brookdale (1)

So, because some people here asked me to post my review of this show here it is...This show is put on by Rose Squared in Brookdale park, a nice park in Montclair/Bloomfield, NJ (the park is actually in BOTH towns). The surrounding neighborhood looks like a middle/upper-middle class suburb, nice area, but not fancy. This was my first show with Rose Squared.Communication with Janet and Howard Rose (Rose Squared) before the show was excellent, they send out communications detailing all the necessary information. I emailed them saying that I would be arriving after the posted check in time on Friday and asked if I could get my space number and set up in the evening anyway and they were accommodating. As it turns out I made it there early enough to check in anyway.Setup:It would be hard to make setup here any easier. Setup is friday afternoon and/or sat morning. The show takes place along a paved path in the park. The path is paved and the booths are set up on the grass on either side of the path. You can drive right to your space and park behind your booth all weekend...can't beat that! The booth space is about 11' wide so you have room to walk around to the backside of your booth if needed.Show:The show is sat and sun 10-5. The public shows up right around 10 too. The crowd was there all weekend, never any real dead times at all. TONS OF PEOPLE WALKING DOGS...and people who did not seem interested in art at all other than a nice thing to look at as they walked on the path through the park. The show allows craft and food vendors as well, lots of people walking around eating roasted nuts or something. Some people were selling pies that looked delicious too! The average age of the crowd seemed to be on the older side.Sales:Everything about this show was great...except for sales. The public was definitely there, but not many people seemed interested in spending any money. Most of my sales were for my lower priced pieces and a couple mid range pieces, no high end sales (although there was some interest). Every artist I spoke to had the same story, the crowd was there, but stayed on the path and when they did come in for a look, they did not spend. The most common thing I saw people walking around with (besides dogs) were inexpensive metal lawn ornaments. I heard that there were some artists that did well, but did not speak with any. I did make a profit at the show, but a small one.Overall, I would consider doing the show again if I had nothing else going on that weekend because it's a really easy show to do and EXTREMELY well run. It's also not very far from where I live on Long Island in NY. If I had a long way to travel just for this show it would not be worth it for me.
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