Well as a newbie to show, I want to show close to home instead of wandering out of stat. So I thought the City Arts Dallas would be a good one to try. It was held at the Fair Park in Dallas Texas, which is a beautiful venue. I was excited about the show, billed as having 20,000 to 30,000 attendees, concerts in the park, art demos for kids etc. The catcher was that they all attended the soccer game at the Cotton Bowl Traffic was light and most of the people that attended were not the Art buying type, mostly a day out with the family.
I spoke with about 20 to 30 artist and it was the same across the board sad to say. Unfortunately, many artist had to go home with no sales, and a few with damages to their tents from the strong winds the first day. All I have to say is that I was fortunate enough to only live an hour away, unlike my neighbor artists who traveled 15 plus hours to get there with no sales under their belt. One had never done a show in Texas, and I told him not to judge all Texas shows off this one, and said he should try Ft. Worth Main Street next year, where it is ALL about the Art! I did squeak a couple sales ,and I made some contacts, but I would not be doing this show again. I just thought I would share a live and learn experience with some fellow artists
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There really are those fairs that would seem to bring the level of experience down but that is just the way things go, unfortunately. It was great that you were given the opportunity to do it, actually though there are a lot of problems and things could have gone either way. Just one of those things that people really try and hope to be good at.
There are a couple of events in my home town too, that have an art component, but after trying them I realized that when the art isn't the main event it just isn't worth it to me. Most of the patrons show up for other attractions. On the other hand, something like this could be a little more exposure and lead to studio sales, but there is just too much preparation time for me to make it worthwhile. Unfortunatly we have to find these things out the hard way, but sometimes you may be pleasantly suprised when you take a chance.
I was wondering about this, lived in Dallas for 11 years and never thought it was anything other than a music festival. Fair Park can also be a questionable area of town after dark. We weren't doing shows when we lived there, so couldn't give you any advice. Met one of the show coordinators when we were in Plano this past February just by chance and they encouraged us to combine their show with a family visit. Based on this, I think we'll just stick to the family visits and forgo this show.
thanks for the review, sorry it wasn't successful.
It's my understanding that the show was not part of the soccer game but held basically at the same venue. The soccer game caused all kinds of traffic tie-ups making it difficult for patrons to get to the art show.
Thanks for reviewing the show Diana and sorry to hear it was a flop. I've also found that a show as an adjunct to a big sporting event doesn't draw the right sort of crowd.
Replies
There really are those fairs that would seem to bring the level of experience down but that is just the way things go, unfortunately. It was great that you were given the opportunity to do it, actually though there are a lot of problems and things could have gone either way. Just one of those things that people really try and hope to be good at.
Hi Diana,
There are a couple of events in my home town too, that have an art component, but after trying them I realized that when the art isn't the main event it just isn't worth it to me. Most of the patrons show up for other attractions. On the other hand, something like this could be a little more exposure and lead to studio sales, but there is just too much preparation time for me to make it worthwhile. Unfortunatly we have to find these things out the hard way, but sometimes you may be pleasantly suprised when you take a chance.
I was wondering about this, lived in Dallas for 11 years and never thought it was anything other than a music festival. Fair Park can also be a questionable area of town after dark. We weren't doing shows when we lived there, so couldn't give you any advice. Met one of the show coordinators when we were in Plano this past February just by chance and they encouraged us to combine their show with a family visit. Based on this, I think we'll just stick to the family visits and forgo this show.
thanks for the review, sorry it wasn't successful.
It's my understanding that the show was not part of the soccer game but held basically at the same venue. The soccer game caused all kinds of traffic tie-ups making it difficult for patrons to get to the art show.
Thanks for reviewing the show Diana and sorry to hear it was a flop. I've also found that a show as an adjunct to a big sporting event doesn't draw the right sort of crowd.