Gasparilla Art Fair is in a big open park next to the Tampa Art Museum complex. Artists tents are set up un rows, back to back over the entire park. Some booths (near the street) are on concrete tiles, and some artists can rent tents erected by the committee. But most booths are in grass (stakes are not allowed because of a sprinkling system). I was in booth 162 right across from the artist hospitality tent. All the spots in this row were on an incline and presented some challenges to keeping things level. Booth spaces are generous in size being about 12 feet wide by 15 feet deep. Plenty of room for storage in the back. It seemed as if the layout worked well with customers meandering down one aisle and up the next making it possible to see every booth.Load in for this show is super organized because bottlenecks in the crowded aisles happen often. Thursday setup is an option for artists who want to take their time. I originally scheduled setup on Friday, but got to town early and was allowed to set up on Thursday. Artists entered the art fair grounds in caravans of about 15 vehicles led by a committee member on a Segway. There is an attempt to line up the artists in sequence so that the first vehicle parks at the first booth on the caravan's route, and the last vehicle parks at the last spot on the route. Of course, as hard as this super organized committee tried, snafus were frequent. Thursday artists are given 2 hours to unload, Friday artists 1:15. Space is tight and the committee worked hard to keep things moving and avoid bottlenecks. They did a pretty good job of it, spontaneously creating occasional detours to keep things moving.Artist parking is about 4 blocks away, where the caravans originated. And, although this is my second year at this show, I still couldn't describe the circuitous route the caravan had to take from the parking lot to the art fair grounds.The weather gods were kind to us in Tampa giving us perfect art fair weather. Low 70s on Saturday and mid 70s on Sunday. Too cold for the beach, but perfect for strolling around an art fair. The quality of the art at Gasparilla is excellent with a bigger percentage of 2-D than most shows. There is big prize money here, and many artists come just for the awards. I didn't win an award, but I had good sales with $4700 total split evenly between Saturday and Sunday. I did about $3500 in sales last year. Other artists I talked to had good sales as well, but there were an equal number that did not have good sales. In my experience, the crowds were eager and willing to part with their money. With the great weather there were lots of smiling faces. I realize some artists might have a more negative opinion.Artist amenities included breakfast both days ( bagels, cakes, juice, coffee, etc) and hot lunch both days. Some kind of ground beef thing on Saturday, some kind of chicken pot pie thing on Sunday. Not the greatest gourmet food, but much appreciated.I used my hand truck to bring all my empty packing boxes from my trailer in the parking lot to my booth just before the 5pm closing on Sunday. I was scheduled to load out at 7pm, so we had two hours to pack everything up before driving into the grounds. Vehicles were allowed in at 1/2 hour intervals, but it seemed as if the load out was considerably less well organized than the load in. I doubt that many artists actually stuck to their scheduled load out times. Many artists used alternate methods to load out using hand trucks to avoid the inevitable bottlenecks in the park.We were supposed to follow the same circuitous route from the artist parking lot into the art fair. Of course, being directionally challenged, I took the wrong route and had to accept some abuse from two different police officers. I finally managed to get into the right caravan, but had to patiently wait in line while committee members brought each vehicle in one at a time to their booths. Lots of confusion, but the committee was especially patient and accommodating (and polite) while they maneuvered us around tight aisles to our booths.It took us until 8pm to get off the fair grounds, and that is about average for us packing up at other art fairs. That surprised me. I thought it would have taken us much longer. I will apply to this excellent art fair again next year, but request a spot in the lower numbers toward the river where the ground is level.
Nice to see that they've cleared up all the problems. I haven't been in since I wrote that review 3 years ago. I should write to them commending them on solving all their problems. Maybe they'll let me in again.
At Naples National two years ago I was in a bad location, in the Circle of Lost Artists in an out of the way part of the park. Last year I was happy with my results at Gasparilla, but did better this year. Weather was cold last year, but perfect this year. Of course, I am always trying out new work, so that might have something to do with the different sales numbers from one year to the next. So many variables: Different work, different weather, different location, new tent, new layout in the tent blah, blah, blah... Who knows???
OMG, John! What a difference from your reports here two years ago. Two good ones in a row. Good for you. Why do you think your experience is so different from 2012?
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Very glad to hear of your success here this season. See you in May.
Good to see your luck has turned in FL, John. Not that I think it's really the result of luck, but rather your skill and persistence.
Nice to see that they've cleared up all the problems. I haven't been in since I wrote that review 3 years ago. I should write to them commending them on solving all their problems. Maybe they'll let me in again.
At Naples National two years ago I was in a bad location, in the Circle of Lost Artists in an out of the way part of the park. Last year I was happy with my results at Gasparilla, but did better this year. Weather was cold last year, but perfect this year. Of course, I am always trying out new work, so that might have something to do with the different sales numbers from one year to the next. So many variables: Different work, different weather, different location, new tent, new layout in the tent blah, blah, blah... Who knows???
OMG, John! What a difference from your reports here two years ago. Two good ones in a row. Good for you. Why do you think your experience is so different from 2012?
Thanks John, great information. I didn't get in this year but I'm looking forward to applying next year.