OKC Festival--just got back from seeing it

I havn't been to my first art festival/fair yet as an artist--that is coming up at the end of May. So when I went to the OKC festival tonight I was looking at everything from a different viewpoint than I ever had before. I never paid attention before to how people lit their work, or whether they had a rug of some kind in their tent, or what color their walls were, or if they have a sign what does it look like. 

It's my understanding that OKC festival is a little different in that they provide the artists with walls and the tent, and they aren't supposed to sell reproductions out of their booths. 

Anyway this is a break down of my newbie observations from a not-an-artist-there point of view: 

-A lot of people still had their own propanels or other walls to add to their booth space. 

-One booth had red fabric on their walls and it stood out and caught a lot of people's attention/caused them to stop and look at their paintings (which were complimented well by the color in my opinion)

-There were a lot of the same artists there that I see every year, and a some amount of them had the same stuff they had last year. 

-Most people framed their paintings. 

-Jewelers all had large nice photos of their jewelry hanging on their walls so you could see from a distance what their stuff looked like

-I overheard a couple artists mentioning having sold quite a bit already. And I saw a couple red dots on paintings (never knew what that meant before) 

-There were a lot of very brightly colored landscape paintings. 

-A lot of people had Oklahoma-themed art. I wonder if that sells better?

-The print tent was emptier than I've ever seen it before. I asked one of the print tent volunteers about it and she said "not a lot of artists gave us prints this year" and "I think a lot of them are selling them in their booths"

 

 

 

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  • I just got home last night from OKC.  Thanks for the complement, Morian!  Yes, I had a lady want to know what kind of app I was using to get that "effect."  Sigh.  Education seemed to be the theme for me at this show.  Did you watch channel 9 news on Saturday?  I wasn't interviewed, but a couple of really good shots inside my booth during the story on the show.  Unfortunately they don't post their video online or I'd link to it.  Roger was my next door neighbor.  He helped me pull down my electric after the show.  I swear it was 10 feet off the ground.  Lots of rain and some hail Sunday, but it cleared up before tear down.  I will write a review today or tomorrow.
  • Here is an excellent article people interacting and creating pottery. It looks like things are going well in Oklahoma City: http://blog.newsok.com/bamsblog/2011/04/30/pottery-place-fires-up-f...
  • Connie I think the food is something that causes people to return daily to the arts festival here! I know one of my friends that lives within walking distance said he planned to go there for dinner every day haha.
  • And here's a recent link from the "Food Dude" - warning, this will make you hungry: http://www.newsok.com/at-oklahoma-citys-arts-festival-theres-more-t...
  • Jacqueline, think I saw your booth. If I'm right and you're the one I think you are, I overheard you explaining to a lady that you don't use a digital camera while I was in your booth. If that was you then, really..I loved your photographs! And I *think* the city scape guy you are referring to is Rodger Disney?
    I had already been thinking about going to check the fair out again...that's a nice thing about it being 6 days, people can come more than once. by the weekend though its usually super crowded and some good stuff has been sold so I enjoy going on the first night. If I do go again I'll stop by your booth for a chat--I hope your selling well today even though its rainy!
  • This is my first time doing the OKC festival and you're right - the setup is a bit different.  The Artist Market tent has pretty strict guidelines in terms of inventory sheets, minimum quantities, and display/labeling requirements.  A lot of the artists I've spoken to so far are either traveling great distances or using this as a filler show so meeting those requirements can be tough.  I had a hard time pulling together my prints, and I reaaly hope I sell enough to make it worth my while to participate.  I also donated 3 small originals for the Young at Art tent for kids - don't know how that's going yet.

    As for the Oklahoma-themed art - yes, it's there, but if you do any shows in Colorado you'll see lots of Colorado-themed art.  I've had several folks walk into my booth and say, "Oh, lots of Oklahoma things!" but not one of my photos was was shot in the Sooner state - they're all Colorado.  The painter next to me is selling his local cityscapes and people seem to love them.  Last year he brought his nudes but they caused a bit of a stir so he left them at home this time.

    I did see lots framed work go by, but plenty of folks are displaying frames and offering unframed work as well.

    Sales were good yesterday.  I'm near a sales booth and saw lots of tickets go by.  Plus yesterday we opened 4 hours early for the patrons to buy, so there were plenty of sales from that.  I was told by a veteran that today will be the slowest, and the weekend is usually packed. 

    If you come back by the show, stop by my booth for a chat.  I'm in 28B near the red sales tent.

    I'll try to promptly post a review of the show next week.

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