recently part of the edina fine art show in minneapolis. generally described as 50th and france st in edina. nice show with high quality art and a high reputation in an upscale suburb of minneapolis.
the title of this blog refers to the MORE ART (arrow) that was positioned on 50th st pointing to the lund (grocery store) parking lot where 40 or so artists found ourselves. out of sight (other than the sign) out of the way(all of us) and out of luck (some of us). i cant and wont say that everyone had a bad show but the lack of the same crowd that was afforded those on 50th or france was definitely a factor for a lot of us.
maybe a newbie lot you say? why? same bad booth fee, same bad setup, same bad experience and more than many on the main drag. this kind of treatment is just plain wrong and im putting it kindly. we pay the same booth fee to have the same shot at the same crowd with a show setup that makes sense for the customer AND the artist. promoters and artists alike know from the get go that when a MORE ART} sign goes up, the setup is WRONG.
greed has wormed its way in and it has no place in a quality show like edina. we and others were sandwiched in like sardines, pull up to your booth option doesnt exist even though we were assured that it did and while 12 booths enjoyed a 20 ft aisle, the other 24 of us were graced with an 8 footer. i kept looking at it trying to figure out who couldnt read a tape. STOP the lund lot, edina. put us on 50th or france or dont put us at all. ill take my chances with the jury.
if you feel like your wallet has to have a lund lot, make it VOLUNTARY. given the option, i would have and should have stayed at home. just make sure the option is accompanied by a pic of the MORE ART} sign. well figure it out. and by the way, lunds is a GREAT grocery store.
Comments
I suppose if you paid the booth fee by credit card, you could contest the charge on grounds of misrepresentation and ask for a refund. That would get their attention ;-)
Sorry I haven't seen this post earlier.
AFI really got kicked off in a discussion of this show in 2009. Linda Anderson told it and told it well, including her interaction with the committee. See it here: http://www.artfairinsiders.com/forum/topics/2009-edina-art-fair-report
Please read the reviews on this site and our other site, ArtShowReviews.com, when applying to a show.
The Peter Anderson Festival in Ocean Springs, MS is really bad about sticking new artists in alleys and parking lots with 'more art' signs pointing the way. No surprise that these artists don't see as many customers as the ones on the main street. No warnings or fee reductions are given. Who cares if it's fair to the artist if the show can add forty more booths at $300 a pop. I guess they figure the new guys just have to pay their dues.
I agree that if you're designated to the "more art" parking lot, your booth fee should be less but it sounds like there are more problems with this show...thanks for the heads up.
i think youre right meg. that crowd was pretty tight fisted overall and the weather didnt help. it just seemed worse in the lot. from talking to others, i guess the lund lot has been and will be here to stay but i still dont think it should be sprung on new comers or newbies. classy show would be classier without trying to find nooks to fill the coffers.
This was my 4th year at the Edina Art Fair, and by far my worst year of sales. I was placed in the Lunds lot my 1st year and was very skeptical about it. Turns out, that location marked my 2nd best year of sales in Edina. The parking lot may be a newbie lot, but I don't think that was the biggest problem for people placed there. The biggest problem for all seems to have been a lack of traffic and cash flow.
They have used that Lunds parking lot forever that I can remember. But yeah, I wouldn't want my booth in there. It would be nice if they would charge less for it. Sadly, there used to be worse spots.
It sucks when a show has a lost section and won't admit it's a ripoff.