A sad story here, something that artists rarely hear about, the background of finding the money to host art fairs. Especially the larger events, there is no way that booth fees and application fees pay for the events to be held.
The story cites the added security costs because of the shooting at the nearby Gilroy Art Festival last summer. In addition, Louis Briones, executive director for the nonprofit Sausalito Art Festival Foundation is quoted as saying:
“In less than three years we’ve seen production costs double,” he said. “In 67 years, this first year that its not happening. Some years it’s gotten bigger, other years it’s gotten smaller. It has changed dramatically in other ways, but this is the first year we as a board decided to take a look at the entire picture to come up with a better plan.”
The rest of the story: https://www.marinij.com/2019/12/10/foundation-cancels-sausalito-art-festival-citing-costs/
Comments
and interestingly, our outdoor art festivals are not the only ones having problems:
This big deal Berlin art fair isn't doing so well either:
https://www.artsy.net/news/artsy-editorial-art-berlin-fair-disconti...
Just like us, the working artists, balancing all the pieces can be very tricky, regardless of the budget.
Thanks for this testimonial, Mark. I'm with you on this. I hope they'll find all the pieces to make this work again. It is a high dollar neighborhood, I believe San Francisco is one of the most expensive places to live, which of course means that all the services necessary to put on a show of this caliber have to meet those expenses also.
I have to say, Sausalito is a great show. I did it this year, 2019, and then in 2017. A great crowd, much better, and much better behaved, than some other street art fairs that I have done. I still remember, in 2017, getting the notification that my work had been accepted; what a thrill. And then the show itself; at opening people mobbed the booth; on day two, a couple literally got into a physical fight over which of my pieces they were going to buy, and eventually decided to take both, all this while their teenage daughter looked on. Whew. And all of the neighboring artists were those whose work I had seen before, and admired. I was amazed that my stuff was sitting, for sale, next to theirs. Before and during the show, other artists were even coming into my booth, studying my work, sending their family members over to see it and then one of the neighbors bought a piece. Made the drive to California, and load in and load out, worthwhile. I hope they bring it back.