I am a professional artist that attended the Naples National Show as a patron a few weeks back.
I do fine art festivals for a living. Upon entering the festival, as I was giving my donation, the woman taking the money and giving out the stickers said to me, without me asking so much as how are you, "I'll tell you a little secret. Come back tomorrow if you're looking for a great bargain. The artists are desperate to sell because they don't want to have to haul their artwork around anymore. Believe me it works, I've done it!" Not only was this said to me, but as I entered the show, I overheard her saying it to the next group behing me.
I was/am incredibly offended by this. Not only was this woman chosen as the first point of contact to represent the show, but right upon entry, without my even asking for "secrets" she's advising people to barter with us hard-working artists simply based on her skewed belief that we would rather not be paid fairly for our artwork than have to handle it again. We're "desperate" in fact. Also, it was Saturday morning. She was turning patrons away from purchasing that day. Most artists need strong sales both days to make costs/profit for a high end show such as this one.
This was very disappointing, because I drove an hour from Cape Coral expecting to enjoy what I have heard to be a quality event, run by an artist-friendly organization who claims to support arts/artists. To be greeted by this upsetting statement was unacceptable and needs to be addressed.
Hopefully this has brought some awareness or sparked some dialogue about the relationship/communication between show representatives and art festival patrons. We trust them to represent us in a favorable light, and encourage adding value to us and our work, not taking it away by broadcasting that we are desperate, easy to sneak a deal out of and well. lazy.
Thank you for your time.
Comments
Rachelle, thanks for getting the ball rolling on this. Of course, the show directors can't fix something if they don't know about it. It sounds like they will do what they can to make sure it doesn't happen again. It is very reassuring to see Kathleen already has plans to address this for the next show.
I spent the weekend at a Minnesota show where the 1st booth at the door was a gentleman who just wanted his art hanging in as many places as possible. His prices were at cost and then he put up a 50% off sign on Sunday. The whole time he accosted the public and drew attention to his booth, once the patron escaped they moved down 3 or 4 booths to avoid his hard sell. I tried to reason with him that the cheap price was not neccessary, and hurt other artists, and if they don't make money, they don't come back, and the show disapears . His attitude was 'why should he give a rip".This article gives me an idea on how to approach those in charge. Thanks for posting.
Why do some folks think artist's have a going out of business sale at the end of each show? As if each show was our last and everything has to go.
I am the Marketing and PR Director of the Naples Art Association. As Rachelle commented, she personally emailed Executive Director Aimee Schlehr about this today, and we are immediately addressing it. We were grateful that she made us aware of the volunteer’s behavior, as we certainly do not condone it. As you would expect, we were incredibly dismayed to hear that this happened, and wish we would have been told sooner. Thank you again for letting us know, and the NAA takes this concern very seriously. We'll be further adapting our volunteer training to prevent it from happening in the future.
Pat - I did email the executive director of the Von Lieberg center for the arts. There was a crush of people in line to enter and the whole thing happened so unexpectedly and fast I was too stunned to react to her. Wish I would have called her on it too.
Barry - You can use my experience.
Can I have your permission to quote you on a couple of other blog sites? I will not use your name, just your experience.
This goes way beyond some vapid dialogue. This may even be criminal. It certainly is disgusting considering that Von Leipzig floods the market with shows from November through March. That director and that committee are responsible for how their volunteers and employees conduct themselves. Is this show policy?
Amen!