This show was my second show (previous blog on my first show a bit over a week ago)
This was my first somewhat major art show, 130 artists from multiple states.
I do photogaphy, florals and insects with a lot of macro shots and printed on water color paper.
I went into this show with great hopes but came out a bit disappointed. The show begun on a Saturday that was totally overcast and rather cool, a record low high temperature for the date. On this day, I had mosest sales of a bit over $1,000 during very low attendance.
With the amount of sales I had on Saturday, I was expecting a great day on Sunday that while still cool, was sunny and a great Fall day. As anticipated, the attendence was substantially larger but at the same time, very few of the attendees were purchasing anything and I ended the day with about $250 of sales. Lots of nice comments and lots of people that said that they would cotact me in the future but very poor sales. Talked to a number of other vendors and all that I talked to had the same story.
Do the serious buyers come out on the first day? Is this just what sometimes happens with no good reason?
I had hoped that the two shows that I have now done would provide me with a solid reason to either continue with this type of venue in the future or to bow out. Doing the shows is a lot of work and requires a substantial amount of money in inventory and equipment. I now have to answer the question on should I continue.
I have no idea of if this is a good show or not and I live two blocks away and have attended as a visitor for a lot of past shows.
The show is held in the center of a historic city street with a grass/tree center and accsss is nice - one can drive up to ones site for loading and unloading. There is a $7 a head entry fee and the show is held in conjunction with Best of Missouri, a event highlighting the best of Missouri products that is held at the Missouri Botanical Garden and draws thousands of attendees although I believe that the entry fee (up from $5 last year) keeps the number of attendees down. This is primarly an art show with a food court in the center and a minimal amount of music. It is my understanding that making it past the jury is somewhat difficult.
Being new to this whole scene, I have no idea of how to rate the show nor do I have any inkling how sales compare with other venues.
The two shows that I have done thus far have been a nice learning experience and I have a list of multiple things that I will do if I continue to do art shows.
- I need to pare down the amount of artwork I bring and display. My booth was too crowed to be visually pleasant, too many items too near to others, too much time to pack/unpack
- I restricted accesses to the booth.
- I need to make the display more coherent in terms of subject and color.
_I will no longer offer low cost small prints - Insufficient sales, cheapens the product, just more clutter.
Trying to determine how I did in terms of sales in relation to what other did. How does one find out?
Why are most attendees at art shows.? I noticed that what seemed to be the majority walked down in front of the stalls without ever even glancing to see what was being sold?
Comments
I was talking to the person responsible for the show a while back and they were trying to find a way to provide electricity this year and I gather will see if it is possible for next year.
Michelle
My images also do much better in the light and I wish that I had been on the south side of the street. On Sunday, the Sun lit the back of the tent and made the images fade into the background.
I was tempted to move to Florance but recommended someone else that got the job. Often wondered if I did him a favor or not.
Michelle
Somewhat familiar with your town, was offered the position of production manager at the then Cooper automotive plant in your town about 15 years ago.
Michelle
Looks like our photography is some what similiar and like the fresh, delicate feel of yours.
Did you share the higher sales on Saturday than Sunday sales thlat I experienced?
I live two blocks east of the art fair on Flora and there was parking available at or before my house on the several trips that I went home.
Terry. I think you got a little lucky there. When we went to Shaw on Saturday we circled for a long time just to find something that was about 3-4 blocks away (my friend I went with was 8 months pregnant), I am sure that was mostly because of the best of Missouri. Although I agree that parking for St. Louis can be a big pain as well, but when I have gone in the past I usually park in the neighborhood north of downtown Clayton and walk about 3 blocks.
We were having a perfectly civil conversation Munks. I don't know why you felt the need to jump on and start attacking people and get personal.
Scratch my previous comment - I did much better with the cold drab weather on Saturday than I did with the sunshine on Sunday - perhaps my sales were better Saturday because my work provided a nice touch of color on a drab day.
I thank everyone for the comments and feedback.
And to clarify, when I commented,
"St. Louis was just a few weeks back and that was a much bigger event with live entertainment, lots of food and other activities, and no cover price"
I am talking about it from a business point of view. I am talking about the viewpoint of a person going to the fair. If I had to choose between going to two different fairs in the fall in St. Louis, would I go to the one with more artists, lots of good food to choose from, activities for any kids I may have, and some entertainment as well, or go to the one without those things and pay a cover fee.
I am just saying. Nothing against Shaw, but that is the reality of the situation, like it or not.
-
1
-
2
-
3
of 3 Next