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Cape Coral Art Fest  1-11, 12, 13, 2019

       Mid-January we plunged into the agonizing joy of being Art Fair artists once again. This, my second show, was in Cape Coral,  Florida, sponsored by the local Rotary with proceeds going to a Community Garden.

       This is a show that is held on Cape Coral Parkway, one of the main drags through town, so “set up” was delayed until around 7PM Friday evening. Registration opened at 6 and a long line of vehicles formed waiting to get to the plots. We located #240 around 8:30 and found the neighbors already in place with their big vans completely blocking our access. Everyone sort of squeezed around and we got a way to get to the site okay, but it caused our usually slow set up to be even slower. 3.5 hours later we were headed to bed, exhausted and feeling a bit down because of the dragging start and the thought of a long day Saturday. I still needed to get up early and place the art in the tent before the show began.

       Sleep did not come easy and did not last long. I’d hate to print what I was saying to myself about the Art Fair Industry around 4 AM! At any rate, I’d give the Friday set up a sort of “low decent” grade as it was orderly even though it went slow and late. My impression is that the city shows where the main streets are closed down the night before are all going to be difficult on set up.

       I’m accepted in the Tampa Hyde Park show and the set up isn’t until 5AM Sat, with the show starting at 10. I was not paying much attention to this aspect until actually going to a show or two. I’m in my early 70’s and this middle of the night getting up and getting rolling is not exactly making me jump for joy. On the other hand, my art probably is better received in an urban setting so if I want to be there I gotta’ buckle down and do it! Still, that show where you can come on in around 10AM on the Friday before and have all day to tinker around is awfully sweet.

       Amazing how after you get there and get going, you just forget about any negative junk. The neighbor artists who you were worried about last night are now your good buddies. All those strangers coming by seem to have smiles and great things to say about your stuff, the day and life in general. Man! You start feeling damned good. Until around 2 PM when you realize you haven’t sold a single thing. And neither have your neighbors. Or the folks a little further down. Oh brother! Here we go again worrying about even making your booth fee.

       Almost all the “Old Timers” talk about the good old days and how things have gotten much tougher with so many shows, so many artists competing for the same dollars and a public that in many ways is unprepared to spend and uneducated about art in general. Nevertheless, there must be a way to crack this code and I’m determined to keep searching for the path to success in this business. But, at this point, I’d have to say it has eluded me. Two shows and in both cases barely made my booth fee not to mention all the other expenses that were not covered. It’s still early in my endeavor, but I’m having a difficult time seeing how anyone actually makes a living at this.

       I do not know much about the overhead of the promoters but in this show just the booth fees provided them around $150,000. And then they have a bunch of other sponsors and contributors adding to that. I’m so glad that the Rotary will be able to create their community garden or whatever other clubs support in their communities. However, it does seem that if the artists can’t make a profit, things can’t be sustained.  The Rotary sent out a notice to participants explaining that they knew it was a down year and many artists complained about not making their nut. They also claimed that some artists did very well though I’d have to say, “I wonder where they were?”

       Crowd size here was tremendous. I’d guess there were thousands, potentially 50,000-ish attendees over the weekend. (I’m not too trusting of promoter estimates of crowds. Where are those hundreds of thousands of anxious buyers?) Beautiful weather really brought them out and the tourists in the area were well represented. The throng of people was steady until Sunday PM when there started to be bigger and bigger gaps in the human stream. No one around me sold anything after around 2 on Sunday, a pretty big disappointment. We were all thinking the slow Saturday was an indication the “buyers” were going to come out on Sunday. Right.

       The demographics of CC may explain some of this, when added to this idea that the business is just not as profitable as it used to be. Here the average age is: OLD. Older than me and I’m Methuselah. It’s definitely not the most affluent part of Florida being heavily oriented to the retired class and the service class that take care of them. This is not a great recipe for abundant sales but the old folks love to get out and do something fun, especially if it’s for free. Thus, huge numbers of through walkers. You know: the ones that don’t even walk in the lane near the tents. And they don’t walk on the lane furthest away from the tents. They walk on the sidewalk past that outside lane, like 30 feet from the tents! I’d have to guess they are not interested in the art since they can’t even see it from there. 

       I’m learning that an Art Fair crowd is not necessarily an art loving crowd. Many seem to be merely out for a stroll. I do feel that the CC Rotary promoted the show. There were certainly a lot of folks there. If I could just figure out how to sell something to a dog in a baby carriage, I’d be a rich man.

       I have, however, begun to recognize my better prospects when they arrive in the store. My best shot is a middle-aged couple, with that sort of Metro-sexual look about them. Modern looking people. Once they start milling around discussing the art between themselves, I start to get hopeful. On the other hand, I’m also seeing who my audience is not. Has a single man, without a woman in tow, ever bought anything other than beer at an Art Fair? They seem to need support to have the courage to open their wallets.

       Men! Wake Up! You can pick a piece of art and buy it without exploding. What are you afraid of? And families with children wander in and out with no real action, as well. Cheap entertainment. So, for me, it’s middle aged couples, and especially ones who are remodeling their homes. You’ve seen them: he’s wearing a Lowe’s T and she’s carrying an orange Home Depot bag.

       There are plenty of facilities along the Fair route. Restaurants, bars and shops line the streets. I was lucky enough to be right outside a Subway, so ate great both days and they were very accommodating letting everyone use their facilities and get ice and so forth. The route itself stretches straight down Cape Coral Parkway roughly a mile with no side streets in the mix. Pretty effective lay out. The asphalt booth spaces were themselves fairly tight, so we were butted up next to each other, which was really no problem except during set up and take down.

       Take down started Sunday at 5, though the show seemed to be baked way before that. We were given until 7PM to vacate and I made sure to get my vehicle placed well for load out. For the first time I got the tent and the art down and in the SUV in about an hour. The last time I took about an hour and 45 minutes and the take down was in the rain. Much better this time. We actually cleared the place early enough to pop into a little fish joint and have a bite. Last show I think most eateries were closed before I got on the road! One thing about CC: great restaurants. I think the overhead is so much lower there than Fort Myers, that places are attracted. Nevermind, a little joint right at one end of the route was terrific with wonderful craft cocktails and unique meals like a Mac and Cheese Pulled Pork sandwich. Definitely worth remembering.

       Bottom line, would I do it again? Yeah, I think so. It’s local for me. I did sell 6 or 8 paintings (prints) and was asked by a salon if I’d do a show for them. I also was invited to bring some pieces to a favorite local restaurant for their little tourista store. So, maybe I’ll have a sort of residual benefit. The difficult night “load in” and the lack of buyers were the negatives. The venue itself and the large crowds and pretty easy load out were the high points. And, of course, the people. Fellow artists and those kind few who opened their purses and graced me with the favor of a purchase. It’s hard to guess with accuracy what kind of sales were popular. Pottery, photography, painting and furniture seemed to be just laying there. The stuff I saw carried around were things like those welding rods with a springy, goofy bug attached to the end that are stuck in the ground by your mailbox. Also, fake surf boards with all kinds of designs cut into the Styrofoam and weird shaped paintings. A few kitschy fish carried by some burly old guy went by. Fake trophy for his cave. Who knows how to predict this market? It’s so ephemeral I think it’s impossible to gauge.

       Cape Coral. Probably a very average show. Barely productive enough to keep some encouragement in the air. Any show worse than this is going to be a major heart-breaker and real discouraging. But, perhaps, along the way I’ll run into that “one show” where it all comes together and I’ll be inspired to get in the studio and tackle another season of agonizing joy.