 5:30 or half an hour after the show closes, but there were vehicles on the street at 5:10.  Most booths have space behind them but some have bushes with only a gutter width.

ATTENDANCE: The Chamber states that the attendance is upwards of 30,000.  The event is well publicized in the Denver metro area and online in advance of the show.  People show up an hour ahead of the official opening time of 10:00am and start buying, and the crowd is there until closing time at 5:00pm both days.   

AMENITIES: The artist reception this year was at the Briarwood Inn. Shuttle service for artists was provided by the Golden High School. Appetizers and complimentary beer and wine were served.  I did not attend as we were commuting to care for a couple geriatric dogs.  The show provided morning bagels and coffee, and sandwiches and chips.  There was complimentary water and booth sitters, and morning coffee with pastries.  There were porta-pots at the ends of the booths. 

SALES: My sales at this show have consistently been in the $3K-$5K range and I went over $5K this year.  This year’s sales were up $336   from last year.  My average sale was $63 and 82 sales ranged from $3 bandanas, from the sets for napkin rings, to a $328 saddle bag and suspender sale.  The best sellers were belts in the $45-$85 range with some $200 belts, holsters, and cases thrown in.  The rest were a mix of gun leathers, dog tack, horse tack and personal leather goods.  I have a bunch of special orders to do, and I discussed even more with locals who may order later (mostly gun leathers).  I have some custom belts to make for buckle sets for the Coors family.  Comments on sales from other artists were generally positive.

WEATHER: Friday was cool with late afternoon and overnight rain.  Saturday and Sunday were in the mid to high 80’s.

GENERAL: Nuts and bolts are in Art Show Reviews on this site.  There was a good mix of high quality art and absolutely no buy/sell. There was also a good mix of out-of-state artists with the Colorado crowd.   Artists at other shows have commented that it is difficult to get into the Golden show. The tax rate was 7.5% and is paid after the show.

     There were some changes this year. The site of the reception was changed and a hotel that provided a break room and lunch in the past was absent.  A city tax license and $50 tax deposit was required and taxes were paid after the show.  There was no information in the artist packet on sales tax rate or post show payment other than the city tax.  There were four other taxes that needed to be paid to Colorado Department of Revenue but no information was provided for artist, including those from out-of-state. The CDR website is not user friendly for finding the tax rates for State, County and two special taxing districts.

     The live music Saturday was obnoxiously loud and led to lost sales because artist could not communicate with clients even farther down the street.  Control was spotty Saturday, but management got the volume under control by Sunday.

PHOTOS: The photos were taken Saturday morning at 10:05, five minutes after the show officially opened and the crowds were the same until 5:00 pm Sunday. 

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  • Thanks Ernie. There are several 2D painters at Golden and I have recognized several that return. I would check the list of artists for Golden and contact a few. Western/wildlife sells well in the west.  Take care. We are off to last show for this Year, Estes Park. I know wildlife photography does well there. 

  • Another excellent review Richard! I'll give this one a try next year. Due to family issues and personal health problems I have not done any shows this year and I'm looking for future venues with easy setup/takedown or availability of helpers. I've had to rely on indoor exhibits close to home or ones I can ship my paintings to. Did any 2D painters do well? I'm curious what kind of paintings sold in Golden. Based upon your sales, I think my western and wildlife themed paintings might do well. 

  • Wow Richard, what a good review.  Wish I was close enough to come some time.  You make the area sound so great.

    Thanks for the photo, too.

  • I have run into many artists this year that got rejected and have been in the show in the past. I did not have a chance to get down to the show to walk it, but from the artist list I did notice a number of head scratcher artists. I think something changed with the jury this year.

  • Thanks for the great review. We were in Cheyenne this weekend for Cheyenne Arts Festival. I'll be writing a review for it soon when time permits. I've never tried to get into Golden.

  • Wow!  Great recap, great sales, great photos...thanks.

  • I forgot to mention that Jean bought a felted alpaca shawl with images of real aspen leaves incorporated in it - complicated process. She also got a mug from our favorite ceramic artist. Both were award winners in their categories.

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