Call for Artists, Making Money at Juried Art Fairs, Craft Shows and Festivals

Connie Mettler's Blog – May 2009 Archive (25)

Call for Entries: Downtown Monroe Art Fair

Adjacent to the 8th Annual River Raisin Jazz Festival August 8 & 9 Saturday 10-6; Sunday 12-6 in the newly renovated Historic Downtown of Monroe, Michigan Presented by the Downtown Monroe Business Network Booth fee: $100 Deadline: July 17 The 6th annual Downtown Monroe Art Fair is fast becoming one of the areas nicest places to pick up some fantastic artwork. Located in Monroe's newly renovated Historical District, the atmosphere is… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 29, 2009 at 8:30pm — 2 Comments

Wobbly Economy May Benefit Summer Events

How is that for an upbeat headline? We are just not going to let the economy get us down.

Last week I was interviewed by Chris Coates of the Suburban Journals that cover the St. Louis vicinity about my feelings about economic conditions and their effect on the summer fairs.

It is a pretty comprehensive story that includes new details on the recent Belleville, IL, Fair on the Square, plus prognostications for the future.

Who would have thought I would… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 27, 2009 at 11:45am — 1 Comment

Money, money, money! $60,000 in Houston

Always great to hear about art fairs making money. Here is a press release from Bayou City Art Festival in Houston, TX:

What: Art Colony Assn. (organizers of the Bayou City Art Festivals) to make check presentations totaling $60,000 to 16 Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park Nonprofit Partners and present Top Ten Volunteers Awards

Where: Capital One Bank Plaza – 5718 Westheimer @ Bering Drive (1st Floor, Main Lobby)

When: Wed., May 27, 6:30… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 26, 2009 at 7:04pm — No Comments

Call for Entries: Art on the Grand, Farmington, MI

Weary of huge, impersonal summer art fairs? Come claim a grassy plot in downtown Farmington, MI, at Art on the Grand - southeast Michigan's artist-friendly alternative. July 17th, 18th & 19th Farmington Hills, MI Fri & Sat: 10am-9pm, Sun: 11am-5pm Application deadline: June 1 Art on the Grand is the fine arts section of the 44-year-old Farmington Founders Festival, located right on Grand River Avenue in the heart of Farmington. The Festival is the community's premier event… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 26, 2009 at 6:00pm — No Comments

What is Your Favorite One Day Art Fair?

I always loved doing one day art fairs - you get there, you set up, the people come, they buy and then you are on the way home! No dithering or waiting for people to make decisions. They know you won't be there long. The art fair is their destination for the day and they have made plans to buy. What's not to like? Here are my two favorites:

1. 'Round the Fountain Art Fair, Lafayette, IN-- always held on the Saturday of Memorial Day… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 26, 2009 at 10:00am — 1 Comment

Call for Entries: 45th Annual Kenosha Art Fair

Sunday July 19th Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha Friends of the Public Museums Art Fair 10 AM - 5 PM 200 Exhibitors Late Deadline: June 10 (late fee $25) Does the city of Kenosha, WI, have a place in your art fair future? Located

between Chicago and Milwaukee on Lake Michigan, Kenosha lures city people to this verdant community on this summer weekend. One day art fairs are great. Visitors await them all year and know that… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 23, 2009 at 10:56pm — 2 Comments

Payback time: Keep an Art Fair Icon Alive!

Last week I received the following email blast from the

Ann Arbor Street Art Fair. They need financial support. When you think of how much so many artists have depended on their annual income from one or another of the Ann Arbor art fairs, they have to be grateful to this event that started it all. Not only do the artists have much to be thankful for, but the art fair patrons who have flocked by the millions to Ann Arbor for the past 50 years for this vibrant rite of… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 20, 2009 at 12:01pm — 4 Comments

Call for Entries: Bethesda Row Arts Festival

October 17 & 18 Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda Row: Woodmont Ave., Bethesda Ave. & Elm St. 180 Artists Deadline: May 30

Where is Bethesda, MD? This preeminent urban festival attracts art lovers from the metropolitan Washington, DC, region, displaying the works of a select group of highly creative and talented artists in the heart of Bethesda's Arts & Entertainment District. Bethesda Row… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 20, 2009 at 11:33am — No Comments

The World Has Just Gotten Larger

For a long time I lived in the Detroit area and as an artist's partner we were always looking at the land just across the water in Canada. Lots of people live on the other side of the Detroit River. But the complications of taking work for sale across the border were myriad. The customs people on either side could foil any attempt to enter into Canada or even to get back into the U.S. with a van full of art. But lo and behold a government official, Eve Lerman, who works for the US Department of… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 18, 2009 at 5:00pm — 1 Comment

Call for Entries: Canal Fulton Historical & Art Festival

Friday and Saturday, August 15 & 16 Canal Fulton, Ohio 11 am to 8 pm St. Helena Heritage Park 50 Artists Booth spaces are available on a first-come first-serve basis. Where is Canal Fulton, OH? Conveniently located near Akron, Canton, Cleveland and Columbus,

check it out here. This is the third year of this event. The organizer, Dennis Downing, is a trustee of the heritage society, sponsor of… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 18, 2009 at 4:50pm — No Comments

Storm on the Square

You really know it is Spring in the Midwest when you hear about storms closing the art fairs. Here is hoping that this season's events will not suffer from the terrible winds that closed many art fairs and caused thousands of dollars of damage at last year's fair particularly in Omaha and Evanston.

From the Belleville News Democrat: Reports of funnel clouds brought an early close to the Fair on the Square in Belleville, IL, Friday night. Read the rest of the report:…

Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 16, 2009 at 9:36pm — No Comments

May Show of the Month: Northern Virginia Festival of the Arts

May 16 & 17

Reston Town Center

10 am to 6 pm daily

Presented by the Greater Reston Arts Center

220 artists

Preview Party:

May 15, 6:30-9:30, Midtown-11990 Market Street

"The art and craft work exhibited will delight you in its variety, quality and vision. In these days of strip malls and cookie cutter chain stores, art fairs are undeniably the most interesting shopping venues left in the country." -- Art Fair Source Book, 2008

This… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 16, 2009 at 9:30pm — No Comments

Amy Amdur: The Festival Queen

Here is a terrific, in-depth and lengthy article from Chicago's

Crain Business News about

one of the art fair businesses most well-known people, Chicago's own Amy Amdur, of

Amdur Productions. Amy has been producing art fairs around the Chicago area since 1984. This year she has eleven events ranging from the really wonderful Port Clinton Art Fair in Highland Park to a new venture this fall in Highwood, a "Last Call… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 16, 2009 at 9:30pm — 1 Comment

Reston Report - Saturday evening

My thanks to Vicki Munn for the following report on the first day at the Northern Virginia Festival of Art in Reston, VA - ArtFairCalendar.com's "Art Fair of the Month.

i bet we have applied for 15 years and finally got in. the drive out (from Bloomington in southern Indiana) we were wondering "what the hell we were doing" ...rain all weekend for sure. we just finished the first day with light showers in the early morning and a storm at 5:15 to… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 16, 2009 at 9:27pm — No Comments

East Lansing, Belleville, Springfield, Indianapolis, Reston, Tulsa - May 16 & 17

1. From the Lansing State Journal: More than 325 artists from across the nation...

2. THE place to be this weekend:

From the Reston (VA) Connection: Arts Festival Returns To Reston...

3. I love,… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 15, 2009 at 10:00pm — 7 Comments

Call for entries: Lathrup Village, Michigan

June 27 & 28 6th Annual Art In The Park Lathrup Village, Michigan 100 Artists Presented by the Lathrup Village Community Foundation Deadline: May 18 In affluent Oakland County, MI, you will find the City of Lathrup Village which combines a historic past with a dynamic present. Gracious homes and planned city growth have provided an ideal environment for convenient, small city living within the larger metropolitan Detroit area. Where is Lathrup Village? …

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Added by Connie Mettler on May 15, 2009 at 12:04pm — No Comments

Getting Ready for Belleville (IL)

I keep coming across these stories about this weekend's show in Belleville, IL, Art Fair on the Square. It is easy to see why they get such a high rating from artists. Sure with there was this kind of press at more art fairs.

Read this one: Art on the Square: Belleville gets ready to welcome crowds at 8th annual fine arts fair

Added by Connie Mettler on May 15, 2009 at 11:39am — No Comments

A Useful Resource for Michigan Artists

With the arts struggling everywhere, and Michigan being no exception, you might wish to subscribe to this excellent newsletter sponsored by the Arts Alliance, the Arts Alliance Cultural Newsletter. It covers art walks, gallery tours, job opportunities, creative resources, grants, lots!! It is pretty amazing in the breadth of its information. Here is the link for the website:

http://www.a2artsalliance.org/. You can subscribe on the… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 15, 2009 at 11:30am — No Comments

Artist of the Month - Ginny Herzog - Architectural Art

An interior designer by training and vocation, Ginny Herzog has taken her eye for detail and interest in architectural elements and abstracted it into one-of-a kind mixed media paintings using watercolor, crayons, graphite, pencils and photography. Originally exhibiting landscape paintings at her first art fairs starting in 1976 and sticking close to home the work soon blossomed into a career of distinctive art that says to the viewer "one-of-a-kind", exhibited at the country's finest… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 10, 2009 at 9:27pm — No Comments

Kudos to Belleville News Daily - Setting up the Public For a Fine Event

It's always great to see it when an art fair's PR is working well. The little but lovely Belleville, IL, Art Fair on the Square, is coming up on May 15. Here is an excellent story about twelve artists exhibiting there next weekend. AND, I'm happy to report ten of the twelve do have websites and so will be able to capitalize on this good promotion.

(Did you know that you can use your "My Page" on this site as a web address? When you are on your page copy the url in the box at the top… Continue

Added by Connie Mettler on May 10, 2009 at 9:00pm — No Comments