Call for Artists, Making Money at Juried Art Fairs, Craft Shows and Festivals
Milwaukee / Waukesha ArtWorks: Studio Clearance Show
Please note: In the spirit of full disclosure ... I not only exhibited at this show, I organized it.
ArtWorks: Studio Clearance was organized for the first time this year. This is not your regular art show. I used the Kalamazoo Garage Sale show as a model for putting this show together. Here is the concept:
We all have those pieces in our studio: we're tired of looking at them; they're damaged, last year's "model", or old pieces; or we just never really liked them to begin with. We don't put them out to sell, but we don't want to throw them out either. So what do we do with them?
Studio Clearance is where a section of your display must have art pieces available at a reduced price. A minimum of 25% discount. This show is scheduled at a time of the year that is slower for artists and we need to give shoppers a reason to come out and view our work. This is a "meat and potato" style show. Nothing fancy. Just come in and sell some art.
There is NO expectation for your booth. You can bring a table and chair, and only discounted art to sell. Or bring your entire display and have a section of art at discounted prices. Your choice. The show's advertisement will state that ALL artists will have art on sale in their booths. Admission is $3 at the door. However, if shoppers bring 2 caned food items, they get into the show for FREE! All food items and any money collected at the front door will go to the The Food Pantry of Waukesha County, our non-profit partner. Parking is free.
So, here is what happend:
The show started out slow in the morning. The roads were a little slick. A few of the exhibitors were late in arriving, because of the roads. By 11:00 everyone was in the building. The first "wave of attendees" started about that some time. It was a steady trickle through most of the day, with a big surge around 2:00.
Most the exhibitors seems a little disappointed in the morning. But seem to recover in the afternoon. A couple of the exhibitors did not do very well. The majority of the artists seemed happy by 4:00 and were asking me to do the show again next year. With the promise of seeing the show grow.
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Comment by Connie Mettler on January 30, 2012 at 8:54pm -
Thanks for the report, Colin. And thanks for your hard work in getting this organized -- and then not good weather, disappointing for sure! I really think that with the right promotion and word of mouth that this kind of an event can be successful and that you can grow a strong and loyal audience.
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Comment by Colin Murray on January 30, 2012 at 9:00pm -
Thanks for your help and support Connie. I forgot to mention that I have booked the show for January 26, 2013.
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Comment by Patty Tiry on February 1, 2012 at 10:08am -
Thanks Colin, the show I did that same day is moving to April 6, 2013, so I have your show on my radar.
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Comment by Susan Y Kubira on February 1, 2012 at 11:05am -
Colin, thank you for all your hard work on this. Quick question, since you gave your exhibitors a choice to bring just clearance or set their booths and have a set area for sale items, what percentages did you end up with on displays and what were your personal observations about the differences in the two?
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Comment by Layl McDill on February 1, 2012 at 11:55am -
Colin- thanks for all the work on this show. It is hard to get a new show rolling especially in January. I really went with the sale concept in my booth 50% off everything and had about 10 sales. So not so good but I think if word gets out people will start to attend. It is really tricky to figure out advertising these days - its a moving target. I would just recommend trying more social advertising and possibly getting some kind of post card or flyer out to the venders to hand out at their Milwaukee area shows in December. Hope you keep trying his show. I came from far away so I might have to wait and try it again once it really takes off.
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Comment by Connie Mettler on February 1, 2012 at 1:16pm
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Good advice, Layl. I think this is the kind of event that can work -- nothing like word of mouth. Also, did you see the post I did yesterday about the recycle event with Habitat in Fargo -- seems like this would be a perfect tie in with this show. Of course, that all depends on how much work you want to do, Colin ;)
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Comment by Cynthia Linnabary on February 1, 2012 at 2:07pm -
I did well by marking down some very old stuff to $5 or $10, others at 25% to 50% off. I also put all the highly discounted pieces on a separate table...tacky, yes, but effective. After people looked through my booth and saw my typical prices they were delighted to get a bargain. For a first year show it went well and I think it can continue to grow. Weather in the midwest in January is always tricky so we're taking a chance that people will brave it and come out! Thanks for your hard work, Colin!
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Comment by Colin Murray on February 1, 2012 at 7:26pm
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@ Susan: From what I could tell, most of the exhibitors had a mix of sale and non-sale items. The attendees were looking for deals. But we sold 1 piece of art at full price. There were some artists that only brought sale pieces. The key was to have a really good deal in your booth. Cynthia had the right idea with the $5 & $10 table. That was impressive! I did see a couple of artists who had 10% off and were disappointed at the results. People were looking for the deals.
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Comment by Colin Murray on February 1, 2012 at 7:27pm
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@ Susan: From what I could tell, most of the exhibitors had a mix of sale and non-sale items. The attendees were looking for deals. But we sold 1 piece of art at full price. There were some artists that only brought sale pieces. The key was to have a really good deal in your booth. Cynthia had the right idea with the $5 & $10 table. That was impressive! I did see a couple of artists who had 10% off and were disappointed at the results. People were looking for the deals.
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Comment by Connie Mettler on February 1, 2012 at 8:37pm
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The events I've attended of this type everything is on sale -- and the buyers come bargain hunting. They are planned so artists can get rid of overstock and earn some money from it. No one is trying to sell full price or 10% off -- discourages the buyers too.
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