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art show review (22)

Small show with high winds - my two cents.

Posted by Michelle Sholund on May 9, 2010 at 1:05pm
I finished up a show yesterday, early. Saying those words pains me, because only if a show chose to end early, I leave early. However, here in Maryland, during a small Main St. "Flower and Art Mart" Mother's Day festival we had AWFUL winds gusting to 40 miles an hour with steady winds of 25 miles an hour. I have truly counted my blessing for the show. I did use my Trimline and still can't say enough good things about it, however the others used cheap canopies - one read First Up which I can only assume is from a sporting goods store. No one weighted their canopy saying "I had no idea you should weigh them down". And as you guess nearly all of them went air borne. I do believe there was one or two EZups, but by the time I left only 3-4 blue canopies were still standing but only because people were hanging onto them for dear life, the rest were in a pile in a dumpster. With flying canopies came MAJOR damage to displays falling over. Two of three of my shelving units even fell. The good news is NOTHING broke - the display nor my products. It could have been worse as I upgraded my product packaging using more durable plastic products where if I were still using the old packaging I would have had broken reed diffusers (yes filled with oil) all over the place as well as potpourri all over the place too (I do have insurance, but the clean up and the loss isn't something I want to think about). It was at that point I decided it wasn't worth it - I'm going home and I was probably number 10 out of the 25 who were there at that point who packed up and went. Those who left before me suffered the most damage - people who sold painted glass, pottery, and framed artwork suffered horrible damage. Not to mention the flying canopies that crashed into other peoples displays. I am not new to high wind shows, but when everyone around you has everything falling and threatening your work and preventing customers to come into your booth - you have to use common sense and think about yourself. Not to mention as the day went on the winds got worse. When all was said and done I left 1 hour early and hand carried it to my car, parked 1/2 block away. All wasn't lost - I easily paid for my space and had some profit to boot with my "be-backers" actually coming back and buying from me.

If that sounded like the worse of it, I have more! I only wish I had my camera, however due to flying things - my receipt book, business cards and such weighted down I wouldn't have been able to take any good photos. I am going to break this down in sections...

"Space 14 man". I called him space 14 man, because I never got his name. Mind you this isn't a spectacular fine art fair - more like a community festival. Space are $25 and I do them once in a while just to get the word out about what I make to the locals and make some sales. This guy complained from the very beginning. "Someone should have told me I need to bring a canopy! Why didn't anyone tell me???" I and two others said it was visible on the application - "but no one told meeee!" Then he couldn't see space 14 clearly painted on the road (which was next to space 15 - couldn't miss it") and decided to set up in 15's space (which apparently he could see) - which was next to me, space 16. I on the other hand am in the midst of setting up my Trimline by myself (not complaining, just stating a fact) plus doing setting up my display. I couldn't help but notice he has a card board wall display to hang his 2D paintings - the work was actually nice, but card board? and expecting it to stand in no wind let alone WITH wind. So, now enters space 15 woman - late due to "Murphy's law" and clearly said to Space 14 man, "I think you are in my space." So the guy starts ranting and raving how "can't you just set up in my old space? It just isn't my day..." She said no, I specifically requested not to be next to other jewelry and I would be if I did." So then another 5-10 mins of ranting and raving how he has to move his WHOLE display - mind you it is just a card board wall - to the space "he couldn't find". I tell you this is just like a live soap opera happening all around me! He finally moves - within 5 mins. - and then his display constantly gets knocked down time and time again. The kindness of a merchant provided him with an antique table - set it up for him as he didn't seem interested in doing it himself - and helped display his work for him on the very nice table. In between this guys ranting and raving he just announces he just isn't a happy guy - this is not my day - and then starts complaining about the economy and trying to give me a lesson on the whole thing. I just ignored him, however still feel sorry for the poor guy. Which leads me to "Late Space 15 girl".

"Late Space 15 Girl". She wasn't all that bad - nice work, simple beaded stuff, and pleasant to talk to, however she just had to bring her dog. The dog, a mini fox terrier, and boy does this dog have lungs. Not only does he have lungs he didn't stop the whole day and it got worse when other dogs walked by with their owners. Side note - I have 3 dogs and am a HUGE dog lover. But it is just common sense to not bring a yappy dog with endless energy to a show and expect him to behave and devote time to selling to people. I think she loved her dog more than selling jewelry from what I was able to see. Again, my beef isn't with the lady, just with yappy dogs that scare people away.

The good news is despite all my "woes" I made money and thank Mr. credit card machine for that. The atms were down at the venue and no one had a whole lot of cash on them. People who were just going to buy one thing ended up buying double. I have been hyping up my new candle line and finally was able to start selling it at the show. The display was cool (and the one that didn't fall down) with the help of vintage luggage and old fishing nets. Everyone who saw the candles thought the jars were awesome and so different from the ones on the market - I let out a whew under my breath for that. And the prices $10 and $18 were "very reasonable" people said. What I liked a lot were the reactions people had after smelling the fragrances like "Amish Country" not expecting a creamy cinnamon fragrance, but wowed by how IT IS LIKE LANCASTER, PA or Annapolis Waterfront smelling like a watery spa fragrance. I do think if were able to stick around I would have sold more, but for me it only takes one two shelving units to fall over completely to realize it isn't worth it, especially if it can happen once it can happen again. All in all - the show had ups and downs, but at the end of the day - profit wise - worth it! They are doing more shows during the summer, and might entertain doing them - gotta check my schedule, but $25 isn't bad when you can easily triple it or more and have nothing else going on - especially if the locale is just 25 mins away from home.

My "tequila report?" I love mojitos and had an excellent one at Don Pablos - a chain around here, but freaking awesome!
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"Springfest" at Anna Maria Island, FL (Mar. 13-14, 2010)

Posted by Geoff Coe on March 15, 2010 at 12:00pm
After a 10-week slog through wintry cold fronts, pelting rain, and howling winds, "Springfest" on Anna Maria Island delivered a Florida-postcard weekend--and some decent sales for most of the 95 artists who made the drive to this charming barrier island west of Bradenton.

"Springfest" is a low-cost, low-key, and well-established arts and fine crafts festival put on in Holmes Beach by the Anna Maria Art League (which also produces "Winterfest" each November). The entry fee was only $150 (with a $20 jury fee), plus a request to donate work for a Sunday-afternoon raffle to benefit the art league's young artist program.

The show is held on fairgrounds adjacent to the municipal building. Nominally, setup was scheduled for Friday afternoon starting at 1 PM, and Saturday morning starting at 7, But 5-plus inches of torrential rains soaked the Gulf Coast from Thursday night until nearly 5 PM on Friday, so about half of the artists chose to show up an hour or so early on Saturday. Wisely, show director Joyce Karp did the same, and the sandy fairgrounds miraculously absorbed nearly all of the deluge, so the show launched in good shape at 10 AM. Booths were arranged in groups of six (two back-to-back rows of three booths each), which gave four artists corner spots. It worked well, particularly at load-out, which was easy as could be.

This event is not just an art show, but a community festival, with plenty of food vendors and music starting at 11 AM and continuing through both days. The organizers did a nice job controlling both: Food vendors were organized into a "food court" just inside the show entrance (adjacent to, not commingled with, the art). And the music started mellow and amped up the energy appropriately in the afternoon (featuring a country/Cajun-style rock band with one of the best honky-tonk piano players I've ever heard). At no time did the music ever cause problems talking with my customers, but it might have been an issue for artists closer to the band than I.

For such a small show, the quality was surprisingly high, with a good mix of media. Even more surprising (at least to me), was the number of artists who had traveled hundreds of miles to do this show (my neighbors included folks from Indiana and Tennessee). The judge visiting my booth stayed less than a minute, asked no questions, and made no comment on my work (always perplexing to me), but I can't argue with the top-shelf quality of the winners. Awards were handed out across the board (that is, no categories by medium), with a best-in-show gift of $500, four awards of distinction, and 10 merit awards. The top prize winner was a first-year exhibitor here, so you can't say the judges had "pre-race favorites."

Sales were mixed. Folks were in "browse mode" early on Saturday, but luckily, I had brought a set of unusual pelican photographs on an island where they're plentiful and loved by the residents, which led to a happy feeding frenzy most of the afternoon. Most of my neighbors sold well, too. But on Sunday, the crowds were lighter, arriving later, and a bit drowsy (due, perhaps, to Daylight Savings Time). Or maybe they were waiting for the St. Patrick's Day parade that kicked off at 4 PM from the fairgorunds. It seemed like everyone was struggling a bit, though after the parade wrapped up, there was time for folks to come by and make last-minute purchases, saving the day and weekend for some of us.

A travel note, if you decide to give this show a try next season: There aren't any big-chain hotels on the island, so if you usually forego mom-and-pop hotels for those listed on Priceline, Hotwire,and their ilk, you'll need to stay on the mainland, a good 20-30 minutedrive away. )

I was happy enough with my results, and the show had a low-key, artist-friendly community vibe that lent a nice change-of-pace to the big festivals that come with high season in Florida. One area of concern for the future: Several locals told me that the town leases out the fairgrounds most weekends, including to groups who also put on art shows of far lesser quality. Whether that will dilute the market in this small town remains to be seen. As for me, it's hard to say if my pelicans will fare as well next year. But if they'll have me, I'll be back.
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