Columbus, IN Art Fest, June 25-26

Columbus, IN is a sweet little town about 45 minutes south of Indianapolis and is known for its wealth of architecturally significant buildings, both vintage and new.  So it seems like a perfect place for an art fair.

For many years the show has been held the same weekend as Penrod, a Saturday-only monster of a show also in Indiana.  The Columbus folks apparently decided to quit fighting the beast and changed their date to three months earlier.  Having done so, now the location on the streets of the charming downtown wasn't available for the new dates, so the venue was also changed to a beautiful park on the outskirts of downtown.  The show went on, and on this particular weekend the temps were well into the 90s with suffocating humidity and not a single shade tree in the show area.  Thus the perfect storm occurred.

The organizers did a good job of coordination and planning.  The guy in charge is a show-going photographer himself, so to my mind the little details like set-up hours, driving to the booth to unload and load, quality of art, etc were done well well.  Best, I have to say, were the indoor artist-only restrooms with incredibly soothing ac cranked up to a luxurious level.  Ahhhh.

But the show just couldn't overcome the perfect storm.  Very few shoppers appeared.  Everyone's sales were dismal.  It was what it was.  I did meet some delightful customers, however, so that was the shining light for me.

To his credit, the organizer took it hard and said he would be soliciting artist input by email in a few days, in addition to meeting with the board to discuss changes for next year.  If I had to guess, the location was too remote ... when you're downtown, people who didn't know about the show have the opportunity to trip over you and slow down for a look ... to be able to overcome the other obstacles.

This was my first time doing the Columbus show and, in spite of this year's problems, I think I would actually try the show again.  They get it, so it's just a matter of getting all the pieces in the right places.

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  • Got it.  Lesson learned.  Thanks for the historical perspective.

  • Moral: If you want to kill a show, put it in Columbus.

  • The first Columbus "Chautauqua of the Arts" (the name was a trademark apparently) in 1994 was dismal-maybe 8-10K attendance vs the 50K+ that would usually attend Madison. Sales were also dismal. With my rose-colored glasses, I thought-first year at new location-give it a chance. With the move to Columbus, the show also moved to the 3rd weekend in Sept; Madison was always the 4th weekend in Sept.. I suppose this was weather related (it was excellent weather).

     

    Returned for the 1995 show- worse attendance and sales as far as I could see (and experienced). I returned home disgusted and vowed to never do either Columbus or Madison again. Note that when the move to Columbus was announced at the artist dinner during the 1993 Madison show, there was an immediate uproar-Madison is very tourist oriented. Madison continued on with the " Madison Chautauqua". I would get reports through the grapevine for several years afterward; the decent artists continued to drop the Columbus show, Madison continued on pretty much as before. The Columbus show finally died altogether a few years ago, I believe.

     

    My wife loves Madison and finally talked me into re-entering Madison and I have been in it since 2003. It is not the great show for me that it was from 89 to 93, I guess few shows are. I continue to do it for 2 reasons: 1 Madisons historic district is fabulous. 2 The volunteers treat you very nice.

    I hope this answers the "what happened " question.

     

    Ed Collins

     

     

     

  • Oh, man, (mis)spellcheck and answering questions after a four and half hour tear down is not a good choice. My heinie is dragging and my brain is gone, and didn't see the butcher job my phone did on that spelling.
  • The late Dixie McDonough, the original organizer of the Madison Chataqushad, had a tiff with the City Cpuncil in Madison so she pulled up stakes and moved the show to Columbus. Unfortunately the show took a nose dive and floundered after a few years. It finally went into limbo after the show declined in quality and attendance.
  • I did Chautauqua in Madison.  Once.  Only once.  I guess it's a decent enough show if you do metal or wood or tole painting, but glass wasn't what they were looking for.  Madison is charming but definitely a country, dusty-antiques type of town.

    So okay, I'll bite.  What happened when Chautauqua escaped Madison and showed up in Columbus?

  • Unfortunately, despite Columbus Indianas' architectural reputation, it is a cultural sinkhole.

    Just ask any old-timer about what happened after Columbus lured the Madison, In "Chautauqua of the Arts" to Columbus (back around 1994) . 

  • I know him fairly well.  I'll pass it along.  Thanks!

  • Here's a link I just received in my email. I hope someone can forward this to the artist/promoter for the Columbus show. it sounds just like the resource he needs to promote the show.

    https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/INARTS/bulletins/14b7821

  • Thanks so much, I appreciate the suggestions.  I'll check those out and keep them in mind for next year.  If I can make my expenses and walk way with a few extra bucks in my pocket, I'm usually a happy camper.  And if there are a lot of shoppers and people to talk to who are interested but don't buy, then I can always hope for after show sales. 

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