First off, this show is not held on a farm ;-) It's held on the campus of Midway College in Midway, Kentucky which is a lovely campus. The show has had a high reputation, and was much larger at one time with almost 300 artists. The Lexington Art League ran it for a few years and had moved it somewhere else, and it had suffered. A local volunteer group has taken it over, and the show is a smaller and more intimate one now with a little over a hundred artists. It is a gem of a show, and more than likely will increase in size over the next several years. It's a regional show and draws from the wealthy neighborhoods in Lexington, Frankfort, and Louisville.
Set up was on Friday with assigned arrival times. We had some issues with waiting for the guide to take us to our spot, as some tents had blown over earlier and everyone was helping pick up scattered work and getting it sorted out. We had to wait over 45 minutes, and part of it was one of the helpers forgot we were there waiting. Finally we got to our unloading point, carted one load in, and then the guys with the tractor and wagon showed up and got everything else in one load. The sidewalks are narrow, so vehicles aren't permitted to drive in. On the positive side, there are crews of volunteers who will do the heavy lifting and take everything to your spot. The show director came by later and apologized for our long delay on getting moved in.
We set the tent and walls up, and came back Saturday morning to hang work, and were ready when the customers rolled in. It was a little cool and breezy, with rains expected off and on, so the rear tarp was stretched out with a set of painter poles and corner braces to make a closed in rear room to the tent, and a couple more tarps closed it in to make a 5x10 extra room for storage and a place to stay warmer and dry. All the spaces had more than adequate room to store inventory and set up chairs behind the booth.
Saturday took off well with a good buying energy and you would see a variety of work being carried by the customers. Our sales were good enough to pay all the expenses and still make a profit. Sunday started off okay, but the crowds were different, with either the very young or the much older. The middle age buyers with money weren't there on Sunday and most artists around us reported sales of half or less than Saturday. It still added up to a very decent show and I will re-apply for next year.
Tear-down was smooth, with volunteers constantly checking to see if you were ready to pack out. By the time we were packed up, the wait time for the tractor and wagon was only about 15-20 minutes, and a couple of young volunteers helped load the tubs and boxes into the wagon and drove to the van where they helped load everything in.
The show is a hidden gem out where you wouldn't expect to see a higher end show, it has moneyed and knowledgeable buyers who didn't price quibble, and volunteers who were extremely helpful. More shows could use their model :-)
Comments
I live in Kentucky near Cincinnati OH and have heard of this show but am glad to see a review. It would be an easy drive for me to get there. I was wait listed last year for Winterfair in Cincinnati and just got contacted by Mellwood about applying. Art Off Pike is one I've done for 3 years now and need to get my application filled out again. I'll put Francisco on my list to look into next year.
Thanks, Robert. I hadn't thought of searching by state on Zapp. Duh.
I go through ZAPP, Art Fair Source Book, Entrythingy, and get a lot of help from friends who pass on show info. I check by state on ZAPP to find the smaller shows, which is how I found Art off Pike. That one isn't high dollar, but with a $30 booth fee and similar jury fee, you don't need high sales to turn a decent profit :-) I also get mailings from shows that walk through other shows to pre-qualify artists. I have one in Louisville that I'm not going to do, at the Mellwood Arts Center, that has a qualifier of having been in Cherokee Triangle, St. James, and a few others, you're auto-juried in. It's about 200 artists, and it's mostly local as they don't advertise on ZAPP or any other site.
I don't think you sound negative, Robert. You tell it like it is.
More importantly, where do you find these shows you're doing??? I'm in southwest Ohio and I've never heard of Francisco's. You're a wiz at finding the little gems.
Good to read a happy report from you.