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Little late on this review but here it is.   There was a great review done on AFI for this show a few years ago.  Here is an update.   This was the first time showing in Madison.  It is a big show, over 400 artist I believe.  It is set up on the streets around the capitol building.  Beautiful place for a show.  There is also a second show very close, Art Off The Square with another 200 or so artists that feature Wisconsin artists.  There are lots of artists.  Most of the work is very high end.  Fortunately there are lots of people who come to this show, around 200K. 

Load in starts at 5pm on Friday.  Depending on your section, you line up on a designated street and wait to be let in.  It is highly organized and run well.  You are only let in if you have a place to park and unload.   They have a gate keeper and a person on the ground with walkie talkies making sure there is room for you and the type of rig you have.  I like this but it can slow down the process.  When you are let in everyone parks in a line along the right hand side of the road.  You are given 15 minutes to unload.  We are fast but not that fast.  We had a double so I was wondering if we could get 30 minutes for unloading:)  We moved fast and did it in 18 minutes.   I didn't see them enforcing the 15 minute rule so don't let that worry you if doing the show.  Basically unload as quickly as possible and get out so they can let the next set of artists in.  Parking can be tricky if you have a taller vehicle.  There are a lot of moving parts to this show.  Hotels are not cheap.  The streets can be confusing.  The first time doing any show can be intimidating and this one especially.  We did as much research as we could and arrived early on Friday but basically doing the show is the only way you can really figure it out.  Next time we do the show it will be much easier. 

Booths    are on both sides of a wide street across from each other.  Part of your booth, the backside, will be up on a curb.  You will need to plan a set up to allow the front 8' of the booth to be at a different level then the back 2'.   They ask that you keep storage in the back to a minimum and to keep it looking tidy.  There is no room on the sides. 

The show officially starts at 9am on Saturday.  There is a farmers market nearby and they suggest you open early.  Take that advice and open early, as early as you can.  By 8am there are a ton of people shopping and buying.   The picture of the crowd I posted was taken at 10am.  Seriously big crowds on Saturday.  It is interesting because there must be a guide for  patrons on how to approach this show.  They all walk the show in the same direction, counter clockwise around the square.  They all do at least two laps around.  Once for the inner booths and next for the outer booths or vice versa.  You can hear the patrons discuss their strategy when they arrive.  They wait all year for this show and I heard many husbands say this was the one art show of the year they were willing to attend.    The serious buyers are known to come out on Saturday.    Sunday the crowds are not as big but a good crowd, much more manageable.  The reports from artists as far as sales were all over the place.  In my section on Saturday I watched a nonstop parade of large work walking out behind the booths.   For most of us that were new to the show we killed it.  Many vets were not happy.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  Mid 80s and we only had a little bit of rain on Sunday. 

Load out.   Load in went slowly waiting for each car to come in.  Load out worried us.  We asked a bunch of artists and volunteers about load out so we could plan our strategy and no one seemed to remember the drill.  Here is how it went.  The show closed at 5pm.  They handed out passes as soon as you were broken down and let cars in around 5:20.  We had our vehicle at the booth by 5:30pm and driving out by 6pm.  Easy peasy load out.

Madison is a beautiful city.  The venue is wonderful for an art show.  The patrons are serious about the art.  This show is extremely well attended and the patrons are loyal buyers.  I mentioned on Sunday afternoon that I hadn't seen any dogs in strollers, ferrets on leashes or birds on peoples shoulder the entire show.  The capitol building is a great backdrop.  Find sometime and  go  up to the observation deck and check out the 360 degree view of the town. 

Hotels near the square are not cheap.  We usually spend the extra money and stay within walking distance but I found a great deal at a nice Best Western Plus  about 2 miles away that offered free shuttle service.  They also had great outdoor parking for oversized vehicles.  It worked out well.  The show has challenges, like the later set up on Friday and early open on Saturday.  Staying close by would have been great and next time we might consider the extra expense to have the convince. 

This is a well organized show.  Lots of communication before and after the show.  You can contact the show and get through to an actual person and get answers.   The show has a ton of volunteers and plenty of booth sitters.  You get a packet when you check in that gives you a couple of coupons for water or soda.  On Sunday morning  an organization walks around handing out a basic breakfast and lots of drinks to stock up on.  I am not clear about the awards system.  They did have about 3 judges who walked the show individually.  They placed a dot  in your booth so you knew they had been there.  We spent time with a couple of them.  This is a big job for a big show.  I believe around 50 artists were awarded with invitations back for the next year. 

Over all I would love to come back to Madison for Art on The Square.  There is a lot of competition but a lot of buyers as well.  It is kind of a haul from Atlanta but worth it for us even though it was a single show.  It was a bonus to get out of Hotlanta.