Here's the thing... I'm not saying that all the artists at Chicago's One-of-a-Kind Show at the Merchandiose Mart wasted their time. I'm just saying that I wasted my time there. I felt like they gave me some kind of magical "invisible" booth. The few people that did visit me, I truly appreciate, but most did not. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
I signed up for this show with lots of doubts and trepidation. The $2500 booth fee is off-putting to say the least and I managed to dodge trying this show for many years. I'd have to sell a lot of my prints (I'm a digital artist) to make a profit. The other thing is the size of the show. Six hundred artists! How are they going to get all those artists and their art into the building (and out again at the end of the show). And there's the teamster thing. You gotta use union workers for everything.
A lot of my concerns were unfounded (except for that pesky "profit" thing).
Marcia and I drove into Chicago from Saugatuck on Wednesday morning. We followed their directions to the loading dock at the Mart. The load in was very well managed. We were given a number and asked to put our van into a line in an empty parking lot next to the loading dock. When a space became available (10-15 minute wait) we drove into the dock and stood back and watched as the teamsters unloaded our truck onto large carts at our direction. We brought a lot of stuff, including our entire 10x10 ProPanel setup. We then parked the van in a nearby parking lot and entered the Mart, took an elevator to the 7th floor, checked in and got out badges. We found our booth (one of 600 booths. Its a big place.) and voila! There was all our stuff. Kind of stacked a little haphazardly, but all in good shape. I might mention that it is not necessary to bring ProPanels. Each booth is neatly set up with three walls (unless you have a corner) with each wall made of thin laminate wood about an inch thick. Most artists use their walls and just hang things on them. We liked the ProPanels better.
We spent a few hours setting up, then, retrieved our van ($37 parking) and drove out to Evanston (Northern suburb) where we were staying at my daughter's apartment. Thursday morning we took the Metra (commuter train) into Chicago and walked from Ogilvie Transportation Center to the Mart (about a 15 minute walk). We worked the crowd all day (10-8) even though most people couldn't see us (we were invisible). We grossed a whopping $252 that first day.
Friday wasn't much better. We grossed $630.62 that day.
Saturday was the big day. Lots of people. Over the course of the four days, they estimated attendance at around 60,000 and I think that was fairly accurate. We had more interest on Saturday, but still grossed only $1525.85 We were definitely getting nervous about even making our booth fee.
Sunday (10-5) we squeaked by with sales of $704.50 making our gross for the four days $3112.97.
At 5pm, the show closed and we started packing up. Soon the Teamsters brought our empty boxes from storage and we managed to get everything ready to load by about 6pm. The show has an option of leaving your stuff in the booth overnight and coming back on Monday morning to load up. We took advantage of that option.
I wondered how they were going to get all 600 artists out of there at the same time, and I was right in thinking that it would be a mess. Although it was fairly well organized the wait time in getting a crew to your booth, even on Monday morning, was long. Marcia stayed in the van while I went up to the booth to wait for the teamsters. We waited over three hours for our turn. When they did finally get to us, it went pretty fast. The crews that work the Mart are polite and careful, so they got our stuff down to the dock pretty quickly.
One of my fears was loading the van after the show. I didn't know if the Teamsters would allow me to touch the boxes and pack the van. Like most artists, there is only one way everything will fit. That fear was unfounded. The workers patiently handed me the boxes I needed in the order I needed and let me pack the van. It went pretty fast.
By the time we were ready to leave, it was too late to head back to Saugatuck, so we stayed with another daughter for the night and came back on Tuesday. A good week away from the studio and a paltry payday at that.
I was excited about doing this show, especially after seeing that Connie's ranking had it at number 3 in the country. And that is a valuable lesson about rankings. They are just a guide and they don't guarantee success. I know that Connie's top art fair rankings are made by both artists and art fair goers. So, apparently there were enough of them to really like this show. I cruising the show and talking to other artists, I found a broad spectrum of satisfaction. Lots of artists are very successful here. Maybe most. But, I found that us fine artists, especially 2-D, are in the minority, and, with a few exceptions, they didn't fare any better that I did. I wouldn't categorize this show as a fine art show.
This was my last show of the year, and I had high hopes for getting it on my yearly calendar. What could be better than a gangbuster show in the winter, indoors. It didn't work out for me, but I can't complain. I had my best year ever this year and I'm looking forward to a new venture in May when I'll be opening the LebenArt Gallery in downtown Douglas, Michigan. I'll still be doing art fairs next year, but, you won't see me at the Mart in the winter.
Comments
I just can't get inventory up enough to merit a $2,500 booth fee. I grouse about $300! I would love to tap into larger, and out of state, markets, but with my hubby and art sherpa still employed at a job he loves, I have to limit my exposure. But, not at $2,500 per booth....not when I can stay local and make $3,200, with a $235 booth fee.
Various artists will tell you different things based on their experiences but I've come to the conclusion that every experience is different and there are many factors that come to play that negate any "winning" combination.
I too am a 2D digital artist and have not done as well as jewelers and 3D artists for example. My main expense each summer has been the van rentals. I cannot afford even a used vehicle and I don't have a place to park it.
The Mart show sounds like it would have been exciting to do but the downside does seem to be the sheer numbers of vendors and visitors. I don't see how anyone can do well with that many vendors. It just dilutes the sales potential in my opinion.
Thanks for sharing your review! I talked to a lot of folks here and it definitely was different this year. We were down although everything from our work, selection, display was up. I really like doing this show since it is so different and I've met some incredibly nice people there. The staff is extremely helpful and they get the job done.
Unfortunately, the booth is such an investment that you need to consider, as that video mentions, what exactly is the break even point?
I also noticed there were credit card hawkers and chiropractors in the aisles which, undoubtedly, will turn some folks off. I do not know if they will keep this up or why they did it to be frank. I'm sure they paid a handsome booth fee to be there, but I've been to too many shows where patrons tell me the corporations hammering them for freebies or try this, try that turns them off. It hurts the "mood," if you will, of the art fair visitor.
I look forward trying the show again, but I'm curious to see how it evolves in the short term.
Your booth looks terrific John. Sorry that it didn't work out so well. Really informative review.
Thank you.
oops... $28 unframed and $68 framed...
Thanks, Connie. I knew ahead of time that it was a risk, but, I had such a successful year that I thought I was invincible. Not so. With prints at the low end at $28 framed and only $68 framed, I thought I would sell out. I brought 72 extra small frames to pop my prints into as they sold but I only used 17 of them. I knew that 2-D was a gamble, but I went for it. No regrets. Now I know.
Thanks for the good report, John. It covered all the essentials.
1. The best art fairs is voted on by all kinds of people and Chicagoans love the survey and heavily vote for the show in that area.
2. You could probably see by the attendance that #1 above is true. I have attended and shopped this show a couple of times and it was jam packed with shoppers, lined up out the door to get in on Friday and it is a great place to take care of your Christmas list.
3. We never did the OOAK ourselves for all the reasons you mentioned above, high booth fee and how much would you even have to sell to break even? Norm's work was relatively inexpensive (highest price $525 and only a few pieces in that price range, mostly from $45 to $250) and every piece was an original, so lots of labor involved in them.
4. Your booth looks wonderful, very attractive. Hard to believe you were invisible.
5. Did you ever visit the show ahead of time to see what the makeup of the exhibitors was? Very little 2D, from my visits. Lots of functional. Very few potters because of the need to sell a lot to make a profit.
On that note, the last time I was there I did a short video with Mikel and Christina Robinson about selling 2D, high priced, at the show:
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