The Talbot Street Art Fair is the longest running juried Art show in Indiana. This year will be its 62nd anniversary
It is still held in the picturesque Herron Morton neighborhood on Talbot Street from 16th-20th Street. The committee who created this granddaddy of a show is still involved and now joined by working artists to insure this is a successful event for all participating artists. They are striving to keep the show fresh and current. The fair is very well supported by its neighborhood host and by the surrounding communities.
2016 brought temperatures of 96 degrees and record setting attendance reported by police. I spoke with several artists last year - they all reported strong sales, even with the oppressive heat! History shows that “come rain, shine or heat” people flock to this event to find unique, original art.
Talbot Street still remains free to the public, encouraging people to come enjoy the event, which averages around 60,000 in attendance. The committee has an aggressive marketing campaign to ensure success for all.
For artists, they allow Friday set up with the ability to drive to the booth to unload and load. There are close artist parking and RV areas provided. Most booths have ample storage behind them. Although this is a very safe area of Indianapolis they do provide 24 hour security from Friday evening through tear-down on Sunday. The committee passes out water throughout the day and the neighborhood provides coffee and donuts each morning.
And the best is that there are air-conditioned restrooms for when the heat is just too much!!!
This fair is a long standing jewel – well known and attended by buying customers.
Application deadline is 1/15/2017.
Fees are $30 APF and $310 Booth.
Application is available on Zapplication: https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=5145
For more info, go to www.talbotstreet.org.
Comments
Enjoyed reading your recap of the Talbot St. show, Heidi...it sounds like they've got it right, especially after all this time and despite the date change. Thanks for sharing it with us.
The date change wasn't done lightly as any date change, particularly in June, is going to introduce conflicts. The Gay Pride celebration includes art and product booths to a high degree, and as that Festival has grown to several hundred thousand, attendance at Talbott had slacked off. Instead of being packed all day long, mid afternoon until closing weren't as busy. The date change also gets it away from from the same date as the Columbus Arts Fest over in Ohio and allows more artists to make a swing through both on consecutive weekends.
I wish I could do Talbot Street again, but they changed the date this year so as not to conflict with the Gay pride Parade. (Since I always saw a lot of rainbow clad people at the fair, I didn't see any problem) It now conflicts with my big hometown show, Leeper Park in South Bend, so I have to give Talbot up. Too bad.
Here's my review from 2014, not sure why I didn't do one from last year unless someone else did earlier. There should be numerous blog reports available on here.
http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/talbot-street-art-fai...