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50 years ago Park City, Utah, known as a great winter resort area, was a ghost town in the summer. This year the Kimball Art Festival held in the downtown streets celebrates its 50th anniversary. And what does Park City look like this August 2019? 

Think about this:

Last year, nearly 50,000 people attended the festival, and between their food, lodging and transportation needs, festival purchases and other expenses, the visitors left an economic impact of over $23 million.

A group of local artists wanted to change that ghost town feel in 1969 and their legacy continues to enrich the small community. The popularity of the event meant that a bigger organization needed to help the event grow. In 1976, Bill Kimball who ran a small art gallery, the Kimball Art Center, out of an old garage stepped up. To this day the non-profit Kimball Art Center organizes the event.  

Read the rest of the story here: https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900082032/50-years-ago-park-city-was-a-ghost-town-in-the-summer-heres-how-the-kimball-arts-festival-helped-change-that.html

I'll bet many of you can tell similar stories about other events around the country that are celebrating 50+ years. Which ones can you think of?

I know next to nothing about the Arizona shows, but came across this article from AZCentral.com about Fountain Hills. I'm linking to it here because the organizer not only talks about the attractions of the event but has something to say about the economy, the number of artists applying and how she sees the economy changing.

Read on to find out about artist Robert Shields and his art career.

Okay -- the AZCentral site doesn't want to stay open or even reopen, so I'm going to do something that is frowned upon - copy the entire article here because it has useful info for you: 

The link if you can get it to work for yourself: http://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/events/2015/02/17/fountain-hills-great-fair/23549487/

Robert Shields of Clarkdale is ready to talk about his art this weekend at the Fountain Hills Great Fair, which is expected to draw as many as 200,000 people.

Shields, who paints, sculpts and makes jewelry and glicee prints, knows they'll have plenty of questions.

"They ask, 'Can this be hung outside? Do you have this in green and blue? Where are you from? I love your work. This would be great for my sister. Where's your studio?' '' he said. "Then there are people who just look at you. It's all part of theater. Some people are very friendly. Others sort of look, and you know when not to talk."

Sheilds knows about theater, because he was half of the popular Shields and Yarnell comedy mime duo in the 1970s and '80s. Now he's an Arizona artist.

Shields and the other 500 artists at the 27th annual Great Fair will need their schmoozing skills. Sharon Morgan, events planner for the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce, described the setup as a "huge, huge mall" of art, with four rows of booths lining the Avenue of the Fountains.

"It's like going to the mall," she said. "You see something, maybe you buy it and maybe you don't. You walk around and look at the artists' work."

If you work up an appetite, 20 types of food will be available, she said, as well as a beer garden. Hot-air balloons also will be part of the festivities.

Returning this year is the Native American music group Brulé, which last played at the Great Fair in 2011.

"They are a big crowd favorite," Morgan said, and fairgoers had noted the group's absence.

Eight hundred artists applied to be part of the Great Fair this year, which is an indication of the toll the Great Recession took on the arts. Morgan said that before the recession began in late 2007, the fair received more than 1,000 applications in some years.

Now the number of applications is on the rise, "which tells us, evidently, the artists are happy because they see a reason to get back into their fields of art," Morgan said.

Shields know well that the economy has been tough for artists. In 2006, he had four galleries in Sedona and one at Paradise Valley Mall in Phoenix. They all closed, and today he sells at fairs and through his website (robertshields.com). He started selling at the Great Fair in 2008.

"I lost my world and it's just me doing it all. I decided to sell my art directly to the people," Shields said. "I make everything myself.

"I think Fountain Hills is phenomenal, and it's a beautiful venue. Sharon brings in new and interesting people."

Just wanted to share this article :)

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/07/the-recessions-surprise-survivor-the-arts/241508/

Today is Independence Day. On AFI we celebrate our individualitiy every waking moment. I have been with vocal groups before but YOU ALL define the concept of a "think tank."

So I wondered about all I have read over the past months. Could we get it down to:

ONE THING WE EACH WOULD CHANGE ABOUT THE ART WORLD OR BEING ARTISTS?

(no repeats, except to add an inportant concept to the original)

How high could we go? Each person number your change.

I'll start.

1) I love creating. But I hate having to make enough money to keep the accountant happy. If I could change ONE THING I would improve the economy faster.

Well, I traveled long and hard this year and I think I will be staying closer to home with all the traveling expenses and all.....to make a long story short, I added the expenses and what I netted.....That was alot of traveling and work to only make a few hundred dollars a show! So I decided to stay closer to home and try the smaller shows in my area plus it was taking a toll on my health. I'm getting very creative on where and how I'm displaying my work and extending my subject manner to things I haven't painted in years. It seems to be working or the economy is starting to pick up...slowly but surely.

I ask you fellow artists, what have you been doing to keep on going?