I've been really busy lately, including having rotator cuff surgery three weeks ago. But this weekend I finally had time to write an article that's been on my mind for a few months now. From time to time I get asked by jewelers how to take their own professional quality pictures of their work. So I wrote a detailed article about the equipment I have and some tips on how to use it.

http://bermangraphics.com/blog/professional-jewelry-photos/

Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100

This has absolutely nothing to do with art shows directly but it might be helpful if you own an iPhone, or use iTunes or iPhoto to back up your phones contents!

I upgraded to Apple's newest entry into the iOS family with the system upgrade 10.0.2. I couldn't stand it when I upgraded to iOS 7 but I learned to live with it. A new low has been achieved with the iOS 10.0.2 and its need for redundant pressing of the home button just to get off the screen with the day and date, as-well-as other clumsly "upgrades". But I digress needlessly.

I wanted to backup the photos that I had on my phone to iPhoto, because they have the GPS data that my super expensive and needlessly complex new camera doesn't give me, and kept getting the message:

photos in the camera roll cannot be imported because the device "device name" is locked with a passcode

and iTunes kept saying that it didn't recognize my device, even though every time when asked if the device was trusted I touched the "trust" choice on the phone. I was caught in an Apple loop from which I didn't know how to escape.

I had a lengthy discussion with Apple "Chat" and somewhere in the midst (mist?) of the conversation, it was suggested that I update iTunes. More conversation...App store not available...yada yada, finally got the updated version of iTunes downloaded and installed and Viola! like magic the iPhone was recognized by both iTunes and iPhoto. That hadn't been a problem previously with other iPhone updates so I had no prior experiences from which to gather that I had to update iTunes as well! It must be rigged!

It's taken me a few weeks to get over my worst mistake ever.  Here's the story:

I spent all week thinking maybe I should cancel out of the Fall Festival of the Arts in Redwing that weekend.  The weather was looking cold, I had my parents coming into town on Sunday, I needed to spend time with my 16 year old and my husband was out of town.  I have never in 23 years of doing shows canceled out of a show so I felt super guilty about the prospect.  On Wednesday I actually went to website and was about to call when I decided to check the weather one more time and saw it was supposed to be in the 60's on Sunday so 50's on Saturday would be worth enduring.  Then I was able to work out some other scheduling glitches and I felt good about going forward with the show.  

Saturday morning I was up at 5:00 am and driving the hour or so drive down to Redwing.  Finally as I was rolling into town I suddenly thought... "Did I ever get an email about this show?"  Suddenly my heart was racing... "Did I actually apply to this show?!"  The app is out in the middle of the summer and I've always worried I would miss it.  It was on Zapp so even as I was driving into town I was trying to go to my Zapp account and scrolling.... NO!  It wasn't on there!  AHH!!!!  I am so used to doing this show the last 10 or so years I was just on auto pilot.  They don't usually tell you your booth ahead of time so I didn't even have a reason to look that up before I left.

Sure enough my name was not on the list and I had totally not applied!  I waited an hour for the volunteers to show and talked to them about the possibility of picking up a no-show space but eventually it was evident that even if there was an empty space they wouldn't let me have it (past award winner or not- they were new organizers and didn't know who the heck I was) I totally understood - it's really not a good precedent to set.  

I drove home and tried to enjoy the beautiful fall leaves but mostly just "yelled" at myself for being so stupid!  Lets hope that is the last and only time I ever do that!  I will be applying super early next year!  All in all though- it could have been way worse and hey- I was actually thinking about canceling.  And on Sunday I had a great day with my 16 year old!

So has anyone else every done this?  Any other terrible mistake stories to share? Love to hear them (just so I know I'm not the only one!)

8th Annual Arts Festival Conference, Oct. 6-7, Houston, TX -- sponsored by Westaf, otherwise known as Zapplication

To go or not to go? That is always the question. To take the time and $$ to travel to a distant city to learn more about art festivals? Seems unnecessary after my 30+ year immersion. However ... usually I go.

I go for the new ideas and information, I go to see the people, I go for fun, I go because I love travel. Will I go again? Yep. Here is why:

1. The seminars led by people who love the arts.
   
   Session I: Reciprocal Relationships between Arts & Community with Laura Zabel
   The first session usually challenges the attendees to think on a larger scale about the place of arts in a community, beyond the box of art festivals.
   
   Laura is from Fergus Falls, MN, where she is the ED of SpringBoard for the Arts, an economic and community development agency run by and for artists. Best advice: if you are challenged start small, don't wait until you get a big grant. 
   
   A huge light rail construction was being built 4 miles long through the town. How to keep the downtown alive through the disruption that would take 4 years? They organized events, a zumba teacher teaching dance outside a coffee shop; stained glass project in the hurricane fencing; special events in the bars and restaurants; bicycle tours of the area. It changed local politics and engaged the community.
   
   Her suggestions: organize around people's passion and ideas; let collaborators change you; show up; be skeptical of best practices and make up things as you go along; embrace the creative process. Just do it. Growth is driven by doing the work. Cross pollination with others who then bring in another idea.
   
   Discouraged by your arts organization. Visit their site and be amazed at what can be done with little funding and great ideas: SpringboardfortheArts.org
   
   
2. Measuring what really matters in the Social Media Sphere
   Ariel Jones led us through the ins and outs and do's and don'ts for expanding social media engagement in Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.
   
   To make it worth your time figure out what is best for you. Do you have great photos? do you have a great blog? Use your advantages.
   

   Most of all: be interesting, be newsworthy if you want it to work.

   Is it current? (newer is better) Is it talking about something locally? It’s all about the neighborhood. Is it impactful? or unusual? Is it about human interest? Is it prominent? Are you networking? 

   Instagram really useful for visual artists: the process, beginning middle end (and I'm going to do a podcast about this because I really learned the possibilities of this for artists for making sales.)
   
   give without expecting immediate returns
   
   talk about the things going on around you, not just you — share their info 
   
   if you’re a dancer, don’t be talking about it, show it on Instagram
   
   FB, Twitter, Instagram (under 35) FB helps sell tickets; no links in Instagram; it is about relationship; good for selling art and showing your stuff
   
   2 Easy, useful tips for show directors and artists:
   1. Show Directors go to your artists FB pages and "like" them. Artists, "like" the shows back. This builds an interconnecting network. 
   2. Artists when  you are traveling to a city, look at that city's Facebook page and add your information to that page. FREE advertising!!
   
   

The afternoon sessions were separated into an administrators track and an artists track. For admins sessions on communicating with your board of directors and best jury practices with Christine Berthiaume (New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival); Tara Brickell (Cherry Creek Arts Festival); Stephen King (Des Moines Arts Festival) and Nancy Musser (ZAPP trainer). I have so much information on that that it will be in Part II of the Zapp conference.

(Show directors Margue Esrock (St. James), Cindy Lerick (St. Louis), Karen Delhey (The Guild), Mo Riley (AA Street Art Fair) and Tara Brickell (Cherry Creek) synchronize the next big step!)

For artists there was a Public Portfolio Critique. Artists sent in their images to be discussed by seasoned jurors with good discussion about each. The second session Carroll Swayze brought her great ideas for optimizing your success as an artist, working harder, not smarter. Listen to the podcast I did with Carroll on that topic here.

Thankfully then we adjourned to a beautiful, funky, bar nearby for a reception, where I met an AFI favorite, Melanie Rolfes and her partner Michael Zavison. They've both consented to do podcasts. Melanie with her incredible tips on finding affordable lodging on the road and Michael is going to "talk trucks".

Day Two:

Artist track: Learning all the ways to manage and maximize ZAPP for show applications.

Admin Track: Engagement Strategies for Community Events with Barry Fell from Celebrate Fairfax

His top tips: 

• Identify your stakeholders
• Use social capital to build the event
• Use the psychological contracts you have build. Everything you see and feel at an event builds the social capital
• Engagement with your community which build your brand and your reputation
• Build your political capital - support of the community; so you can pick up the phone and get it done. 
• Internal support - make sure you personally are involved and insure that your staff is also

By utilizing these strategies you can extend the quality and stability of the event and it will bring you new opportunities. People will stay with the event but because they feel valued. You know these stakeholders and you have built a relationship which leads to long term goals.

The afternoon sessions were:

Artists: 

• Setting up your Space for Success with veteran juror, independent curator and fine arts consultant Trudy Van Dyke (and infrequent contributor at AFI). This session was extensive and I took lots of photos. I'll be writing about it separately. Very soon.
  
  Some of her images were of member Greg Little's booth, that was discussed on this site this year!  Please forgive this poor image, a shot of the screen in the presentation. It was perfect.
  
  Top tip: A dynamic artistic booth is what gets you into the show and gets you the sales. 
  
  
• Festival 101 for Artists with Amy Amdur. Amy has been in the trenches for over 30 years and produced over 41 festivals. This session was specifically for new artists with overwhelming details that gave even the veterans new ideas for improving their success at the shows.

Admin: 

Barry Fell returned to speak about public safety at the events with case studies that about Crowd Management and its importance in event planning.

Who I met and wish you had also as these are the dynamic people who keep our events running:

Show organizers: Robin Aiken and Kerry Murphy from Artisphere; Angelique Allen from Arts Gras; Kerry Allen, Rita James, Meredith McIlmoyle and Jennifer Wilson from the Anacortes Arts Festival; Amy Amdur (who needs no introduction); Paul Anderson from Sausalito, Sarah Aziz from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust (3 Rivers); Kayleen Barton and Heather Joy Puskarich from The Woodlands Waterway Festival; Christine Berthiaume from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival; Amanda Bleakley from the Paseo Arts Assn.; Tara Brickell and Amy Curlee from the Cherry Creek Arts Festival; Katrina Delgado from Coconut Grove; Karen Delhey from the Guild of Artists & Artisans; Josh DuBose and Renee Rice from the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar.

Margue Esrock from St. James Court Art Show; Barry Fell from Celebrate Fairfax; Mary Flad from the Decatur Arts Alliance; Carla Flanders from the Lakeshore Art Festival; Randal Fox from AFFPS; Diane Hdges and Brenda Hyde from Historic Granbury; Barbara Hill from Fiesta Arts Fair: Stephen King from Des Moines; Erma Lee from Main Street Fort Worth; Cindy Lerick and Laura Miller from St. Louis; Angie Macon from Decatur Arts Alliance; Gilbert Magdaleno from the Arts Council of Oklahoma City and Maureen Martino from the Lakeview East Chamber.

Sarah Peil from The Grand 1894 Opera House; Elizabeth Regner from the Lubbock Arts Alliance; Maureen Riley from the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair; Mary Sherman from the Grand Haven Chamber of Commerce and Melanie Whitley from the King William Fair.

Artists: Will Armstrong, April Bates, Brian Carter, Terry Peddle Corcoran, Stefani Domenico, Benjamin Frey, Sara Corkery, Diane Hinckley, Linda McGonagle, Amy McMurry (who won the free Zapp conference pass in our annual pledge drive), Mark Grosser, Cynthia Reed, Paula Ritchie, Dar Schafer, Cat Tesla, Eva and Frank Thompson, Jefferson Woodruff, Jenny Wright, Melanie Rolfes, Michael Zavison and Grace Zuniga.

The Zapp team: Kristina Villa, Kate Kreuz, Kim Morski, Nancy Musser, Anthony Radich and Susan Walicki.

January 27-29
New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Presented by: Atlantic Center for the Arts
Fri. 1-5; Sat. 9-5; Sun. 10-4
230 Artists
Deadline:  October 26

Application Fee:  $40/Booth Fee:  $250

We are celebrating 41 years of exciting shows, entertainment and food, attracting 45,000+ patrons and arts enthusiasts. 

The Festival takes place on historic Canal Street and picturesque Riverside Drive adjacent to Riverside Park on the beautiful Intracoastal Waterway. All artists booths are located on the street.  A food court, entertainment tent showcasing outstanding musical acts, student art exhibits and children's art programs and face painters are featured in the park itself.  

Has anybody done this show? Booth prices suggest that it is a gallery-oriented event. Organizers are based in West Palm Beach(I think that is a suburb of Chi-Town). Usually at events in venues of this sort union labor is required to "touch" all of your items in-between the loading dock and your booth. Anything?

Last weekend we displayed our work at the Kentuck Festival of the Arts in Northport, Alabama. This show is difficult to get in to so we felt fortunate to be accepted on our first try. This show started as a Folk Art only event 45 years ago.  Folk art is still the main focus of the show, but other mediums are now included.  Our work is the antithesis of folk art so we were a little concerned about how it would be received.  Our worries were unfounded as we had a great show.

Northport is next door to Tuscaloosa, the home of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide.  Luckily, the team was away in Tennessee playing the Volunteers. That made hotel rates much more affordable. Tuscaloosa is a short drive from our home. We looked forward to a short uneventful drive, followed by lunch and a leisurely set up.  It was not to be.  As we traveled down a two lane state highway, the only direct route for us, we encountered stopped traffic near the little town of Oakman. An emergency perhaps or possibly a wreck?  No, a homecoming parade.  No parade in sight but out of an abundance of caution traffic was stopped for over an hour.  Traffic was backed up for miles which extended our drive time even longer once we finally got moving.  Blood pressure through the roof is not a good way to start the weekend.  We just hoped our traffic woes were not a sign of how the show was going to go.  

The event is held in Kentuck Park.  The booths are either adjacent to one of the asphalt walkways or in the grass in rows. If your booth is adjacent to a walkway there is a 50.00 surcharge.  We did not ask for a walkway booth but we were assigned one anyway which turned out to be a good thing.  Alabama is in a severe drought and the walkway helped keep the dust down a little. Load in was easy as you can drive up to your spot and stay there until you are done.  There are 250 artists so with all the vehicles it did get a little crowded.  But, everyone cooperated and things went smoothly. We finished at about 5:15 and when we put our hotel address in the GPS that little female voice said traffic jam on your route. We'd had enough of traffic delays for one day so we diverted to the very quaint Northport downtown and found a restaurant serving alcohol.  We sampled their martinis and burgers and then headed to the hotel in Tuscaloosa.

The show opened at 8am for "Very Important Patrons" so we were there by 7:15am.  There was a very nice artists amenities tent with coffee, juice, donuts, fruit and did I mention coffee.  We did not see any VIPs but the crowds flowed in a little later.  The people that came into our booth were interested in our work and asked engaging questions.  It was apparent that people come year after year as several said "this is your first year" or "you were not here last year". We were also impressed with the number of out of state people we met who came specifically for this show.  In some cases families had reunions centered on coming to the show.

We had a great sales day.  The closer it got to kickoff at 2:30 the crowd dwindled.  When the game started there were still some people checking out the show taking advantage of the newly opened space created when the Tide fans left.  These folks were fans of other teams that played night games.  Everyone is a football fan in this part of the country. We made several sales to those folks to close out the day.  

Saturday evening after the show closed there was an artist party at the Kentuck Art Center in downtown Northport.  By the time we found a place to park the food line was very long but the wine line was very short.  We had a couple of glasses while we waited for the line to work its way through.  By the time that happened there was not much left so we went to a nearby restaurant and took in some football and dinner. A great way to end the day.

We had high hopes for Sunday.  The Tide had won big, no college football to interfere with art shopping, and the weather like Saturday's was going to be perfect. It did not work out that way.  It was a different crowd...more looking, less buying.  We still did OK but not like Saturday.  We did about 1/3 of the sales we made on Saturday.  I will say that from our unscientific survey sales results were mixed this year.  From the veterans of this show the crowd was down from previous years.  Since we had no prior experience we cannot provide a first hand assessment. 

The load out was a little chaotic with everyone trying to move vehicles into the park at the same time.  It was dark when we finished up which always makes it a little more challenging. 

There were so many positives about this show it is hard to list them all.  First, the crowd was art aware and in a buying mood on Saturday more so than Sunday. It was like they wait all year for this event and do not want to miss it.  The volunteers and staff were great to work with and did everything they could to help us succeed.  Drive up load and pack up was great, no need to dolly unless you were in a hurry. There were two food courts.  One had the typical fried fare you find at other shows. But, the other one near the performance stage had two local food trucks with outstanding stuff at good prices.  One sold out on Sunday and had to close early. There were music acts of various genres all weekend and they were for the most part great. The bottom line is that we had a great time once we managed to get there and we were very happy with our sales so what more can you ask for? Maybe to be invited back next year?  

I'm a 2-D artist selling prints of my digital paintings. I'm exhibiting at the One-of-a-Kind Show at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago for the first time. Two questions for you 2-D artists who have done the show in the past:

1. Should I bring my Pro Panels? Do most 2-D artists use them, or is it better to just stick with the white walls and use nails to hang things? 

2. Booths are given four track lights. Should I order a couple more? How's the lighting?

Thanks, John

We prefer to buy a new one, but if you have a used one that's white, clean & in good condition, please send a picture on here, Thanks!  Kathleen & Steven

 

	Ceramics by Scott Causey

To call this a first-year show would not do it justice. The show is produced by the former publicists for the Palm Beach Fine Craft Show (9 years) and Washington Craft Show (5 years). Many of the artists who made the Palm Beach Fine Craft Show one of the nation's best will be with us at Palm Beach Contemporary.  

The show organizers have earned the trust and respect of the artist community, and will continue to work hard on your behalf. We are locals, having been in this market for more than 25 years, giving us an advantage in terms of media support and organization.

Our story: We have spent nearly a decade building the Palm Beach Fine Craft Show, and when we learned it had been cancelled, our phone and email were inundated with requests from artists, asking us to produce a new show to take its place. We were humbled by their trust, and will do everything in our power to make Palm Beach Contemporary the best it can be.

The Marketing: full page ads in American Craft magazine, as well as PB Post, Sun-Sentinel and other print publications. Our excellent relationship with FLORIDA 

DESIGN assures us of great coverage. We will be on multiple TV and radio stations as well as online, on smart phones, desktops and tablets with over 2 million impressions.

A direct mail campaign will reach 50,000 targeted high income households, and we'll have 2-sided color inserts in the Palm Beach Post and NY Times, reaching a total of 300,000 subscribers in high-income zip codes.

Learn more: www.pbartshow.com /www.facebook.com/pbartshow/
Contact: Jeannette Parssi, jeannette@aeshowgroup.com

Well, I've done it. I've signed a lease on 1000 square feet of gallery in downtown Douglas, Michigan. We'll open for business in May. YIKES! Yes. It's crazy. Most galleries fold in a year or less. And, yes, I can show my work to more people on one weekend at an art fair, than I will probably reach in an entire season in my new gallery. But I'm still gonna do it. Here's why:

1. I did a test run a few years back in a gallery space on the highway outside of Saugatuck and Douglas. I kept that gallery open for one season and actually made money at it. I closed it because of the time commitment required for successfully keeping a gallery business going. I couldn't be there and at art fairs on those important summer weekends. This time I'll be hiring staff and sharing gallery duty with my wife, Marcia and other cooperating artists. I also did not like the location of this gallery.

2. I found a great space in downtown Douglas (instead of out of town on the highway), where art galleries are sprouting up like crazy. When I open in May, the LebenArt Gallery will be one of seven art galleries in Douglas, making the town a real gallery destination for art lovers. 

3. I have to admit it... I am an aging art fair artist, and the rigors of doing weekend outdoor art fairs are starting to get to me. I won't stop doing art fairs, but I plan to slowly ease off and schedule less shows over the next few years until I can see adequate financial success in the gallery.

4. I hope to differentiate the LebenArt Gallery from the other six galleries in town by the artwork I'll be showing. I'm a digital artist and I've enjoyed strong sales of my limited edition prints. My work has surrealistic overtones, with fantasy and humor mixed in. I'll be looking for other artists who want to exhibit similar imagery. The gallery will be heavy on digital art and digital artists, but I will be looking for artists in other media as well... especially 3-D (sculpture, ceramics, glass).

5. I've found some local artists who will exchange gallery time for exhibit opportunities. These artists will retain 90% of sales of their own work plus get a 10% commission on any work they sell while manning the gallery. These arrangements will allow me to remain sane and have a life outside of the gallery. They will also help when both Marcia and I have to exhibit in one of the major art fairs (Milwaukee, Belleville, Cherry Creek, etc.).

So, that's it. Big changes in the works for making a living in this crazy art business. Pop me an email if you'd like to know more about my plans. jleben@lebenart.com

My head is spinning from trying to figure out what happened with Cocoa Beach and the Space Coast Art Festival. Lots of confusion about why it was cancelled, whose fault it was and the challenge of receiving refunds for the artists (which I have heard are in the mail).

So, let's move on. If you're open that weekend and looking for a sweet show, run by artists, nearby, check this out:

Hello ,

         Every year I put together two small art shows on the west coast of Florida.  If you know me you know that I believe in the value of original art.  I publicize “The Best Little Art Show in Englewood” extensively to attract an educated art buying crowd so that every artist in the show will have a successful experience in my home town.  It is important to me to see smiling faces leaving the show after pack up on Sunday so I work very hard to make that happen.  

          I collect cards of amazing artists at the shows I do because my show is invitational, there are no jury fees and no jury, if you’re invited you are “in” provided you send the application back to me before the show fills.

          I have set the dates for my two shows and I hope that you will consider participating.  I have attached both applications for you to read, download, fill out and mail back to me with your check.  The first 60 artists fill the show.

          I'm excited to announce the 1st Annual Englewood Bank & Trust Invitational Thanksgiving Show on Saturday & Sunday, November 26-27, 2016.  Thanksgiving is a very busy weekend here in Englewood but there is never much to do besides eating turkey so I am giving the community a place to shop for original art and meet the artists who create it.  

          The 29th Annual Englewood Bank & Trust Invitational Art Festival is Saturday & Sunday, January 28-29, 2017.  This annual event attracts thousands of art buyers to our community each year looking to add original artwork to their collections.  Widely recognized as one of the best quality small art shows in Southwest Florida, the show fills quickly so send in your application soon if you want to participate.     

            My shows are small, just 60 artists and every year I work diligently to maximize publicity for these events to make them successful for everyone.  I hope they will fit your schedule.  I have attached both applications in PDF form.  Please read them (they will give you all the details you need to know about the area and the show), then print out the applications and send them in.

Please remember:  

~ The show is very Small and it's Invitational which means that I carefully hand pick my artists to have a quality well balanced exhibit.  

~ Each year sales get better and better which means that each year I have more artists accepting a space early.  

~ The show is first come, first served.  The first 60 artists that send in their applications and fees, FILL THE SHOW.  

November 3-December 24
Santa Barbara, California
Paseo Nuevo Shopping Center
Suite 101 (next to Nordstrom's)
50+ artists
Deadline:  October 17

The Yes Store is known for its impressive display of high quality hand-crafted art work including fine jewelry, ceramics, art glass, graphics, mixed media, photography, textiles, weaving, woodworking and somuch more.  This year customers will find us in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara's retail shopping area-the Paseo Nuevo Shopping Center.

*We accept applicants from San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles Counties.

I haven't posted in awhile. I have been busy so figured I would limit my posts to new shows for me.    This past week I attended the Zapp Art Festival Conference in Houston and showed at Bayou City Arts Festival Downtown in Houston Texas.  What a week.  I love me some Texas.

First a little bit on the zapp conference.  This was the first time I have gone.  One of the highlights was I finally had a chance to meet Connie Mettler.  Wonderful person and a great asset at the conference.  The conference was everything I had hoped for and more.  I will be there next year even if I am not doing the show in the same town.  Well worth the expense and time.  They offer an artist track and an Admin track as well as combined meetings.  I wanted to be in two places at once.  All the discussions were eye opening and informative on both sides.  If there are two of you split up.  That is what we did.  Michael attended the artist track and I attended the admin track.  We had two days with artists and show directors across the country mingling together and discussing our business.  I loved all of it. 

The best part for me was the mock jury.  You can send in a jury application and they set up a projected mock jury.  They had top jurors critique our images.  I have sat in on many open juries but those don't offer feedback.  This one did and even if it wasn't your set of slides you learned something from every single app.  That alone was worth the trip.  Zapp did a great job with the conference, selection of venue, discussions and speakers and a good mix of social time.  If possible attend one.  The conference really does deserve its own review.  Maybe Connie is up for that:)

Now the show.  Saturday 10am-6pm same on Sunday.  It was a bit hard on Friday to go from conference mode to show mode.  The conference ended on Friday and set up began late Friday.  The show is in Downtown Houston on the streets.  Houston is the 4th largest city in The States.  There is an $18 entrance fee for patrons but you do get a discount if you buy your tickets online.   The show offers hotel rates for the artists.  Doubletree is at the show.  We stayed at Whitehall since the conference was also held in the same place and about 5 blocks to the show.  The show had free parking for the artists at a lot not too far away.  Easy to walk to but harder to drive because of all the one way streets.  Doing a show for the first time is always stressful especially in a big city.

Load in.  Its downtown on the streets.  All the streets are one way.  I am so happy we were there early to get a lay of the land.  Load in involves lining up and officially they start letting people in at 8pm IF everything is clear.   If you can dolly in do it.  That is what we did.  We were able to start setting up right at 8pm because we dollied.  I think it was 9pm when vehicles arrived at our area.   We were done by 9:30pm and it was getting crazy.  Never so happy to have invested in the best dolly gear for our work.  Worth every penny.    There are some booths in the park.  they were allowed to start setting up around noon on Friday I believe.

Booths are on the streets and across from each other.  Our space was on McKinney in front of city hall.  The street was about 4 big lanes wide.  I think Bagby is a wider street.  Most booths had lots of storage behind on wide sidewalks.  Many artists blew out the back.  Like most shows some are shaded, tall buildings in downtown, and some not so much.  There are also some areas that get more wind then others.   If you are in a shaded area bring lights. 

The weather was close to perfect.  Houston is hot and humid.  Saturday was on the hot and humid side.  Not horrible but I did need to keep my hair up all day.  We never needed our fans though.  Sunday was awesome.  My hair stayed down all day and I don't think I smelled too much like an artist:)  I know many of us have different opinions on gate fees.  One nice thing about gate fees is that the show doesn't start until the official time.   Setting up late into the night on Friday makes it difficult to open up early if people want to start shopping early.  So it was nice that we didn't need to stress out about being ready before 10 am. 

Crowds were lining up early.  The patrons were ready to shop.  they came in strong right at 10 am and we never shut up or sat down until 2 pm.  It took two of us working the booth and we didn't get a break until around 2 pm to take turns to pee.   Sales were good but many were going home to measure.  I was a bit worried about that because of the gate fee.  Patrons were not allowed reentry into the show.  That is a big expense for be backs.   Saturday night we had people email and call us to finalize sales.  So the be backs work a little differently at this show. 

Sunday folks were lined up again to get in.  Crowds were strong  but not as crazy as Saturday.  For us the real big buyers came on Sunday.   we had a great day.  At the end of the show we had  folks contact us or arrive at the booth to try and wheel and deal but the pieces they wanted were gone.  Hope to pull out some commission work from them.

Load out was typical for an event like this. The show has lots of volunteers and they do a good job but a show of this size and on the streets of such a big city is not easy for anyone when it comes to load in and out.  We dollied out.  Again I was so happy we had all the right dolly out gear.  The show closed at 6pm.  They started handing out passes at 7pm.  We were leaving at 7:15pm and cars were just starting to come in.  On a happy side note the sunset was gorgeous during breakdown.  All the colors bouncing off the buildings stopped me in my tracks.   

Over all the show is well run. Excellent communication with the artists. If you read the emails you really didn't have any unanswered questions. Lots of volunteers, booth sitters, water and snacks. They even had an art drop off and pick up tent. If you sold a piece volunteers would pick up your piece and deliver it to a patron pick up tent. Great service. Actually had a patron so weighed down trying to carry her purchases that she dropped a piece and it broke. We contacted the show and they came and got all her purchases and delivered to the tent. She was able to continue to shop and pick up her new work at her convince. Great service.

I finally had the chance to meet The Mr. Nels Johnson.   One of my highlights of the show.  Can't wait to read his take on the show.  I have left out a ton about this show.  There is a lot to cover.   I don't have great pictures or know much about other artists sales.  We were just too busy to get around.  Overall the feed back I have from friends is that they were happy.    The pictures I did post are of our area on Saturday morning and of the Sunday people waiting to get into the show as I ran into the show for opening.   On the way home we would have loved to have stopped over in NOLA but we were too exhausted for that city so opted to stay at one of our favorite bed and breakfasts in Louisiana and be pampered. 

Next time we will do our best to add some time to Houston and visit more amazing Museums.  We did find time to go to Menil Collection.  Awesome.  Rothko Chapel is right there but I was too rushed and wanted to wait until I had more time.   We decided to apply to the spring show after this adventure.  Hope to get in and try that venue.

I did a show in downtown Philadelphia this weekend where there were heavy wind gusts.  Saw 1 tent (not sure of the brand, not an EZup, but was aluminum) have its one front leg lift up 7 feet off the ground and onto the tent next to it. Saw another tent (a Trimline) end up upside down on the other side of a 4 foot fence that ran behind our booths. 

A few reminders:

1) If you have weights hanging from your tent, secure them to your tent legs. In the first instance, the person's weights were swinging in the air after the front of the tent was 7 feet off the ground.

2) if the winds are strong and are coming in from the front of your tent, roll up your sides or at least unzip the back two corners to let the air flow thru your tent.  Both tents had their roofs and 3 sides on them.  Both tents ended up becoming kites. As soon as the wind started, I removed all three of my sides.

3) Have enough weight.  I had 6 GreatWeight bags (from Trimline) each with around 40 pounds of pea gravel.  Both tents that had issues did not have enough weight.

Both exhibitors got off pretty easy - no one got hurt and there was minimal damage to merchandise. Could have been way worse.Please be prepared for wind.

Belleville, IL, hosts one of the finest art shows in the country, the Art Fair in the Square.  Seems like they are out there prepping their audience all year. Here's an article from the etiquette writer of the Belleville News-Democrat, Dianne Isbell, including such ideas as:

(Disclaimer -- she calls the exhibitors vendors, not artists -- still this all applies)

1. Do not take pictures

2. Ask permission first and ask for assistance as necessary if you want to try on something

3. Do not eat food of any kind in a vendor’s area

4. Do not place a stroller in a position that blocks other potential customers from viewing the vendors’ products.

5. MY FAVORITE:  Do not demean a vendor by attempting to haggle with them regarding the price of an item you wish to purchase.

6. Many, many more ...

May 12 & 13, 2017

Presented by: Artisphere
135 Artists

Application fee: $30; Booth fee: $400

Despite its short history, Artisphere has distinguished itself as both a national and regional highlight.  A supportive, art-loving community, beautiful setting, and over 600 volunteers make Artisphere an enjoyable experience for 135 exhibiting artists.  

In addition to a Purchase Awards Program that provides an average of $10,000-$12,000 in art sales Artisphere distributes $15,000 in prize money to eleven award winners each year.  

Average artist sales: $8200

Renowned artist hospitality includes:

• convenient set-up and load-out
• parking, security
• reduced hotel rates
• volunteer booth sitters and complimentary meals  

Artisphere's multi-media advertising campaign markets the festival throughout the Southeast region in print ads, print and digital ads in national travel and leisure publications, and regional radio & television ads.  Artisphere is also marketed through festival brochures, social media, the Artisphere website, and billboards.

Apply:   www.zapplication.org
Learn more:  www.artisphere.org 
Contact:  Robin Aiken, Robin@artisphere.org
Phone:  (864)271-9355

Celebrating it's 15th year of success, the highly acclaimed show is held at one of the most pristine venues in the beautiful Palm Springs Desert Resorts area, the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, home to the BNP Paribas Tennis Tournament.

Artists travel from across the Nation and from as far as Japan, Africa, Central and South America, the United Kingdom, Europe and beyond each year to showcase their contemporary and traditional fine art and high quality craft.

The Festival is consistently ranked as one of the "100 Best Fine Art Shows" in the country by Sunshine Artist Magazine and "Best of the Best Art Festivals" by readers of Palm Springs Life Magazine.

• Easy artist check-in and express check-out
• Real-time show updates and communications
• Complimentary artist hospitality with fresh snacks and beverages
• Privately gated venue with 24-hour security and unparalleled state-of-the-art facilities which include on-call booth sitters; free Wi-Fi internet access; luxury on-site restrooms
• Live jazz and entertainment designed to indulge and motivate buyers
• Guests are greeted as VIPs with free and valet parking available, event programs, and free 'be-back' passes
• Interactive activities and artist demonstrations
• gourmet specialties at the Gourmet Market Place lining the festival entryway
• Local charities incorporated as Festival Partners, with donations towards their are scholarship funds
• Sat. & Sun. "Eggs + Champagne in the Garden" brunch menu till noon
• Champagne Circle Bar and RumChata Bar service, and full-menu restaurants in the shaded courtyard pavilion