This is a show that is a part of the 9-day Summer Celebration, and the fine art is located in Hackley Park.  The surrounding streets are designated for low end crafts, BS, and everything else.  More about that shortly.

Thunderstorms dogged setup and the first half of Friday for this 3 day show.  While we arrived early, at 12 pm on Thursday and set up as soon as we arrived, the late arrivals that night and the next morning had to contend with rain and lightning all around.  I have to say this was by far one of the easiest load-ins we’ve done, since we tow a 40-foot RV and it can get pretty hairy in a city.  The show director was actually glad to have us in so early so we could get out quick, and that we did, and managed to escape setting up in a downpour and instead gorge ourselves on some damn good wings and potato skins.  Yep, pre-show fuel up! 

This year, parking was not free, as it has been in the past, and there is no parking allowed on the park streets.  Or so we were informed in the show packet.  Framer Dude managed to wangle a spot for the Artship Enterprise for $50 for the weekend, and I suppose that comes from experience of working on a submarine in the Navy.  However, other artists/vendors with RV’s were parked along the streets outside the park with no apparent repercussions.  It really irks me when I try to adhere to the parking instructions and others just go ahead and do their own thing-I would have loved to have saved myself fifty bucks and been closer to the show too.  Friday the storms continued, and I was a bit nervous, being in a park with lots of tall trees all around, especially when one bolt audibly crackled directly overhead with a deafening crash.  The storm seemed to just circulate and keep redeveloping over Muskegon all morning, though surprisingly, there were a few people out and about, which is one thing I’ve forgotten about Northerners, we’re a bit more blasé to inclement weather.  Still, I was very glad I decided to pack my Gore-Tex raincoat for this trip North!

The show itself is set up in Hackley Park, a beautiful setting with huge tall (lightning magnet) trees, and it’s a full 3 day show, which I like, since Saturday becomes a mellow day to relax and interact with patrons without the pressure of setting up and tearing down within 48 hours.My booth was perfectly placed in the shade of a maple, so I stayed cool once the skies cleared and temps crawled into the mid 80’s.  Framer Dude walked the show, and was very surprised at both the scarcity of 2D work and the enormous amount of jewelry.  I think I saw two other oil painters in my excursions around.  There was not a lot of high-end art, and I suspect I could have won an award for the highest priced artist there.  A Michigan artist said that this part of Michigan has seen a steep drop in painters at the shows.  Who did well? The henna tattoo artist across from me did. (Tattoo artist at an art show? you’re saying. Yup.) The yard art people did.  The beaders did.  The suspect BS vendors did.  I hit my target, and was happy with my sales and the 3rd place prize money.  The infernally annoying salsa vendor behind me in the street was hawking obnoxiously to all the women passing by and to the credit of the show promoters, he was told to tone down his act or leave.

Saturday and Sunday the weather was great.  The crowds were large and steady on Saturday, and the oh-that’s-gorgeous-but-my-hands-ain’t-leavin-my-pockets folks were in full force.  The artist next to me said this is more a B, B-minus show.  Overall, Framer Dude and I were not impressed with the buying power of this crowd, as the fine art buyers were pretty few and far between, and there is a lot of other entertainment vying for tight dollars between the flea market/craft section, the food section, and the evening music venues. From our five-star parking lot, we got to hear loud and clear Night Ranger on Friday Night, and a Journey tribute band, I think.  I should have busted out my acid-washed jeans and Stiff Stuff to tease my hair out.  Don’t stop belie-e-eving...

Teardown went off without a hitch: we decided to wait for the vendors on the street to clear out before we towed our RV right up to the booth and loaded out, so we went back for more greasy pub food.  (MAC’s has the best potato skins I’ve ever had, as well as a really good seared tuna if you’re not into clogging your arteries.)

Overall, I was pleased by the general crowd reception to my work, as I’ve never been to Michigan before and I’m testing new geographical markets, and I was Okay with my sales, considering the crowd.  Krasl in St. Joseph next weekend has the reputation as the high-end art show in southwest Michigan, and I am still on their waitlist at this moment, ready to hold a small animal sacrifice to the gods of the art shows that I’ll be able to participate in that one.  

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  • Hi Caroline,

    I was just down the road in Ludington this past weekend and posted a review on the show. 

  • Jim, We saw a lot of empty storefronts, and overall it did look like a depressed area, and I have to say, my heart got this sinking feeling when we drove into downtown Thursday at noon and saw hardly any cars.  We're going to South Haven today to do the lake and lighthouse thing!

    Connie, I was worried Artship was going to become my own personal electric chair, since it's really nothing but a  big metal box!  It seems a lot of the time we have to take a chance on a anew area and hope for the best, since many reviews and specs submitted by promoters are, shall we say, less than accurate.

  • Good review, Caroline! Art in the Park was the first show I ever did, about seven years ago. It's a nice venue, but Muskegon has been super-depressed for years. A drive around confirms that neighboring cities Ludington and Grand Haven have fared much better than Muskegon. We did have a chance to eat at a fish place out near White Lake, see a couple of lighthouses and stroll on the beach when we did it. Relaxed, all right. I took third place, too, and the prize money was good for a smaller show. 

    But the quality of the show is all over the lot. It doesn't help that the craft area and the fine art area are sort of munged together. Krasl, by contrast is a well-juried show, as you know. Good luck in getting off the waitlist!

  • I was holding my breath on this report, Caroline, knowing my own impressions of this event in Muskegon and knowing you were coming all the way from Florida to be part of it. I am pretty surprised that you made any money (this is definitely not a high end event and as you said lots of other places for people to spend for "stuff"). So good for you! Thanks for the review. I think the first one ever for this show. I saw the weather reports and hoped you hadn't been blown into Lake Michigan, but luckily the Artship Enterprise held you down.
  • LOL, Great review and  sense of humor :)
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