Shadyside Art Festival in Pittsburgh

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This was my first time showing in Pittsburgh, or anywhere in Pennsylvania.  Coming from Atlanta I must say the drive was beautiful.  This is a Saturday and Sunday show along a high end shopping street in a wealthy neighborhood.  The homes I delivered to were some of the most amazing homes I have ever been in and that is saying a lot.  IMO the weather was perfect.  Mid 80s and no rain with some sun mixed with clouds.  Pittsburgh claimed it was a heat wave:)

 

Set up was a dreaded early Saturday morning kind.  This is a narrow street.  Try very hard to go the night before and scope your space out.  The show runs along Walnut St and it is closed to traffic so you need to find the nearest cross street or alley and dolley in.  I am not a fan of the dolley but you can get pretty close to your spot and it really wasn't as bad as I expected.  I stayed a couple blocks away so was able to go back to my hotel to clean up and rest before the show opened.  Worth every extra penny so I can be fresh to show all day Saturday and make some money. 

 

Most booths are back to back with a couple blocks the booths are across from each other.  Mine was a back to back.  There isn't any space behind but it seemed most of us had room on the sides for storage. 

Advertising was excellent for this show.  There was even a spot on The Today Show on Sunday morning for The Shadyside Art Festival in Pittsburgh!!! The crowds came out on Saturday and started buying.  It wasn't a huge crowd but they were ready to spend and higher price points were not a problem.   Since this is a narrow street and it can be tight it was nice that the crowds weren't too crazy big.  The show goes until 7pm and lights were suggested but it didn't get dark so even if you didn't have them it wasn't a problem.   Sunday the crowds were even better.  Saw lots of art work big and small walking by.  The demographics for this show was amazing, all age groups.  All my sales were from people who could walk to the show.   Even the older age group were buying original large art work.  The kids that came to the show with their parents were really into it and excited about the art.  I was very impressed with the sophistication of the crowd for art.   I only had a few husbands walk into my booth on Saturday night who didn't "get" abstract art.  Those who bought on Saturday came back on Sunday to give hugs and gush again about their new art work.  The patrons here love their art.  Sales for me were great as were for other 2D artists around me.  Of course some did not do well and some did OK.  Just like any show, but I can't wait to go back to Pittsburgh. 

 

Breakdown went extremely smooth for a tight city street breakdown where a dolly is needed.  The show ended at 5 pm and I was loaded and driving to my first delivery by 5:45pm.

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Comments

  • Jacki not too smart having to deliver, but very often people don't have a vehicle big enough to fit my work. Last thing I feel like doing after a long Saturday or Sunday after breakdown is delivering work, but what is worse is no deliveries;)
  • Melanie, you are sure getting around this summer.  Last I read you were in Colorado and now in Pennsylvania.  Whew!  Thanks for posting the photos.  They help to give us a more of a feel for the show. 

    Glad things went well for you.  Oh, and how smart are you, delivering the art work and getting to see some beautiful homes in the process.  That sounds fun!

  • Thanks for the uplifting critique, Melanie...it's so nice to read a positive one, glad you did well and had a good experience...nice photos too.

  • Glad you had good sales too Barry. Sad about the patrons getting hurt. It is a tight space and lots of pot holes in the alleys. I saw many older folks stumbling down the streets. Isn't a show issue seems to be more of a city issue. The booths across from eachother weren't in front of businesses. Those of us in front of a store or restaurant had to be back to back.
  • Very nice review. Shadyside did not have a pricing problem.  The buyers came in the booth and actually studied the art. They were not there just for a days entertainment like many shows the past few years. I had mediocre  sales on Saturday and good sales Sunday. I did see one very bad thing that probably cant be changed by management.  Two patrons fell off the curb and into the street flat on their face in front of my booth.  One was an older women and one a teenager.  The teenager fall was quite bad with a bloody leg and arm and his head hitting the steel trash can.  This can easily happen with the back to back booths and the front facing the curbs.  Some people are not paying attention and looking at the displays. There is about four feet from the booth front to the curb.  This  situation does not exist in the section with  the booth back at the curb and the center of the street.  

  • Glad that you had such a good show, Melanie.  Nice review, too!

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