North Shore Festival of the Arts, Amdur Productions, Skokie IL

This is my first year for fine art shows vs craft shows and summer festivals. I attend each show with fingers crossed and breath held to see if the more expensive booth fees are worth it. They have been each time. I wasn't sure about the North Shore show. If you are accepted into one of Amdur's shows you are automatically invited to this show, which is held near a large outdoor shopping center in Skokie, IL. I wasn't sure if that meant the show wasn't as high end as the others, as Amdur shows have been incredibly professional and well attended in my experience this year. To make matters worse, my husband and I drove into the dark of night as a black, threatening thunder storm hovered during our 7 pm set up on Friday night. We got a little wet, but things only brightened. The mall was lovely, the crowd was pretty good. It was one of my better shows and I really enjoyed the other artists in my area. I believe that we got some shoppers who might not have otherwise attended the show. The relief of air conditioned options probably helped patrons spend a little longer in the area who might have given up earlier due to Saturday's heavy humidity. Sunday was a day granted by the gods of art fairs... sunshine and cool. Set up was fairly easy, but did require carting booths into the interior of the mall. In years past the fair was held outside of the mall, so it would be more visible from the road. Amdur sent a follow up inquiry whether artists felt that the interior location was better. I didn't have prior experience, but I was happy to be within the open air confines of the mall. All in all, you can't go wrong with an Amdur show.