This is a Friday and Saturday show with setup on Thanksgiving Day, Produced by Boulderbrook Productions, Richard Sullivan.
This is a small show, less than 80 exhibitors, held around the Sanibel Community Center building which is on Periwinkle Way, the island’s main byway. This is an annual event that I have done at least eight times, that ought to tell you something.
Booth fee is $400, not cheap, but there are a lot of expenses for the promoter to juggle.
Being a holiday weekend, there are lots of tourists there. Most are affluent.
Ideally, you want an overcast weather that keeps them off the beaches, yet you do not want rain. This year we had a very humid setup on Thursday followed by gorgeous, cool weather, both days of the show.
Yep, many were at the beach, but we still had ample crowds of people to sell to. Most come early, after 1pm sales fall off big time.
The civic center had been remodeled and enlarged, so Richard lost nearly 15 spaces. But, for the first time, he was allowed about five artists to set up inside the center, with AC and lights.
There was a nice mix of art. Many diverse painters, a sprinkling of photographers, numerous jewelers, then a great mix of fine crafts, even some with custom clothing, like Billy.
It is November in Florida and it is hard to find shows where you can make big numbers, like $4K plus.
That said, a good number of artists did $2-3K, with an exceptional few who did some really big numbers.
The audience is monied, world wide savvy and eager to acquire. That said, most of them have very conservative tastes. The tried and true sell best here. I saw plenty of “Florida Dreck” imagery go by me all weekend, but that is what sells best here. Surprisingly, I sold a good number of my iconic black and white handcolored images here along with my tropical work. I have a loyal following here and I did about 5x the booth fee. For Florida fall that is not bad. I am grinding it out, making a small profit and surviving til January when bigger numbers will come my way.
I am up 25% over 2016. Part of that is due to getting into five top tier shows. But I also have premiered more than 60 new images that are really selling. Also, I am very people friendly with all who enter my booth. I greet them with a smile, when they ask how things are, I reply, “Super!” Then I sit back and watch them look at the imagery, when I see interest, I tell them a story about it. I am a story teller and people like that. When they ask me what kind of work I do , I tell them I am a Dream-Maker. They like that.
The main thing is, when you see interest from a patron about the work, it is important to engage them. People love to buy something which has a story attached to it. The big advantage that we on the street have over galleries and online selling, is our personae. Your art and your personae are big assets, take advantage of that.
Happy trails, later gators.
Comments
Aloha, Barry, back from Israel?
Nels, thank you for the review. I get to "live" some shows (I'd never be able to attend) through your writings.
While I didn't have nearly that same success economically that Nels had, it was my best year since the housing crash. Having said that, it was only half of what it was in the '80's and '90's if you count buying power and cost of living.
... are you able to sleep in your own bed and hang out with friends? That means an additional $ or two. Right? This is a lovely area and its good to know that more "inaccessible" art (meaning it doesn't match the couch) finds an audience.
Good that your sales were up in 2017. Sticking to it, always evolving and being careful to make sure you also have these smaller filler events to keep bills paid helps. The other good thing about them is that they keep expenses low so your profit margin can be eased. Here's to the biggies and the little guys who make this business work for the talented and hardworking.
You love telling stories. There is no doubt about that.
I really like Richard and I like doing his shows. I like his concept of small shows in an exclusive area. If I was in Florida in November/December, I would do this show. I like that fact that this one was good for a lot of people.