Kudos to the Des Moines Arts Festival for their outreach to engage their community and build enthusiasm for the Arts Festival taking place June 23-25. For the second year in a row they hosted an event at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines where they "REVEALED" the artists who will be participating in this years festival.
At the ticketed gala event, REVEAL, sponsors and stakeholders and enthusiasts of the event watched a multimedia event that showcased the 180 artists who had been chosen by a jury who:
previewed more than 6,000 images in a variety of mediums submitted by a pool of 1,002 applicants from 43 states, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Israel, and Taiwan.
The full list of invited artists can be found on the Festival’s web site at www.desmoinesartsfestival.org/visual-arts.
Stephen King, executive director of the event shared this audience building event with other show directors at last fall's Zapplication Art Festival Conference in Houston. It is a wonderful idea that would work in many communities.
Full press release: 180%20Artists%20to%20be%20Represented%20at%20the%20Des%20Moines%20Arts%20Festival%20.pdf
Have you encountered this audience development at any other shows?
Comments
I was searching for a post about the upcoming zapp conference and couldn't find it, but found this post instead. I remember reading this back in January. I came in here today because I saw the lead in about Des Moines which is why I was searching for the zapp conference post in the first place. Apparently the Des Moines Arts Festival show director Stephen King will present a topic during the upcoming zapp conference.
I just wanted to gush a little about Stephen King, a show director to watch and follow. I called him on the telephone to ask about a statement in his show prospectus regarding collaborative artists, AND HE CALLED ME BACK and talked with me about my concern for 20 minutes. I know phone calls can take time, and he took the time.
My concern wasn't selfish. It was a genuine problem with the zapp system of how to be listed as a collaborator on applications. Des Moines' prospectus stated we should do it one way and zapp stated we should do it another way. And since 90 percent of shows have failed to recognize me as a collaborator, meaning when we review show websites where we should be listed, only one of us is listed instead of both. Then it's that way in show literature and booth signs. Since my wife and I have different last names, the listing will be longer and thus more difficult to deal with on a show's end. So whatever is wrong with the system, I'm not being recognized as a collaborator despite having selected the TEAM application instead of Individual and then listed myself as a collaborator.
This glitch is a problem on zapps' end and then on the shows' end. Some shows have actually faulted me by saying I'm obviously doing something wrong in our zapp profile. NO WAY. It isn't difficult to read the profile page and fill it out accordingly. Like where it says COLLABORATOR, I put in my name. Easy enough?
Des Moines' prospectus said that collaborators should put their name in the profile page AT THE BOTTOM. Well, that space is reserved for Associates, not Collaborators. So I called Stephen King, because I thought that maybe if I put my name in the Associates block, shows would recognize me as a Collaborator. But that's not the way this is supposed to work. And Mr. King knows that as well.
Mr. King suggested I call zapp and discuss this problem with them. My response to him was, "You think they're gonna listen to me? There are a gazillion artists out here in show land, and far fewer show directors. So a call about this to zapp from you will probably get their attention and subsequently something will get done about it."
I just looked at the Des Moines Arts Festival show prospectus on zapp, and sure enough the language regarding collaborators has been changed. Their prospectus no longer states that collaborators should list their name at the bottom of the artist profile page. So Mr. King took action by eliminating their improper instructions. Whether or not he called and talked about it with zapp is probably something I'll never know. But it doesn't really matter if he did or didn't, because the problem with getting listed as a collaborator is mine, not his. I will never fault him for not pursuing it with zapp. It would be most helpful, but it's not crucial.
Mr. King was so perfectly kind to me on the phone about this. I have had other similar experiences with other show directors. But I've had numerous experiences with other show representatives who have never returned my phone calls.
I've been in the art business since 1989. That's back when the phone was the way it all worked. People actually answered their phones back then. I've learned a lot since then, and maybe the biggest lesson is that I don't need to call and talk about stuff with people as much as I used to think I did. So I call fewer and fewer about less and less. Something has to really be out of sync or really pertain to me for me to call.
Plus, these days it seems people hate calling and getting called. I've left a phone message for a call back only to get an email response rather than the telephone call. I didn't leave them my email address on their voice mail as the way to respond about my query. I say, Barrie Lynn Bryant at 307-86..... Then later I get an email response instead of the call.
Well, just last week I called another of one of the biggest shows in this country to ask about a very important detail, and I've yet to get any response at all. You think that person didn't get the message? NO WAY. They got it. They're just not responding for whatever reason. Vacation. Death in the family. Too much work. Not organized. Didn't return the call right away and now they've thrown the post it note in the trash since it would be embarrassing to call now, or it must not be very important since I've not been persistent in getting in touch with that person. WHATEVER.
Mr. King was actually on vacation when I left the message for him to call me. His voice mail message to callers said so. But he called me back when he got back to work. Thanks a million, Stephen King. SO I'm plugging going to the zapp conference for folks to interact with this man. I won't be there. It's in Florida and we can't go back there due to health reasons. I could be even more honest and say that I probably don't see the need in spending the money to attend a zapp conference, because my problems with shows and zapp are very small and I'm not interested in influencing shows or zapp to do things I think are good ideas. I would appreciate them fixing this collaborative artist listing problem, but it' not crucial. Just irritating. Not to end my gush on that note, back to Des Moines and Stephen King. I'M A HUGE FAN! WOOHOO!
I just got an invitation to Artisphere's "Reveal" also: The 13th annual Artisphere Festival is quickly approaching and we’re thrilled to share the details of the 135 visual artists that will be participating. We hope to see you, along with other Artisphere donors, sponsors, volunteers and local artists, for this special event.
ARTISPHERE ANNOUNCES THE 2017 VISUAL ARTIST LINEUP
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14
10:00-10:30AM
ALOFT HOTEL – 3RD FLOOR
5 N. LAURENS STREET GREENVILLE, SC 29601
PARKING IN THE HOTEL GARAGE IS FREE FOR THE FIRST HOUR
So glad to see this happening in Greenville, SC, also. Kerry Murphy was also at the Zapp conference in Houston this fall. She has probably already been doing this, but it is great to see this happening at other shows.
Do you know of any other shows doing this kind of promotion?
I believe I saw your name on the list of acceptances, Melanie. Hope you have a great show.
I was very impressed at the conference too. This is such a cool idea, get the sponsors and stakeholders involved, extend the impact of the festival farther into the community, ramp up the enthusiasm for the attendees, plus the press coverage. Definitely a lot of work.