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  Connie Mettler October 1, 2012 at 10:23am

  Belleville can be the poster child of a show in a not very well to do community, yet it has mastered the buy in of the local area. They are proud of the show. What we need is more people like Patty Gregory and her friends with all their connections who make this event such a fine example of how to position an art fair that is a win for everyone involved.

  Here's a little of that story. Patty is a retired teacher from the Belleville schools. She knows everyone, she was their teacher. She gathered her friends and they started calling in these primary relationships to get the banks and other local businesses to be sponsors with the clear goal not to bring in bodies, but to build a cultural event of which the community could be proud, which does not necessarily mean turkey legs and multiple stages. They wanted something that couldn't be found elsewhere. She had a great vision for economic development and was able to implement it.

  It does have a lot to do with vision, you are right. Is that vision to find the right people who will attend and buy art, or is that vision to bring as many people as possible to attend who will then buy the beverages and food that support the festival? Or is it to bring hordes of people in to shop in the stores and eat in the restaurants? Is it for pride that they can say we had XXX number of people attend? which then we hope will trickle down for further economic development? These scenarios are not mutually exclusive.
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  will connor September 29, 2012 at 8:15pm

  Absolutely, the shows that have strong community support are usually the best.  But the community support has to be focused on bringing in art buyers.  An event might show a lot of community support by bringing half a million people to their event.  But what are all those people there for?  A lot of those people might be there for the music (musicians PAID to entertain I might add).  A lot might just like to come down to have a beer and a turkey leg and enjoy the party atmosphere.  And of course they are also there to LOOK at the art, to be entertained by the art zoo, and often complain amongst themselves how "expensive" it all is.  

  So in order for all this community support to work for us hard working artists, a lot of those people need to be there to purchase art.  A good example of a show that has it's priorities straight is Belleville, Illinois.  This is a small, pretty average, mid america town that has a tireless, super motivated show director that has somehow got the whole place believing that if they bring in a bunch of good artists and bring in lots of buyers for those artists, that Belleville will be a better place for it.  Their art dollars program epitomizes this effort.

  If they can do it in Belleville, why can't they do it in Columbus, or Minneaplolis, Louisville, etc., etc.?  The simple answer is that in those places, art sales are way down list of priorities.

  So in my opinion, it starts with shows guiding mandate.  After that, it comes down to their competence to execute.  

   
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  Connie Mettler September 28, 2012 at 9:19pm

  My hope, Will, with this podcast was to put to rest the idea that everyone is struggling week to week trying to earn their living at the shows. Many are, but not all, so I wanted to present the successful ones to balance out some of the lessened expectations of recent years. They are fortunate (if working 40+ years at something counts for nothing) to have attained the level of being able to pretty much pick and choose their shows and, of course, those shows are the ones where people really show up to buy art, as opposed to so many shows where success is measured in how many people attend.

  What are you thinking of, that shows should hire professional marketers? The best shows are ones where the community supports the event and is proud that the show is in their city. Shows that have developed a cache as the place to be and the place to buy art. What shows do you know of that do have this emphasis? Can you think of some ways that we, as artists, can help a show?
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  will connor September 28, 2012 at 6:49pm

  I enjoyed listening to these two veteran art show artists.  But I wish they had been asked to comment on the overall health of art fairs these days.  While those two have somehow managed to exist in the rarified air of practically  being able to pick and choose which of the top ten shows they wish to be in year after year, and so may not be as aware of the more pedestrian world most of us are struggling in, I would have liked to hear their perspective on how they see art shows today. 

  They brought up the recession and how they know good artists who have to quit.  But I believe the recession is only exacerbating the underlying problems:  generally speaking, that shows are not focused sufficiently on creating a marketplace for selling high quality art.  I wonder if shows were to enlist professional help in more direct marketing to potential art buyers, rather than the more general "bring in the bodies" approach they seem to favor, if that would make a difference.
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  Nan Kennedy September 27, 2012 at 9:47am

  This looks really valuable.  Can someone provide the actual link to access the podcast?  Will it be recorded if we can't listen in at that time, and how would we access the recording?  Thanks! Nan
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  Connie Mettler September 25, 2012 at 3:23pm

  At 6 pm ET on Thursday...

  These two artists have done it all and persevered through many recessions. They have a lot of wisdom to share that should be helpful.
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  B. Reneé September 25, 2012 at 2:22pm

  Awesome! When will be able to listen or log in?