Well, when you are down to your last few gold coins in your pirate's chest, a certain level of anxiety and apprehension sweeps over you.
Which was my spirit as I left scenic Ybor for the lures of Florida's lower west coast last Friday.
We are, of course, talking about the newly relocated Bonita Springs Art Festival.
I was pleasantly surprised by the beauty and open-ness of the art site.
It flowed down palm-laden streets and coursed back on a paved road near the railway. A nicely, grassed park held a fair amount of booths. I worried about them. And I was right to. They did not get nearly the same traffic as us on the paved streets.
If I know director Barry Witt, he will rework the layout before the next show in Feb. He heard a certain amount of criticism from those who were ignored by the masses.
Unfortunately, you have the "lemming effect" going on here. The crowds follow the easiest straight or curving line. If you make them have to step up or onto a new path, there usually is a lot of resistance. It happens everywhere. You would think most show promoters could have figured that out by now.
Being on a new site created a lot of apprehension. Would the crowds come, would they buy in certain numbers, would our booths be safe at night--not pillaged by the locals?
Glad to say it went swimmingly well.
Big crowds, lots of them with their dogs. A certain amount of sales were made. I heard of no vandalism anywhere.
The venue is in a real positive area. It is very tropical, very airy, lots of sunshine. There is ample parking for all. It is a better situation than we had at the old location.
My sales were OK, I made a paycheck. But this was the lowest amount of sales I have ever had at this show in 13 years.
For a $400 booth fee, I expect a better return on my money. So do a lot of others.
There were ample sales made in the $2K-$5K range. It happened across the board.
There were also a lot of artists who had a zero Saturday and a meager Sunday.
Thirty-plus new booths were added to the show (an extra $12K for the promoting organization).
Frankly, it is too many. The pie gets sliced way too thin. But, that's the "haps" at shows these days.
We live in the era of cut-throat art associations, and private promoters, who can gouge the artists. The artists' cost escalate, their sales returns get smaller all the time. Trouble is, there are too many suckers lined up waiting to pay. So the shows just don't flat-ass give a damn about your situation.
So, I am going to end this on a very positive note.
While I replenish my small gold chest with a few tokens, consider the following advice:
To make money at this show it helps if you have big price points and only need a few customers (say, 3-9) to make your show. Volume sales are not here. It helps if your work is related to tropical birds, or fish, and especially tropical flowers. The patrons are monied and conservative. Everything must match the wallpaper.
So there it is.
Barry Witt has done a very good job of promoting an established show at a new location.
It is very nice new location.
The booth layouts need a little tweeking.
Think twice before you plunk done your money here--it is not a guarantee for all.
Hopefully, my 2014 season will steadily improve.
Drink a pint of grog for the pirate, he needs to feel the good vibes.
Nels.
BTW, Travis wrote a very good, cheery review of this same show, so check it out.
Comments
Well said,Gena
Nels, I found your review totally on target. The new venue was chopped up and confused several customers, the center park area that should've drawn good crowds did not, and most likely due to the need to go behind the lines of tents surrounding the park on 3 sides. Sales were down for all mediums, with only a handful of blessed artists being pleased with decent totals. As more and more shows are available to the customer base in any given area, the sales averages per booth will be lowered. Once upon a time there were only 2 fine art shows in the Bonita Springs area. Now there are 6. Too many people fishing these waters, so keep an eye on your expense line if considering doing a show here in the future.
Katherine,
Our website is:
http://artinusa.com/bonita/
I am just starting to do art fairs, what other shows does Barry produce? he sounds very thoughtful in his business practice...
This is an example of art festival artists creating an art festival. This has been a top-rated show from the very first year, because the management works hard to make it so. I predict a bright future, especially because the patrons loved the new location. We are looking forward to returning in March.
We appreciate constructive criticism and will remedy or eliminate nonproductive spaces. Our organization is dedicated to art, artists and our community 365 days a year, and the festivals are an important part of what we do.
We take our relationship with the festival artists very seriously.
FYI, there were only 9 more artists at this year's event than last year. More artists selected double spaces than before. There were also 2 park areas. The one on the South in front of the band shell did have less traffic (more a layout and access situation than bad location). The remaining 80% of the space had good traffic. Our crowd numbers were up and more diverse than before. 99.8% of the patrons prefer the new location.
If something does not go well, we do not make excuses or blame others, we fix it.
Good to hear that the show had a good turnout, both artists and patron. Heard quite a bit about the spots in the park being lousy.
Yes, booth for booth, the work was stellar, some of the best in the biz were there.
I walked the show and as usual it was a terrific collection of excellent work.
I also am aware that Barry Witt is terrific at what he does and if there were any issues that need to be addressed he will take care of them. He is very good at what he does and I also expect the February show to be a good one.