The subject show is produced and managed by the Sunrise Valley Rotary of Estes Park, Colorado. The show ran for three days over the Labor Day weekend: Saturday 9/1 thru Monday 9/3, 9am to 5pm except Monday 9am to 3pm. About 100 artists and crafters set up in the brick paved parking area in front of the town hall or around the perimeter of Bond Park. Set up was Friday starting at 9am. I showed up at 8 and was allowed to drive to my site to unload. Later in the morning there was curb side unloading with volunteers dollying artists to their sites. Solos were assisted with set up if help was wanted. Set up was controlled and orderly. It was the same for take down. You and volunteers dollied to the curb for loading. After several artists were cleared out you could drive in for loading. It was controlled and went smoothly - no mad house.Saturday and Sunday there were wave upon wave of people coming through the show and buying. I was well into the black for all expenses the first day. Monday was a little slower but still a significant good sale day. There were periods of a couple hours where I did nothing but process sales while Jean answered questions. People were standing in the asile waiting to get into booths. Crowd pictures are on my Facebook page. Our sales were up 25% over 2011 sales. My first sale was made to the police chief during set up and we had $200 in sales during take down. I went into this show thinking it would be possible to break $5K this year. We came very close but I will just have to work hard to reach this goal next year.The Rotary does an excellent job of managing this show and it's promotion. There were postings about the show and artists weeks in advance. Set up and take down was organized and controlled. Coffee and doughnuts were available in the morning, water was available all day. Booth sitters were available. Clean indoor restrooms were close by. Overnight security is provided. A pizza reception was held Sunday after the show. Other details are given in Art Shows Reviews section. The show is also dog friendly.In my opinion the people juried into this show are selected in part on how well they would be received by the demographics of the Labor Day tourist traffic. You have families with kids from Colorado, the Midwest,Texas, Europe and elsewhere who are primarily here to visit Rocky Mountain National Park. There are young families with infants to seniors. Some folks are of modest means and others could buy out your entire inventory. There were high end jewelers, potters and photographers who were also at Golden,CO. The photography and 2D art was focused on western US scenery and wildlife. For kids there was a booth of hand made wood toys and for their patents there was wood furniture. Everything was of quality and there was no buy/ sell. You did not see far out esoteric art at this show. I talked to a jeweler and another artist who were wait listed but got in. To me, this indicates that the show is becoming competitive to get accepted.This was the second year I have done this show. I have also done the May art show over Memorial day for three years. The May show was good but did not show any growth of sales. Weather can be a factor in Estes Park in May or September. This year temperature was a pleasant mid 70s. The was a 6 mph wind with stronger gusts but it was manageable. Monday, squalls socked in Longs Peak and it was pretty black to the west. These produced some wind and a few sprinkles, but both passed farther to the south.Check out my Facebook page and Estes Park Arts and Crafts Show page for pictures of the show and artists.Dick Shererwww.sherersaddlesinc.com
It's been many years since I've exhibited out that way. Thanks for an informative report on the Estes Park show. That little town holds a special place in my heart. I'll check out your FaceBook page for future consideration of the Estes show, but I always do a well-established show on Labor Day weekend near St. Louis called, 'The Art Fair at Queeny Park'. It's indoors with great artist amenities. Sales were strong for artists across the various categories. I was fortunate to land 'Best of Show' in 3-D.
I think the bolt people would work there. There were two metal artists there that I saw, possibly others. One was yard ornaments made from spoons ( saw these folks at other shows) and an artist with iridescent coatings on copper, 2D and wind ornaments. There are pictures of the latter on the shows FB page. Also a fellow from Parker with laser cut steel art signs etc. He sold a $900 special order. I'm planning on doing same shows next summer plus adding in one or two new ones. It would be pretty wild if I could get them all up to $5K. LOL I was looking at the rust damage on the Suburban tailgate that I have to repair this winter while Jean was moving out of the cabin. The bracket that the tail gate is bolted to is also rusted out on one side. More fun welding under the truck. Want to come visit for a couple days?
thanks for the review, i am definitely coming to co next year and might try estes park. it has got to better than santa fe. Load in to santa fe was easy till they started to bunch us up but load out was chaos as far as i was concerned, they did let people in but there were a lot of us that walked our stuff out there was one person who backed in a motorhome in the aisle and blocked it for others walking it out. the people can have that show. And yes there was a ton of beaded jewelry.
Comments
Nice review, Richard...I miss CO! Unfortunately I don't have much work appropriate for the market or I'd be on Estes Park like a fly on rice.
It's been many years since I've exhibited out that way. Thanks for an informative report on the Estes Park show. That little town holds a special place in my heart. I'll check out your FaceBook page for future consideration of the Estes show, but I always do a well-established show on Labor Day weekend near St. Louis called, 'The Art Fair at Queeny Park'. It's indoors with great artist amenities. Sales were strong for artists across the various categories. I was fortunate to land 'Best of Show' in 3-D.
Love to hear of a successful show! Richard, you always appear to do well - congratulations, you're obviously doing the right things!
thanks for the review, i am definitely coming to co next year and might try estes park. it has got to better than santa fe. Load in to santa fe was easy till they started to bunch us up but load out was chaos as far as i was concerned, they did let people in but there were a lot of us that walked our stuff out there was one person who backed in a motorhome in the aisle and blocked it for others walking it out. the people can have that show. And yes there was a ton of beaded jewelry.