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This is a long running show in Indianapolis that has been around since the mid 1950s. it's one of only two large shows in Indianapolis that doesn't charge a gate fee. It's in a revitalized neighborhood that is only sixteen blocks from Downtown. The show is ran by a small cohesive group of volunteers that have the operation down to a T.

Set up starts on Friday at 2:00PM, although I keep forgetting that many show up early, and when I pulled in at 2:00 about 1/3 or more of the 270 booths were already up or in progress. You pull up to the association tent and pick up your packet and booth assignment. The booth numbers are also posted on their web site several weeks in advance. Set up goes until 8:00 PM at which time security shuts down the street and asks everyone to leave. Security is provided by several teams of off duty city police officers in uniform who patrol on foot and in small 4-wheelers. 

This show is sort of unique since they are in an older neighborhood with narrower streets the booths have to jump the curb with 6 feet in the street and 4 feet back to the edge of the sidewalk. The rise is a bit of a pain as there is about a 2 inch drop in the street crown back to the first propanel, then a big jump back to the sidewalk. I used 4 2x4 blacks for the front of the tent to shim, 5 blocks at the second panel, 2 blocks at the last propanel, and the none on the back legs of the tent. Several years ago in another spot further south of my current location, I had to stack 2 concrete blocks out in the street to raise each leg level with the back, and use boards to set the tent and panels on. Since then the street has been repaved a couple times and the street level has raised.

Except for the artists along 18th Street going into Talbot, everyone has decent room behind them. The 18th Street section is very narrow, and the booths are backed up against a 4 foot tall brick wall on the north side of the street and the other side are backed up against some houses. For the other spaces along Talbot, the space for the tent itself is on the outside edge of the sidewalk. You can set inventory on the sidewalk and sit back there. Some leeway has to left for someone to walk through back there but some folks block the sidewalk anyway. I've long set up an awning that goes back to the sidewalk curb for shade as it usually gets hot on the street. The one thing that is expressly forbidden is to stack anything on the curb of the sidewalk or on the yards. 

I decided to wait until Saturday to hang work, and arrived early enough to take my time and also get a prime parking spot in a vacant lot about 25 feet away from me behind the sidewalk. The guy that owns the lot didn't collect on Saturday but came around on Sunday, and was charging $45 for both days. I figured having easy access to the van and being able to walk stuff to the van on tear down is worth it. 

Saturday started off pretty good with a surprise sale I wasn't sure was going to happen. I had taken a shot of some tulips in my living room a few weeks ago when the north light through the window was looking pretty good. Considering I was sitting in my recliner and was starting to watch some TV, when I noticed the light and shadows on the wall were looking good. I hate to admit it, but I pulled out the cell phone and took about a half dozen shots. They looked good later on the computer, and after some Photoshop work, I thought "Damn, that looks way better that I thought". I tried a gamble and printed a 20x30 canvas. It's way away from my other work, so it was placed on a center panel in the booth with the flip bin underneath it. It sold within the first two hours of the show. A few smaller flip bin pieces sold that day but it was slower than I expected for me after that.

The crowd started to thin out a little about 2:00 but was still fairly heavy as this shot shows. There is some competition for the customers with the Gay Pride Parade and Celebration earlier in the day, and they have a rather large show of their own at a downtown park. The crowd with the Mardi Gras beads were the ones at the other show earlier in the day. BTW, notice the shims under the front tent legs.

I forgot to bring my fans and it was pretty warm in the back, even in the shade. Somehow Talbot always says summer is now here, and some years it has been hot as blazes out on the street. We also escaped rain at tear down as that seems to be a tradition. The wind picked up and the clouds were dark, but no rain was predicted on the weather apps.

Sunday started slow for me, and I had picked up some small frames on Saturday night for some humor pieces I didn't have hanging on Saturday. When the tulips piece had sold, that opened up new space to hang more work so I hung ten of the  8.5x11 pieces and those did okay with another 4 of them moving. Some framed pieces sold  later in the afternoon and one be-backer did return. I still didn't have enough pieces under $100 that I needed for what seems to be the direction the season is going in, but it turned out okay in the end with enough late buyers in the afternoon to lift my spirits.

The crowd was fairly heavy all the way through the day, and I could see a lot of packages being carried. The painter across from scored well with a young couple buying a very large painting that looked to be either 4'x5' or just a bit smaller. I didn't hear any artists complaining about sales or even saying 'did okay" with that certain voice inflection that says "it sucked".

Tear down was fairly quick for most, and I didn't see any congestion with cars and vans getting in and out. My daughter and her family showed up at the end of the show to help us tear down and pack up. It's amazing what two extra sets of hands can do to speed things up. It felt funny to be packed up and pulling out after only an hour and 45 minutes, and seeing over half the show still there :-) From there the family took me out to Buca di Beppo for supper, which was a nice way to end the show.