It is good reading and puts lots of what is going on today at art festivals into perspective.
This festival is a bit of a 'grandfather' to the multi-faceted festivals that you find today that have contributed so much to growth of the arts in our country. Rick Bryant, the director, told me he hosted the folks from the Oklahoma Festival of the Arts this weekend. Hope they had a good time as this is a very cool event.
Any artist who wants to get a good look at a successful event and pick up tips on how to sell and display, as well as an art fair organizers needs to visit State College. You'll get a crash course in the art fair business.
Here's the story: http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2010/07/11/arts_fest_history_revisited.aspx
Comments
Ive loved this festival since I was a small child walking around in it-but Im not sure Ill do it again- I made all of $800- I do mid to high end mixed watermedia paintings- and the buyers just weren't there- the oil painter next to me sold one $2000 painting- the crowd just wasnt there to buy
maybe it was the amazing heat (high 90's) thurs and fri, maybe it was the student heavy crowd-either way, it was a giant dissapointment (sunday the crowd was non existent-amazingly sparse- you could have rolled a bowling ball down fairmount street and not hit anyone)
its an honor to be in it- its full of amazing art- but if i do it again im going to have bins of cheap prints and hope I make a profit
(it is amazingly well run-the volunteers are astoundly helpful, and everyone is super sweet!-they also have the best booth sitter system- you just tie the pink ribbon they supply and they come a calling in a few minutes-its AWESOME-also the neighborhood homeowners love the artists- I had water, coffee, and a bathroom right in front of my booth given to me! )
I will say all the photographers around me did excellent-they all said "good show" and a friend of mine that sells prints of his traditional and beautiful watercolors did pretty well also- my work is pretty contemporary
That "rumor" has been floating around for about ten years. Thanks for straightening it out for us. Up until about four years ago, I did State College off and on for about 25 years and it was my most enjoyable show to do.
I recommend it to all the artists I work with as the best show in Pennsylvania.
Larry Berman
Digital Jury Services
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
We had at least two artists sign up for it and live in West Halls for the weekend. You don't actually need to be an alum, you can join the Alumni Association and participate in Arts Festival Alumni Weekend. For artists that means a $50 night dorm room within steps of booths on campus. Oh and you get a great breakfast, but I think the other meals are during show hours.
The Alumni Association sponsors our Saturday evening entertainment at the Festival shell, and the Director of the Alumni Association introduces each band...yes, he is a bit of a ham.
It only takes a trip to State College the weekend after our show to see how quiet Happy Valley is in the summer and to realize that no one in his or her right mind would schedule an alumni event then.
What? another Bill Coleman story? Imagine! Yep, I never could get the driving to Madison...
Here's another article about this year's State College: State College really knows how to throw a party
In the 1980's Michael Strailey (Nancy Strailey's husband) was the director and took credit for the gas stations in State College having gas during the shortage so artists could fill up to get home.
Larry Berman
Digital Jury Services
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
How about the time that Bill Coleman didn't like how the jury was going so he threw a rant and turned over a few carousel trays. He always displayed his photography in the corner window of the Allen Street Grill. He did better and preferred to do Madison than State College even though Madison was a two day show about seventeen hours away and his studio was walking distance to the State College show which is four days.
They used to have platforms of demonstration areas on Allen Street. They invited artists that weren't doing the show to demonstrate but refused to let them sell. Kind of like Winter Park's poster contest where the artist who got the poster couldn't do the show but was asked to sit there and sign posters instead of doing another show that weekend.
Larry Berman
Digital Jury Services
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
Hey, should we write a book?
The way that the show runs through three streets in the downtown section used to be only on Allen Street with the booths facing each other. Though it was a lot more crowded on that narrow street, the traffic was more consistent. It tends to drop off now as you get to the third street.
I remember the time a quilt maker had to fly home because his wife went into labor and was rushed to the hospital. Within an hour after he left, they asked the helper he had left to man the booth to pack up and go home. I remember the time a photographer bought a space from another accepted artist. He didn't even finish setting up before he was thrown out.
I do give Rick credit for being one of the few shows that ask to see picture ID each day of the show. It took me a few years of badgering him to do it. I used to get pissed off seeing all the people checking in on Wednesday and then leaving reps as they went off to do Madison.
A little more history about George Marion. Leading up the time he started the other show he was the Pennsylvania reporter for Sunshine Artist and used to write about how his motor home kept breaking down on the way to shows. I think he also coined the term "ten times your booth fee" as a guideline on whether a show was good. I remember Ed Heard, the quilt maker (in my reference to him getting thrown out) telling George that he wanted to do one hundred times his booth fee, not ten times. Until the quilts started coming in from China, Ed was able to do it.
Larry Berman
Digital Jury Services
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100