Posted by Nels Johnson on April 19, 2016 at 7:27am
Cedar Key is an old historic fishing village on the gulf coast of Florida. It is 25 miles out from US19 and nearly 60 miles due west of Gainesville. It is out there all by itself. You cross four small bridges til you get to the village. Cake happens to be the second oldest town in the state.It is a small show, about 120 booths, put on by the local arts association. Everything is very low key, very mellow. The setup and tear downs are easy-pea sexy. Everyone has ample storage space and many can hang work on the sides.Most of us do not expect big sales here. If you make more than $1500 you are doing good.The crowds are not huge. The biggest surge of patrons is between 11am and noon,, after that it is a big yawner.Most buyers want very conservative.They love images of shore birds, boat scenes, ad nauseum. Cutting edge does not sell here.First day I barely sold $500, all of it from the bins. Thru the whole weekend I did not sell even one framed 16x20 image for $125I ended up barely making a profit, I would have to think long and hard about going back..
I saw lots of information about the show when I was there in early March and there seems to be a bit of civic pride around the event.
It was started years ago by Bessie Gibbs. LOVE her tombstone in the Cedar Key cemetery, an accomplished woman, but what was her greatest accomplishment?
I've done this show several times and every time it gets better in sales for me and this year I even won an award of distinction. The weather this year was perfect and the show was quite busy up until mid afternoon. I find that my higher end work sells at this show with the average purchase between $150 to $200. Of note a new restaurant called Holy Moly had one of the best Cubans I've ever eaten and I live in Tampa.
Connie,there are two other of my photos in the hotel. I honey-mooned there in 1980. Also in the city hall there are three of my photos. I won the "Best Cedar Key Image Award" three years in a row. Dons on the corner has the best clam chowder, he is a world champion, no shit. So there
We've done the show twice! Jewelry priced between $30 and $2200. The show is by and for the locals and they make no excuses for this. This quaint village can be charming and enticing but bringing buyers to the area does not appear to be a motivating factor to the organizers of this event. Even our low end stuff made specifically for coastal residents did not sell here. We would go back to Cedar Key to enjoy there award winning clam chowder, seafood and stunning natural beauty, but won't go back for that Festival.
Oh no, I wanted to hear you wax poetically as you usually do. Where did you eat? Where did you stay?
Last month instead of making it to your house we went to Cedar Key (enough city life for me). Mighty quiet. You could walk down the middle of the street at 9 pm even on the weekend and not see a car. Loved that. We stayed at the Island Hotel (a great bar!! have you been there? and the bar food was plenty good too).
Walking down the hall in the old hotel I saw a lovely sepia toned photo with great light in it on the wall that attracted me. I got up closer and here is what I found:
I took a closer look, needing to find the signature. Nels Johnson. Damn boy. You know how to print, wonderful tonal range.
So, are you saying this is not as much fun as the vacation you get when you go to Key West?
Comments
I saw lots of information about the show when I was there in early March and there seems to be a bit of civic pride around the event.
It was started years ago by Bessie Gibbs. LOVE her tombstone in the Cedar Key cemetery, an accomplished woman, but what was her greatest accomplishment?
Who knew?
We've done the show twice! Jewelry priced between $30 and $2200. The show is by and for the locals and they make no excuses for this. This quaint village can be charming and enticing but bringing buyers to the area does not appear to be a motivating factor to the organizers of this event. Even our low end stuff made specifically for coastal residents did not sell here. We would go back to Cedar Key to enjoy there award winning clam chowder, seafood and stunning natural beauty, but won't go back for that Festival.
Oh no, I wanted to hear you wax poetically as you usually do. Where did you eat? Where did you stay?
Last month instead of making it to your house we went to Cedar Key (enough city life for me). Mighty quiet. You could walk down the middle of the street at 9 pm even on the weekend and not see a car. Loved that. We stayed at the Island Hotel (a great bar!! have you been there? and the bar food was plenty good too).
Walking down the hall in the old hotel I saw a lovely sepia toned photo with great light in it on the wall that attracted me. I got up closer and here is what I found:
I took a closer look, needing to find the signature. Nels Johnson. Damn boy. You know how to print, wonderful tonal range.
So, are you saying this is not as much fun as the vacation you get when you go to Key West?