Coming up Labor Day weekend is Art in the Pearl in Portland, OR. This show originated in 1997 after the demise of the big deal, big sponsor, Artquake. Artquake relied heavily on corporate sponsorship and drew 200,000 people to the Pearl neighborhood where it was envisioned as "a massive ticketed spectacle that featured international performances alongside local jugglers and mimes."
The money did not materialize to sustain Artquake (we're talking 100's of 1000's of dollars to support an event like this), so it folded in 1996. Bob Hicks reported in The Oregonian at that time:
If the city needs an arts festival at all, it needs one that blends the local with the national and international – one that both showcases and challenges Oregon's artists," he suggested. "For an arts festival to succeed here, it needs either a sharp focus or the kind of broad support that Artquake has never had."
What happened next:
But while discussion raged on, a group of 17 artists, long disenfranchised with the direction of Artquake, was gathering to craft the Portland arts festival they always wanted – one that focused solely on Portland art.What then did materialize was a grass-roots event led by local artists.
The result, folks, is a well loved event "owned by the locals" and frequently cited as an artist's favorite show (as cited in this video we published in June).
Here's an article that details the story: http://www.oregonlive.com/events/index.ssf/2014/08/how_portlands_anti-corporate_pro-local_festival_de.html
I hope a bunch of art festival folks will read it and learn the lessons they learned in Portland.
Comments
I started my work in 1971. I have never stopped. I am a slow witted man and not bright enough to stop loving what I do. Me and that guy with the box of chocolates have a large advantage over most people in the art show world. We keep it simple. I come from the era before the word "Rejected" soon changed to "Not Invited" to spare our feelings even existed. If you did a show with 100 booths that meant that 100 people applied. I look back and wonder how that worked out so well. I guess it was because every booth had a hand made product and the very hands that produced it were right there in the booth. Then along came import crap and that caused some confusion but that is a whole other topic. Shows were always held in the same location every year and sometimes twice a year. Shows were held on the same dates every year. There were no fences and no ticket booths. No entertainment, except for us. The very people and products they had come to see. Pretty simple really. Shows almost always were Saturday and Sunday only. The number of booths reflected a pretty accurate reflection of the crowd size expected. Food and beverage booths were few and their fee was not so large as to need to pick everyone's pocket to get their profit. A show director (certainly a new one) would visit each booth and even get to know you at least a little bit. The community and the director and staff sure seemed happy to see us and seemed to realize that we made the show. Has anyone ever returned to visit an art show that just has the stage, the food and beverage booths and a brass plaque that tells the story of the artists and craftsmen that used to be there but were no longer needed? I sure think not. The shows that I love the most seem to never change. They just keep on keeping on just like us. Does a three day show held once a year really need a full time director making sometimes well over $100,000.00 per year with a full time staff of one or two or more. Could that be the reason for the new crazy numbers called booth fees? Should there ever be a jury fee? What if local smart people with knowledge of art and craft and good taste handled the jury process for free? They used to. Should an expert from Somewhere Far Away, USA even be involved in choosing what the local community wants to see and perhaps buy? Remember when the old ten times the booth fee was a sought after money goal? That worked pretty well up through booth fees of $200 or so. Does ten times a $750 booth fee still work? What if we could get things back to simple? When was the last time you heard a patron in your booth praising the entertainment, food and beverages of a show. I have heard it NONE in 43 years of shows. The end.
This mornings Detroit Free Press had an article by Tom Walsh about Michigan investing $1.1 million in state money to attract events to Michigan. The payoff was over $20 million in taxes generated or about $18 for every dollar invested. Granted much of the money was for things like conventions and the soccer game at Michigan stadium, but, the payoff for holding an art fair, if done right, is about the same.
Thank you, Barry, I knew someone here would get this nonsense.
Here, here, Barry...promoters need to take heed.
This is a fairy tale. Just ask the Coconut Grove Arts Fest who pays for the security and all the expenses. Also, ask the city of Grand Rapids if they benefit from the ArtPrize. Why would every small town in America have an art fair if there wasn't a huge economic benefit? Clearly this guy is talking through his behind.
Just found this article about MegaFest in Mobile, AL. Don't think it is necessarily an art fair, but it talks about funding of festivals. Interestingly in the case of this one they use public money to help finance a privately owned event.
I add it here to continue the dialogue of the funding of events which (theoretically at least) will add to all of our economic understanding of the importance of events in the financial picture for municipalities.
http://modmobilian.com/2014/08/counterpoint-stop-all-mobile-city-fe...
maybe this article should be shown to directors of shows cause it sure makes sense to me. There is a show in arizona that i stopped doing years ago cause my no's were down but heard lately that the show keeps getting bigger and bigger so yes profits are down and there is more more buy/sell at this particular show. It is called Greed and hopefully some day people will get wise to this fact
Just found this thread.
I agree with Barry 100%. Has any ARTIST ever experienced increased sales from a show that increased in size and focus?
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
I agree with you, Oscar. We never made the big dollars at the smaller shows. Getting into Cherry Creek, The Grove, Winter Park and Ann Arbor (talking the good old days on these) always netted the highest returns. 10 times booth fee? That could be done also at a small show with low fees and we loved those shows too. A quiet show in just the right small town nearby could produce nice profit.
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