or should the painting BE the sofa?
I know some of you cringe when a customer enters your booth with color samples of fabrics and paint samples. You will love this article which explores the art vs. furniture debate and shows you how to pimp your house. Me, I'm out to recreate that chandelier....
Art Meets Interior:
Highfalutin’ Ways to Pimp Your Home
Added by Connie Mettler on February 27, 2009 at 8:32pm —
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Could it be because they have business/life partners who devote themselves to the success of the artist? Yes!!
This month's issue of the
Crafts Report explores the role of the "non-artist's" role in an artist's business life discussing this often unsung person's contributions to the business.
As an artist's partner myself this is not an eye-opening expose, but it is great to receive some recognition. As art director of Arts, Beats & Eats we have a revolving…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 27, 2009 at 8:00pm —
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June 13 & 14 Royal Oak, MI on Washington Avenue in downtown Royal Oak Sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce 125 artists Deadline: March 1 A simple concept: Focusing on a core audience will bring you the best results. That's why Royal Oak continues a fifteen year tradition of celebrating artwork created with heat. What does that mean for you? A world of difference. You are not competing with prints, photos and corndogs. Everyone is coming because they have an interest…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 26, 2009 at 4:26pm —
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Look what web browsing finds you:
Documounts.com, "Framing solutions for today's digital & traditional artist." Finding the right partnership can really help your business take off. From what I have seen
Documounts is a useful partner for your art business. The site sells quality mats and bags for your art at prices that help you make a better profit. …
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 26, 2009 at 4:10pm —
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2-22-09 An innovative new web site, the
Arts Acquisition Project, devoted to connecting artists with collectors seeks

pieces for its inaugural exhibition. The
Arts Acquisition Project aspires to be the premier arts web site to date, bringing a fresh approach to the online gallery business. The focus will be not only on the art, and revealing it to a wider audience, but also to introduce the general public to the artists as people, innovators in…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 25, 2009 at 4:34pm —
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July 11 and 12 On the Capital Concourse around the Capital Building Presented by The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art 400 artists Deadline: March 2 Art Fair on the Square is not only the single largest art fair in the Midwest, it is also rated among the best fine art shows in North America by artists from across the country, and by publications such as
Sunshine Artist magazine. Furthermore, Art Fair on the Square is the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art's…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 25, 2009 at 1:30pm —
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June 26-28
Washington Park in the heart of the central business district Quincy, IL 50 Artists Deadline: March 31 Where is Quincy, IL?
Visit this link. From the director, Maggie Strong:
Quincy is a lovely town located on the bluffs of the Mississippi. We have a rich arts history and are home to the first Arts Council in America. Our architecture also represents the best in the Midwest. We are in… Continue
Added by Connie Mettler on February 23, 2009 at 5:30pm —
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My dear friend, the much loved sculptor, Sonny Dalton, of Mattawan, MI, may have participated in his last art fair. If you remember his smiling face at the art fairs, have admired his quirky sculptures and been impressed with his vision, you undoubtedly also have taken one or more of them home with you. Sonny was seduced by the lure of a life that enabled him to create every day. Leaving a secure job at GM behind a long time ago he has been exhibiting his work around the country since…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 22, 2009 at 3:30pm —
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Best in Show – Richard Rosen of Naples, for his clay sculpture. “His style of practical ceramics have moved into pure art in themselves,” juror Richard Tooke said. “The work he is creating now is things I’ve never seen anyone do in his medium. His work is very mature. I was looking for someone who took the 3D medium and turned it into a voice of his own, and Richard did that.” Best in 2D – Janet Rogers of Ormond Beach on Florida’s central east coast, for her watercolors. “Her work…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 22, 2009 at 10:57am —
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1. August 22 & 23 Oswego Art Fair Oswego, IL Presented by EM Events Sat. 10 AM - 5 PM & Sun. 10 AM - 4 PM 65 Artists Application deadline: March 1 Late August brings beautiful weather to this region. Couple that with this fine small event think hard about adding this event to your art fair list. Where is Oswego? It is located 50 miles southwest of Chicago, well situated at the southern end of the Fox River Valley.

The Oswego Fine Art Fair provides…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 19, 2009 at 7:22pm —
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From ArtServe Michigan, a cultural organization promoting art as a valuable community resource:
Gov Recommends $1,000 Nonrefundable Grant Application Fee! Not only does the Governor want to nearly zero-out arts and cultural grant funding in Michigan, but ArtServe has learned that she has also recommended increasing the nonrefundable grant application fee
from $300 to $1,000. The Governor is essentially making it impossible for smaller organizations to…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 17, 2009 at 7:15pm —
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I know many of my readers have been in this art fair business for a long time. I attended my first Ann Arbor Art Fair in 1976 and have either exhibited in it or attended every year since. Here is an opportunity for you to share your memories of the event with others. From the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair newsletter:
Share Your Memories of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair on AIR! Maybe you remember the Art Fair as it was nearly fifty years ago when it was just starting out. Or…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 17, 2009 at 7:04pm —
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Shary Brown, director for eleven years of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (the original) announced in January that she

would be retiring after the 2009 art fair. I know many of my readers are artists and have thought they might be interested in running an art fair or wondered why one event is so much better than another. Well, the folks in Ann Arbor on the Street Fair's board take their event very seriously and have now posted the requirements for Shary's successor. Could this be…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 17, 2009 at 6:46pm —
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Two Florida events with only a few spaces left in Sarasota and on Marco Island, need only a few more artists to fill them out before they are presented to the public. The are organized by
Richard Sullivan whose
Boulderbrook Productions festivals are consistently ranked among the top art shows in the country.
March 21st & 22nd Sarasota Masters Art Festival Payne Park Sarasota, FL 110 Artists
only a few spaces left! Here is…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 16, 2009 at 10:52am —
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In his review of the arts in Pittsburgh, Bob Hoover of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, not only reports on some of the bad news--but lo and behold has some good news in the way of interesting critical commentary and good ideas for making some good news!
His analysis of the NEA and how arts funding is being passed around is hopeful that there are still people out there who know and act on the use of arts funding for the good of all. Especially interesting is the Bush funding of the arts…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 16, 2009 at 10:17am —
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Of course the Miami Herald cannot ignore the
Coconut Grove Arts Festival. Click on the link to read all about it, see a video and some images from the event. Don't miss Duncan McClellan's fine blown glass, a fixture at the festival.
This article by George Leposky of…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 16, 2009 at 10:00am —
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I am a subscriber to
Don Crozier's newsletter from the
Best of Missouri Hands and a recent issue included two separate opportunities for health insurance for artists. I have investigated them only cursorily, but am going to list them here for your investigation.
1. From Joan Merrell:
I may have already sent this in, but my calligraphy organization has just joined the Open Arts Network through Fractured Atlas, a group dedicated to getting affordable… Continue
Added by Connie Mettler on February 12, 2009 at 3:01pm —
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Howard Alan Events can become the backbone of your exhibiting year. These popular outdoor festivals are consistently ranked among the top art shows in the country. Located along some of the most charming streets in the nation, the festivals brings the unique creations of hundreds of award-winning artists to thousands of art enthusiasts across America every weekend.
7th Annual Alexandria Festival of the Arts
About Howard Alan Events More than 27 years…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 11, 2009 at 4:00pm —
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The art world is in a tizzy about Shepard Fairey and his use of the Obama image he created

(or did not create as some would say). At his recent art opening in Boston he was even arrested! Here are just a few of links for the "rest of the story":
Pro-Fairey gripe from ICA party sponsor: Boston Globe,…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 11, 2009 at 12:00pm —
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If you love art fairs as I do, you have probably noticed over the years that there are many couples doing art shows, each with their own body of work. Couples like this are truly hostages to fortune, throwing all their financial future into the vagaries of the art fair life: each making serious art, jurying into the art fairs where there is money to be made and being successful selling the art at the event.
"All She Ever Wanted"-mixed media by Kathrine Allen-Coleman…
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Added by Connie Mettler on February 10, 2009 at 7:29pm —
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