Quick review of Traverse City Art Fair (Michigan)

Comment by Ruth Jellema on August 2, 2011 at 12:58pm

I was there also and would have written about the same review - also would not go back.  The look and quality were actually a bit better than I was expecting.  Others told us that last year when it was raining the show was much better.  This year, with the hot weather, everyone was at the beach.  That may be true but I don't like to take a chance on a show that is that weather dependent.  The signage was non-existent.  We drove all around the campus looking for white tents - finally found them then couldn't figure out how to get to them.  The dollying situation was very bad.  Had one good customer that paid the expenses.

Comment by Nancy Grimsley on August 2, 2011 at 2:18pm

We did the show as well, our first time at it.  It took us quite a while to even find the show and finally when I asked a passer-by they said the show was down the street a ways.  We got to that point to find a sign for the college...the actual show was all the way through trees in the back of the college.  The dollying in was insane for a one day show.   We have heavy pottery and the heat was intense.  The people running the show were extremely nice and accommodating.   As for sales we started out well in the morning but the heat of the afternoon (91 degrees) made customers few and far between.  We did manage to do about 10X our booth fee and feel grateful for that.

It is a shame this show was not better advertised and in a better location.  The city was FULL of tourists for the film festival.  I stopped at the farmers market on Saturday morning on the way to the show, which by the way is a beautiful market, on the main road and I had trouble finding parking.  I was sure the show would be as well attended but to our surprise I don't think many customers knew it was even going on. 

 

If I can offer any comment other then attendance it would be to hold the show two days...It was way too much work for one single day.  As for the weather it was insanely hot and frankly all outdoor shows are weather reliant.  That's just how it goes......

 

I might go back as the customers we did have were lovely people and seemed to like our work.

Comment by Diane Budzynowski on August 3, 2011 at 12:07pm

I live in Traverse City and this is usually a well attended and always a lovely show. I am sorry it was such a poor experience for you all- it is really too bad there was not better advertising and signage as one of the film festival venues was right at the college where the art show was held!

All I can say is try our town again- we are very supportive of the arts here.

Comment by Nancy Grimsley on August 3, 2011 at 12:18pm

Diane...I must say it was a very beautiful show.  The quality was very nice as many of the artists had just come from Ann Arbor.  I do think the heat had much to do with the low attendance as it did to many shows on this weekend.  There is such an opportunity for a really good show as the area is beautiful and that particular weekend it is full with people for the film festival....More advertising and perhaps a more visible venue and it has great possibilities.

Comment by Bill Morris on August 3, 2011 at 12:51pm

I did this show last year, and as a metal artist, the load in and out was tough.  The location of the show is behind two buildings with woods surrounding the other sides, so it is well hidden from view.  I would not do this show again because of the distance from the loading area to the fair, and the fact that they have a "no staking" policy.  Many of my sculptures are stakes so its not a good fit for my art, however there were no lawn sprinklers anywhere under the fairs so I don't understand that policy?  As stated before the town is full of visitors for the film festival which sounds good for the art show, but without signage and advertising how would the visitors know that there is a small wonderful art show be held on campus?  I will pass on this one day show. 

 

 

Comment by Charles Bingham on August 3, 2011 at 2:34pm

I love the TC area and do many shows in the surrounding cities. (Elk Rapids, Suttons Bay)

The people are nice and the area is beautiful, but I'm not there for fun... I need to pay the rent.

Until the show makes a significant effort to increase attendance by 5 fold or more, this show is only for those who don't have a profit motive for displaying.

If there are changes made, I might consider coming back.

Comment by Bill Morris on August 3, 2011 at 4:54pm

Amen Charles.  The is a beautiful city and area of the State.  TC has the kind of people that love art and art fairs and also have the time and money to spend.  Its a shame that this show is not as good as it could be with a change in location and more advertising.

Comment by Artcenter Traverse City on August 3, 2011 at 5:22pm

Hello, everyone.

Thank you for sharing your concerns about the fair.  You will all be receiving an email about them and others within the next few days.  Please feel free to send your thoughts, comments, and concerns about the fair directly to Artcenter at any time, info@artcentertraversecity.com.

For now, here are some things we would like to share so that you have an understanding of some of the unexpected circumstances which arose before/during the fair:

-We post (and have posted for many years) LARGE art fair signs near the entrance of the college; it's something we know our patrons are looking for every year.  The signs go up the Sunday before the fair and are taken down the Sunday after the fair.  As always, we checked with the Events Coordinator at the college about our signs and when/where we planned to set them up.  This person was unaware of an agreement between the city (there are strict signage laws within city limits) and the college because we were told, after placing the signs, that they would NOT be allowed, due to the digital sign for the college.  We are contacting the city and the college about the matter in an attempt to correct the issue in the future.

-We actually did more advertising for the fair this year than we have in the past, and in a variety of outlets.  Sometimes we give lists to our artists so that they know when and how the fair was advertised, but we did not include that list in the booth packets this year.  Advertising included radio, television, newspapers, the Film Festival program, road signs, and more.  The fair is also annually advertised in the Art & Craft Trails guide (40,000+ distributed each year throughout the state), on community events calendars, and on the Pure Michigan website.  Electronic advertising also included the ArtsPulse (mostly directed toward community members) and a nation-wide site, Public Drum.  Unfortunately, our fair post cards went out later than we had originally anticipated.

-This was our third year at the "Lawn" on the NMC campus.  The fair used to be held under the "Pines" at NMC and, at the direction of the college in 2008, we were required to change locations beginning with the 2009 art fair.  We continue to get questions about why we changed the location; the NMC campus declared the traffic from events was causing destruction to the trees.  Although we do pay to use the campus for the fair, we do not have the ability to choose our location.

Please be aware that we are already working on correcting these and other matters for the 2012 and future art fairs.  We hope to make our 52nd Annual Artcenter Traverse City Outdoor Art Fair the best yet as we continuously strive to improve all aspects of the fair.

Respectfully,
Artcenter Traverse City
info@artcentertraversecity.com
(231) 941-9488

Comment by Annette Piper on August 3, 2011 at 5:35pm

The photo says it all - a lovely little show with no people.   What a pity.  Signage and advertising is so important yet it seems to be a stumbling block for so many shows.

Comment by Maria Oliva Tyra on August 3, 2011 at 6:36pm

I was directly across from Charles and it was a very poor day for me. I had an aunt from Italy in town and she (and other family members) made enough purchases for me to make my booth rent but not near what I needed to cover travel expenses. If it weren't for family I would have only made one small $3.00 card purchase and that would have been it. I don't want to have my family carry me at art fairs but I'm glad they showed up. Luckily for me I had a private showing on Sunday in Petoskey that made the trip up worthwhile.
The city was packed to overflowing on Friday when we went through it we couldn't even find a place to park. I thought for sure we would have had high traffic on Saturday. I think location and the sign issue was a big deal and those things did a lot to impact our traffic but I don't think the heat did us any favors either. Don't think I can keep this one on my list for next year.

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