First off, just to be honest.  

I was not in the show.  I cancelled Key West and helped my wife, Ellen Marshall, to set up her booth.  She just had recent surgery.

That said, I had plenty of time to observe, interview and fulminate (wow! when is the last time any of us did that?).

In the past, this has always been one of the top shows you would want to do in Florida springtime/winter.

The Sourcebook, at one time ,listed this as the highest grossing art show in the nation--the average exhibitor sale was $7200.  That is a lot of granola.  Of course, one person having a $40K show would skew that whole averaging system.

The important fact to take from all that, was most artists did very well, that was the norm.  Of course a minority, did not do well.  But it was a very small percentage.

So, everybody went happily down the road after this show, whistling "Dixie" and thankful to have buckeroos to put in the old bank account.  Probably got to eat a great grouper sandwich that night combined with some tropical, tequila infused, beverage.  In other words--a good time was had by all.

Contrast that with now.

A completely, whole new story--kinda sad, kinda not good for the bank account, and kinda makes you wonder whether you want to do this shin-dig again.

I know.  By now you are saying, "Nels, are you going to ever tell us about anything going on in Naples?"

Foreplay, honey.  You gotta have some foreplay to get the whole act right.

I just gave ya some.

OK, HERE IS THE REPORT.

This is run by the Naples Art Association.

It is a very well run and organized show under the very watchful eye of Maryanne Megela.

She has got it down to a pure science.

You line up in an adjacent field, they bring you in and boom, you set up.  

People in the park set up in the day hours.

People in the street set up in the night hours.

It all goes smoothly.

Here is some basic "meat" about the show.

In the street, you need weights.

In the park, you can stake.

Everybody has room behind for storage.

If you are cool with your neighbor, you can usually have one sidewall to hang on.

There are corners and double booths available.  Good luck!

They are mostly well-off oldsters.  Many from the midwest.

They are very traditional and conservative.  They like to match the colors in the room that the art is going.

By today's trends at art shows, you get one shot at them.  Not as many "be-backs" as we used to see.

They lost their innocence somewhere between Ohio and Naples.  They will try to get you down on the price.  They will try to avoid paying sales tax.

There are very few deals for staying in hotels there.  Same goes for food.  Same goes for gas prices.

That said, an exhibitor with a single booth will have a minimum of $1100 in expenses for the show.  (Booth fee is $450 and then the jury).

Food alert.  Fuygihama, the formerly great sushi deal in Naples has turned sour.  New managers, new bottom line attitudes, no more great deals on sushi.  Guess what?  Their former fully booked sushi bar is now a quiet chapel.  No great deals, sushi eaters, be aware.  Ask Vic if you don't really believe me.  He will tell you the same.

  OK,OK Tell us more about the show.

Thought you would never ask.

First off.  People made money here, it is just not the overall good show it used to be.

One MAIN GOOD REASON.  Too many shows in Naples, Bonita and Estero.  No incentive, or need to buy now.

That is the chief reason why this show is a shadow of its former self.

Being an artist helper rather than an art-seller, I had plenty of time to hang out in various places of the show.  Behind booths, sit at tables in the park, or just overhear conversations of show-goers.  Oh, and hear conversations at the surrounding restaurants.

For the most part, they all had benign indifference to the goings-on in the park and the street.

Conversations seemed to center more around, "What kind of breed, dog is that?"

They talked much more about different dogs, and talked almost,none about the art or the artists.

This is not Maranne's fault per se.

It is in a way.  Got a little rhyme going here.

The Naples Art Association has over-saturated the area with their $450 booth fee art shows.

People are jaded.

They view most of us as "those people in those white tents, who must sleep in their vans at night."

If we don't catch them this weekend, we will catch them the next, maybe at the Mercado, maybe at Fleischmann Park, or on 5th avenue, and, oh yeah, they are in the park too.  Oh, and the Naples Art Association has people selling in the park too, once a month, seasonally.

Then there is the three Bonita shows, couple of Patty shows, then lesser promoters shows, and rumored one Sarasota promoter who wants to go into the newly remodeled Promenade in Bonita.

Can you say,"Too many shows, too few buyers and too many artists", all in one breath.

That is why it is hard to make a living selling art at outdoor shows in this area.

I am going to get off now and wait for Geoff Coe and Barry Bernstein, both were  exhibitors, to weigh in with a blog or two.

Maybe then we will get down to brass tacks about how sales went.

I observed, I fulminated and I damn well know how sales went.

SO-so.

The lucky ones made moola, but a lot barely made anything.

A far cry from where this show has always been rated.

To me, this is just another show to do on a given weekend with an over-priced booth fee and so-so sales.

I won't be turning any somersaults, soon.  Nels.

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Comments

  • Happy to help Barry. Usually I can't even walk out of there after Dinner.... 

  • I'm eating at the Blue Fish as I am writing this. Sushi for $9?!?!?! It isn't Nels special stuff not on the menu but it suits me. It's a buffet but people really pound it down, so, it is fresh. I don't think I'll be eating much for dinner. If I was in a booth, I could take a map and eat again. Thanks for the tip.
  • Nels,  

    As a sushi fanatic, I'll have to let you know about Naples best kept secret. Although after the low return, It's unclear when you'll be back to check it out.  While I do agree with Barry that Sushi-Thai is a great option, I can easily drop $70-$80 there when out with my girlfriend. The secret is called Blue Fish and it's on the corner of Airport and Pine Ridge Rd. For a whopping $16 you have unlimited access to the sushi bar with on average 30 different rolls and Sashimi.  Heres a link  www.naplesnews.com

  • Nice. Thanks for the foreplay.

    We did this show once (oh, have I said that before?) and that was back in the Barry days, and Norm's image was full size on the Saturday supplement. I don't know, but I think these west coast of Florida buyers are in general (how much more unspecific can I get?) "midwesterners who somehow lost their innocence between Ohio and Naples." These are not the folks from Chicago and the large cities, but all those other places who want to make sure the work matches the decor and impresses the neighbors. So make sure that is the work you are showing. Price point isn't necessarily the important thing in selling here.


    It is a place where you can find the right person and sell some wonderful work, but it isn't the norm that you want it to be given the obvious affluence of the area.

    Glad to hear John of your decent sales.

    Nels, how did Ellen do? She might have that sweet spot for this area.

  • Nels, I think you hit it right on the old head.   Too Many shows.  Not only in Florida, but in any metropolitan area throughout the summer season.    Last year in the NW suburbs of Chicago I counted 7 art shows within a 30 minute drive on the same week end.  How much money and time does the art buying public have?  These show promotors are just diluting the market.  

  • I did this show two years ago and made just over $1000 in sales. I was very disappointed and decided never to do this show again. I was in a bad location... a place that Nels dubbed the "Circle of Lost Artists" in the park. It was so out of the way, I got lost trying to find my way back from the bathroom. Desperate for another show in Florida after jurying out of winter Park, I decided to try again, but requesting a location on the street instead of in the park. I was in booth #8. A great location with lots of room. I was next to a jeweler and a music guy, so I had two side walls. I hung everything I had. I talked to other artists who had bad sales, and a few that did well. I did just over $4K and was delighted with that total after my dismal sales of two years ago. My best times were before 1pm on Saturday and mid-day on Sunday, with sales being about equal on both days. I definitely agree that there are too many shows in South Florida, but, based on my experience this year, I'll try it again next year. Hopefully I'll get the same booth location. 

  • Great quip, Barry.

  • I'm really disappointed to hear that Fuygihama(sp?) isn't the same as it was when I have gone there. It was a sushi lovers paradise. Portions were huge and the price was right. I prefer Sushi-Thai 2. There are 3 of them on 41. The one to go to is the one in North Naples. Skip the one on 5th ave and the one north of Coconut Point.

    I have to agree with everything Nels said, except... the load-in was controlled by some woman who took forever to let people in to set-up. I had a 5 PM setup time and I wasn't allowed in til 5:30. When I got there, the street was empty. I could have started at 4:30 and it would not have made a difference. The woman whined about having been there since 6:30 AM, like we are supposed to feel sorry for her. For us, 12 hour days, or more, are the norm. I've often thought that if they left it up to artists, we could be in and all set up in 2 hours. Leave to a committee with control issues and it would take 6 hours. At least they left us alone at take down so that went much smoother. The whole set-up problem was acerbated by the fact that one artist fell off his ladder because it was dark and fell flat on his face losing 4 teeth and spraining his ankle. It's a lot safer setting up in daylight and I will not do a show that does not let you set up the day before.

    I can't ever see coming back to Naples. As Nels said, there are way too many shows and there is no excitement, even though this is best of them in terms of quality of work. I thought the work overall, this year, was better than Coconut Grove, which usually has the best quality of all the Florida shows. Too bad, because the crowds were sparse in comparison to the way it used to be. Not many people made money. Of all the people I talked to, and I ask a lot of artists because I want to report here, maybe 1 in 10 did well. It used to be that everyone did well. Barry Witt ran this show from 1993 to 2001. Richard Sullivan ran this show after that for a number of years. When Nels talks about how good this show was, he is talking about the time when Barry and Richard ran the Naples National. It's only since Marianne started running this event, that they have flooded the area with shows. If fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that the show is still popular because of its past reputation.

    I think if you want to be successful in Naples you have to have a very slick booth and triple your prices. I think in Naples it is better to look good than to be good. Just my opinion.

    I was set up in the street facing the sun. Usually that would be better than the park. However, it was so hot that it was extremely uncomfortable and unbearable after 2PM. It was cool in the park and seemed more crowded. I don't think it made much difference in terms of sales. I talked to people in the park that didn't do very well.

    One of the fun things was watching all the private jets take off and land. The show was directly in the flight path. One patron was looking up a jet and an artist jokingly asked him if he was looking to see if someone was taking off with his jet and he replied: "It can't be mine, mine's bigger."

  • Nels, we missed you in Key West, but it was really good of you to help Ellen.  Everyone I talked to was doing well.  Too bad about Cambier Park, I used to do well there.  I'll be in the Mercado show next weekend.  You're right, too many shows in Naples.

    Happy hour at Kelly's is still the greatest bargain around.

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