This just in my inbox from Alice Moulton at the Winter Park Sidewalk Arts Festival:
This is a very hard email to send to you, but I must let you know that the 61st Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival has been cancelled. Could you help us get the word out to the art festival community. With much regret, we have notified the participating artists through ZAPP.
Thank you for all that you do. Alice
“Due to current information regarding the potential spread of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), and events beyond our control, the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival (WPSAF), scheduled for Friday, March 20, through Sunday, March 22, 2020, will be cancelled. The City of Winter Park and the WPSAF Committee decided together that the health and safety of the community, guests, event patrons, artists and staff are the very top priority. Thank you for understanding our concerns.
For the most up-to-date and accurate information regarding COVID-19, please visit the Center for Disease Control at cdc.gov/COVID19. For information related to WPSAF, please visit WPSAF.org.”
This is so sad -- when you think of all 365 days of devotion to produce a top art fair by this non-profit organization, totally volunteer-driven, plus the inability to recoup their expenses, the loss is pretty devastating and the recovery will take some time.
And, of course, the loss to artists who were relying on the show for their income and so disappointing for them not to be there to meet the buyers. It is one of those shows that an artist looks forward to all year.
Have any of your shows been cancelled? What are you going about it?
Comments
and, more sad news from Winter Park as their small businesses fight to stay alive. Sometimes I forget that regions of the country have seasons also and need to "make hay while the sun shines" just like artists do. https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2020/03/21/winter-parks-sma...
My connections with the Winter Park committee: "I am pretty slammed right now, still trying to disassemble the show and get refunds out, etc."
Btw, Tarpon Springs was cancelled.
For artists and patrons, the fact is, if we hold the art fair there is no certainty of catching the virus. And, if caught the survival rate is high. On the other hand for artists, by canceling the shows there is a certainty of financial hardship/ruin.
I'd rather take my chances....
I am traveling, been in 3 airports this week. Everyone is behaving just fine. We're joining family in downtown LA on Saturday for shopping, eating and exploring. None of us is elderly (except for me) or ill. I'm anticipating a nice time. We'll be watchful, courteous and enjoy one another's company. I agree RC, about not attending indoor events, but eating outdoors. Artists certainly know how to deal with strained situations. How many tents have you held down in extremely high winds, streets shut down so ambulances can come through, driven vans through surging crowds.
Here's hoping if we really nip this in the bud we'll be heading back to normal within the month. Thank you for this considered opinion.
I sit here on a Thursday night after three days of producing work to replace what we sold last weekend. Getting ready for Tarpon Springs here in Florida. Set-up tomorrow. Oh, by the way, we did an art fair last weekend and we were prepared for the crowd with sanitary wipes and pump bottles of hand-sanitizer. We used a stylus for credit cards on our tablet, and cleaned it after each customer. The crowd was large and at such an open-air event, everyone knew the prevailing ethos of the virus danger. We all behaved accordingly.
A few hours ago, word came that Winter Park was canceled and soon after that, this weekend's show was canceled too. Now, I just placed an order for more supplies today. As soon as the news came in, I canceled that order. I don't know when I'll need more inventory again because I don't know when I'll do a show again. I must call several shows scheduled for the summer, tomorrow to ask that they not cash my checks, as I must do some quick arithmetic....
Just as an example, I've done Tarpon Springs for many years in a row and always do between $2,500 and $3,500. I've done Winter Park 4 or 5 times in the last decade and never did less than $7,000. So, by that arithmetic, I've just lost about $10,000 which I will never get the chance to make back. And now, I have many weekends in a row with nothing to do.
Why is this country panicking?
I can agree that close-quarter events held in stadiums and fieldhouses should be canceled in the name of caution, but open-air events with a knowledgeable crowd is going too far. The jurisdictions that are imposing these cancellations are panicking when clear thinking should be ruling the day.
Enough said!