Market (7)

Let me start by saying I never really know where to put these reviews because it is not an "art" show.  So Connie, if you want to move it elsewhere, please do.  I will fill you in on our experience but YMMV. 

This past weekend dh and I went Brandon, MS, which is a suburb of Jackson, to attend Vintage Market Days of Mississippi.  VMD is not for every artist or crafts person, which is true of any show.  There is no show or event that fits everyone, including VMD.  VMD is a franchise-based event.  Each franchisee has one or more events they run/promote.  Many, to my understanding, have more than one event, each in a different locale.  Most, if not all, do a 2 season line up.  Some shows are in the summer, most in the spring and fall, and a few in the winter.  Each show must be applied to separately, even if 2 or more that you're applying to are run by the same promoter.

We had scheduled set up at 1:00 PM on Thursday.  We arrived a little early and were told we go ahead and pull in & set up.  Dh and I took a few minutes to eat lunch from our ice chest before heading in.  Some had already set up or were in the process of setting up but it was not hard at all to pull up to our booth.   Set up was uneventful and quick, considering we were short one person.  (Our dd chose to stay home for the weekend so we did not have her help.)

We were done setting up by about 4:00 PM.  We took a few minutes after set up to walk around and see some friends from the road, if they were available and not too busy setting up.  Afterwards we went to Cracker Barrel for a little comfort food.  Yum.  :D  Our hotel of choice, where there is a special rate for VMD vendors, is about 5 minutes from the venue.  Yay!

We went back to the VMD venue about 9:00 AM on Friday with a 10:00 AM opening time.  We had only a little tweaking to do to the booth.  We were left with enough time to walk around and see some friends we had missed the afternoon before.  Friday's attendance was typical for a Friday, which is still a work day for most people.  We have come to expect not a lot in terms of attendance or sales on Fridays.  We keep our expectations low and then if it is gang busters, we consider it lagniappe (a little something extra), as we like to say in south Louisiana.  Friday proved to be an average Friday for us.

Saturday had a good bit more foot traffic.  As typical, it was our best day of the show.  We still were a little disappointed in the amount of foot traffic but considering the economy in south Louisiana and Mississippi, it was okay.  There are many people who work in the oilfield who live in south Louisiana and Mississippi.  This industry is struggling still, and the economy is still sluggish.  We can see signs it's coming back but it's not back yet.  This translates into probably an almost equal number of lookers and buyers, at best.  Our price range of products in our booth is from $5.00 to over $100.00 (furniture type pieces).  Our average sale is around $25.00.  Shock. Gasp.  No getting rich here on single pieces that sell for several $100 or $1K.  I am working on finding furniture pieces that can bring in more and also am trying to build my skill level.  However, I know that it's the small pieces that most people can afford and actually purchase, so these will always be in my booth.  I know there is a draw for my work as I have good response to what I do and even have had discussion with shop owners about having my products in a mall situation where there are booths (or a brick and mortar store) available for my type work.

Sunday in the south ... typically the attendance is low until church lets out.  Some will come straight from church and spend the afternoon eating and shopping at the venue.  Others will go eat out, then come walk off lunch.  We had slower sales than Saturday but did have some, even at the last minute.

There are 2 arena type buildings at most of the VMD events.  These buildings are equestrian type arenas with open sides but a full roof overhead.  When I first heard about doing a show in one of these arenas, I was concerned about possible odor from previous functions that involved the live stock.  We have not experienced any odor due to livestock.  The dirt floor at Brandon is packed very well.  It is not loose at all.  I was speaking with Don, the husband of the franchisee, and he said he pays a hefty price to have it packed to so well.

There is no climate control in many of the venues, but at this time of year in Mississippi (and Louisiana) the weather is typically mild. If climate control is critical to your work, then the show in Mississippi is not for you.  Some of these shows do have climate control.  If you want to apply and climate control makes a difference, then ask before applying.

We were in the 2nd building where the food trucks are.  There were 4 different food trucks, I think, each serving their own unique line of food.  Most of the time we just snack from our ice chest and have a good meal at the end of the day once we leave the venue.  Professionally designed and manufactured signage is hung to let shoppers know about more shopping in the 2nd building.

There was live music in the building we were in.  The music is a single musician, usually playing the guitar and singing.  The same 2 ladies have bee playing at the different VMD events we have done in Mississippi and Amite, LA.  They have good voices but are different in style.  Most customers enjoy the live music, from what I hear.  For those who are there all day long, you realize their set is about 45 minutes long, but is repeated for the duration of their time there, which is about 3 hours each.

As I have stated in previous comments about doing VMD events, this is working for us right now.  We will continue to do it as long as it makes sense.  If you have any questions but don't want to post them here, you can PM me.

Read more…

Too Many Shows...

Spent the previous weekend in lovely Prescott, AZ (pronounced Press-kit) at the 35th Annual Arts Guild show. The show is located on the lawns around the courthouse in the center of town. People know that it is an annual event and being the first show of the summer season it seems there isn't art show fatique. But that isn't the reason for writing this post. As if there aren't enough shows in AZ these days for promoters to promote it seems that there was another promoter promoting a show adjacent to this one! I mean kitty corner from this show! I've seen this other promoters shows when I've done shows in Carefree, AZ and they were down the road a bit but this is ridiculous! When I was participating in the Sonoran Arts League Show in March there were two other shows taking place no more than a mile away from each other!

The larger issue here, and we've probably all acknowledged it at one time or another, is the proliferation of shows that are taking place! Paragon is on the move, Amy Amdur has a show in just about every corner of the Chicagoland area on any given weekend, Howard Alan must own Florida by now and has had a presence in the Colorado high country for a number of years as-well-as trying to make in-roads at Lake Tahoe and Park City for a couple of years. I did his Park City incarnation one year as I wasn't invited to the Kimball show that year, it was behind a shopping center, I mean REALLY BEHIND, apparently it wasn't a good gamble as I don't see it on his calendar anymore. Now the same people that bring you the Rio Grande shows in Albuquerque are making a play for another show in the Denver area, lets see, that makes at least 6 shows in the same market! Jim Delutes did such a good job of resurrecting the Downtown Denver show at the Pavilions that they decided to kick him out and do their own show on the very same weekend (ArtStir) and just a few blocks away!

Now I read a blog about how all these shows are diluting the market for fine art (craft) and we all want to vilify promoters for their shameful gluttony but, artists share responsibility for this land grab as-well-as the promoters they want to string up. Truth be told, if artists weren't so willing to run to the latest and (presumably) greatest show on earth there would be less shows and less dilution of the bottom line.

As I think about this issue I recall the Ken Burns PBS production on the Dust Bowl. In addition to changing their tilling style so that they were tilling the soil less deep, farmers were also planting many more acres. Then, when the price of their crops went too low to make a decent living wage their answer was to plant more acres! Guess they never heard of supply and demand. In the end when the rains dried up with an extended drought and tilling the soil went on unabated the land gave out and blew away. In fact there are still areas of South East Colorado that have not recovered from the ravages of the dust bowl era. Seems to me there is a lesson in this. Those that ignore their history are doomed to repeat it, no matter what business their in. So who's responsible for the bottom line becoming smaller? Probably all of us, promoters and artists alike. I let you draw your own conclusions as to how to answer this dilemma for yourself. But it seems to me that not applying for these newcomers in an already diluted market might make the most sense. Or, as has been suggested, if a show does not support you, don't support it. I was wait listed for the Downtown Denver show this year and I didn't plan on applying to ArtStir, the next startup in an already diluted market, instead I'm attending a small show in New Mexico in a market without any other shows. But that, as they say, is another story.

Read more…

Public Art Project on Tour in Basel, Manfred Kielnhofer

Shared by Austrian artist and designer Manfred Kielnhofer. The “Light Guards” project is further developed and become a ghost car touring in Basel art show during June 15 – 19 2011.

http://artobserved.com/2011/06/ao-on-site-art-fair-news-summary-and-final-photoset-art-42-basel-2011-in-closing/

Eccentric art was also at Basel, if not as dominant a presence as the traditional buys. Ghost Car by Kielnhofer was a large white van with hooded figures driving outside the fair, and the Bleifrei (which translates to Lead Free in German) Art Collective told Art Info: “Art is like Jesus; it died and it’s coming again.”


Manfred Kielnhofer, Ghost Car (2011) Basel, via Kielnhofer.com8871897661?profile=original

Read more…

The grim seeker after truth
Anyone wondering why these grim reaper style figures were seated on this white van - look no further than the latest installation from artist Manfred Kielnhofer. He is from Haslach an der Mühl, in the district of Rohrbach in Upper Austria, Austria, and is an artist and designer whose work usually centres around the human anatomy. His recent piece of art is the Ghost Car, which is a product of the developing ‘Light Guards’ project. This project surfaced from the theory that humankind has always been able to boast having guardians in different ways, in potential danger from only themselves. This idea intrigued the artist Kielnhofer, who approached it with his artwork, intertwining the theme of longing for security harboured by all humans. The Ghost Car portrays a sizely white van driving, seating sheet-covered figures. Perhaps this reflects individuality, exploration and recognition of current events in society, as it seems to interpret the theme by suggesting the hooded figures are looking to the drapes and car for protection as they are possibly ghosts, who are afraid of the life after death, and long for safekeeping.
By Alessia De Silva
http://austriantimes.at/news/Panorama/2011-08-06/35422/The_grim_seeker_after_truth

http://kielnhofer.com
8871898263?profile=original

Read more…
My first ever festival was this one day event this past Saturday in Boulder's Central Park. Held monthly in conjunction with the farmers' market, this was the first of seven events for 2010, and the only one I was invited to (wait listed for 4 more).

For those of you who aren't familiar with Colorado, there are a fewthings that you should know. First, there are many things that folksin other states take for granted that are completely optional here,such as road maintenance, road markings, and snow plowing. This isdemonstrated by the fact that we had to 4-wheel it all the way offthe mountain through about 4 inches of snow on the road, we encountereda small rock slide on a state highway near our home, and the entiretrip up Hwy. 93 I couldn't tell what lane I was in thanks to a lightrain fall.

Second, the joke here is that if you don't like the weather here, justwait 5 minutes 'cause it will change. Unfortunately this resulted inme wearing snow boots in 65 degree weather all the way through teardown.

Third, Denverites make a lot of jokes about the Free Republic of Boulder. Depending on your point of view, this may be true.

So, after obsessing about the weather and a winter storm at my home 30 miles away from Boulder in the foothills, we found zero precipitation when we arrived at 5:15 AM. Because the regular festival manager wasn't there (home sick) and and a large number of vendor cancellations due to possible inclement weather (nearly half), there was a small amount of confusion at the outset. Once booth assignments were adjusted for the no-shows, folks went to work pretty quickly. Set-up began around 6:00, and the art/craft exhibitors had to be unloaded by 6:30 when the farmers arrived and took over 13th Street. Parking was a few blocks away in the RTD parking garage. My husband shuttled both of our vehicles over there while I began set up. Once unloaded, we had until 8:00 when the market opened to finish up. As for load in & set up, it was pretty easy. We could park at the curb and carry our things across the sidewalk and up a small hill. We were set up towards the Canyon Blvd. end of 13th Street facing the backs of the farmers' booths, which were set up down either side of 13th St. We were required to have either stakes of weights for our booths, but with the hill I was placed on it became clear that if we weighted the front the booth would collapse down the hill (even with shims), and we could only get one stake to hold thanks to about 6 inches of bark mulch underneath us. Fortunately there was nothing behind us so we took most of our weights out back and tied down to them. The down side of this was that we couldn't zip up the back wall of the canopy.

The first thing that I noticed after set-up was that my booth and display were way more complex than the others. EZ Ups? You bet. Plus there were backyard mosquito huts and shade awnings. Second, I was the only photographer. Third, I was the only non-crafter. Fourth, my price points were way too high.

I was in between an silver spoon wind chime booth and a scrapbook style greeting card booth. Once the crowd picked up around 11:00, I got plenty of traffic, lots of positive feedback and a few leads, but absolutely zero sales. The wind chime folks sold a couple of pieces, the soap lady down the way was really working on making her booth fee (not sure she made it), and the card ladies on my other side just made the booth fee off of $2.50 to $5.00 items. And this was after the sun came out and gave us a glorious warm and dry afternoon until the market closed at 2:00.

Tear down and load out was similar to load in: we had to wait for the farmers to clear the street and then shuttle our cars in from the parking garage.

All in all this was a good learning experience for me. I know that I need some lower priced items now. I also know that this was way too much work for my set up and will probably eschew the one day festivals from now on. The interaction with the good people of Boulder was fascinating. It truly does take all kinds. And my thanks go out to the lovely people at the Dushanbe Tea House who opened up their restrooms to the vendors and public with a smile, even though we were traipsing right through the middle of their restaurant.

So to sum up: if you are a local crafter with low to mid priced tactile items and a simple booth set up, you may do very well at this festival. Folks are not in the fine art or big purchase mode when visiting the market, even if you do take credit cards. And don't be afraid to show up if there's an iffy weather forecast - I went home in snow boots with a sunburn.
Read more…
Over 30,000 people were present on the Inauguration Day of The Riverside Arts Market in Jacksonville on April 4th.. 30,000+ Art Lovers in Jacksonville. Who would have thought? I definitely missed the boat with that one being that I am an "emerging artist", and I was not present on inauguration day. It was not a good feeling to think that I had missed out on a great opportunity, but the possibility was inspiring.It took just about two weeks to get a booth and with much anticipation I was able to display this past Saturday..and all I want to know is what happened ?The minimized crowd was very welcoming, and thank you Jacksonville for all the love.. . but there weren't nearly as many buyers as there were spectators. Had a gotten 10% of my spectators to buy something I may have profited monetarily from this early rise work day. With items priced as low as $5.oo..Come on Jacksonville!!..Appreciate your local artists by showing support to your local artists by investing in the arts. Enjoy the opportunity that The Riverside Arts Market is sharing with our community and while remember the purpose, invest in your local artists. You never know how great of a return you may get.www.adrianpickett.com
Read more…