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How to Photograph Your Booth

The September (200 best shows) issue of Sunshine Artist came out this week. It contains a four page article I wrote on how to photograph your booth. It also has some examples of clean booth photographs I've taken for artists in different mediums.

The article isn't on my web site yet as per my deal with Sunshine Artist, but I do have the example booth photos I've submitted. All booth pictures were submitted with permission from the artists.

http://bermangraphics.com/artshows/photograph-your-booth-article.htm

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

Nick Wroblewski is a Midwest based printmaker specializing in hand cut wood block prints with an aesthetic reminiscent of the stylized Japanese masters, yet uniquely his own. Standing in his booth you know why you love art fairs. Not only do you see fresh exciting fine work but you also get a glimpse into the lives of the creators.

In his childhood Nick traveled with In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre. The group toured down the Mississippi River, performing in every state from Minnesota to Louisiana. He grew up in a community that supported the arts and is still deeply connected to the artists that inspired and encouraged his development. He is still an accomplished stiltwalker.

He has worked with Jim Henson Productions; traveled to Brazil with a jungle tour company where his experiences there caused him to a commitment to printmaking. Nick developed a series of prints of the local flora and fauna that ultimately were used in a tour guide book.

He has continually refined his printmaking skills while working with a timber company, the Neu Erth Worm Farm and in the Northwest Territories of Canada producing many woodcuts of the landscape and its inhabitants. His work is usually derived from the natural world and he is deeply committed to the continual exploration and development of his artistic growth.

This is what he says the traveling artist's life is:

• taking the initiative to learn about how things come together, honing the skill, tackling it and finishing the work in the studio
• the final process is the opportunity to travel and share the imagery with new folks, a satisfying component of the entire process and the final step
  

He not only creates images for sale at the nation's best art fairs he teaches workshops, has gallery shows, designs images for t-shirts, illustrates magazines and has found many commercial uses for the images he loves to create. In the midst of this he is deeply committed to the continual exploration and development of his artistic growth.

Nick was the poster artist for the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair in July 2014 and the t-shirts with his images were great sellers.

Meet him this month:
Aug. 22-24 - Art in the High Desert, Bend, OR 

Aug. 30-Sept. 1 - Art In The Pearl, Portland, OR

Learn more about Nick and his work 

I recently returned from a month in Colorado doing art shows and only have time to do a combo review.  This was my first time showing in Colorado and what a great experience.  The three shows I was a part of was Cherry Creek, Open Arts in Boulder and Cheesman Park in Denver.  Here we go.

I have lived in Atlanta for 16 years and I haven't spent one summer here.  Way too hot, so I always found somewhere else to go to enjoy the summer months.  This year I decided to try Colorado.   On the drive out we decided to enjoy the journey and spent a night in Nashville enjoying the nightlife and then a night in Kansas City which was a good place to recover from the nightlife in Nashville.

First  stop was Cherry Creek.  I was a roadie for my partner and it was the first time either of us had gone to the show.  Obviously we were excited to be part of this one.  I am not sure how much needs to be reported on this show as far as layout and such since this is a rather famous show, but I will do a quick rundown.  Big Big show.  Streets run parallel to each other with booths down each street and a perimeter of booths around.   Booth lay out is on the street against the curb with no booth across from you. The area has chain stores, boutiques, restaurants and galleries.  Depending on what is behind you may have a lot of room or just a little but it seemed most had a decent amount of room in the back on the side walk. The booths were not too tight IMO so we weren't packed in. 

This year there was A LOT of construction.   Many of the streets are one way and dead end so between all these obstacles is was confusing to get around.  Three day show, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Thursday set up during the day for most unless you were on the dreaded Columbine St and yes we were on Columbine, more on that one later. Set up was after 5pm for that street.  Luckily all the artists that do this show are pros and the police seemed to know that and let us all work it out.  The outer perimeter streets are wide and easy for all of us to fit, unload, set up and get around each other.  All in all a relatively easy set up considering. 

Friday this year was the 4th of July.  It was hot.  People came early.  Patrons didn't seem to care about prices and wanted art.  This is a big show and most of the people will walk the entire show before they make a decision.  There is a lot of competition for the sale because everyone in this show has amazing work.  Starting at lunch and between 4pm the show seemed to come to a lull.  It was hot and I think it was siesta time.  This was true all 3 days in our area.  After 4pm the patrons came back out and would get serious. 

Now back to Columbine Street.  There was some controversy with the artist and this area.  Many of the people didn't know there were booths on this street.  There was a lot of construction on the street and construction on the streets that lead to Columbine so it looked like the show was over.  This street definitely had about a third of the traffic that the rest of the show received.  BUT I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing depending on what type of art you sell.  This show gets huge crowds.  Often when there are big crowds people just shuffle thru the herd.  We didn't have that problem because our street was never crowded and if you walked down our street then those people saw every booth.  Also many of the popular streets had distractions like women in feather bikinis doing acrobats on ropes and  big vendors and other performances that distracted from the art.  Again we didn't have this problem on Columbine.  And finally those patron who were serious about spending thousands on fine art were going to make the rounds.  So if you are not a spontaneous seller than being on Columbine wasn't a bad thing.  Since it is an art show and there are artists there complaining will happen no matter what.  Personally I would be happy to show on this street again.  Pros and Cons to all spots.   

Sales, they were all over the board just like any other show.  Most people were happy.  Many were ecstatic.  Some wouldn't come back.   All of our sales happened between 4pm and 6pm on Friday and it was an AMAZING show for us.  Go figure, but people were ready to drop big bucks.   It is Cherry Creek folks.  If it is your market you are going to make some money. 

Ok on to Boulder.  Open Arts Fest.  What artist wouldn't love Boulder where even if you have a bad show you can smoke it (as long as it isn't tobacco), drink it or hula hoop it out.  Great town and great group who runs it.  This is a college town, reminds me of Berkeley but with people who would rather have fine art than fancy cars.  The main part of the show runs along a bricked outdoor mall.  Funky stores, some higher end stores and restaurants.  Booths are laid out here and there.  You pay more to be on the mall.  There is one street that cost less on the actual street.  Set up for that is on Friday after 5pm, booths against the curb across from each other.  Room in back on the sidewalk.  Since it is on the black top it is about 20 degrees hotter and it is an off shoot from the show but a traditional set up.  On the mall the booths are set up here and there depending on the planters and kiosks and benches, etc.  Depending on where you are you may or may not have extra space.  You set up early Saturday morning.  Again pros and cons to each spot.  Still can't decide which area is the place to be.   Not a small show but not too big.  The organization who runs this show took it over 4 years ago and have turned it around to a fine art show. 

Since it is Boulder you get all types of people.  There is ALOT of street performance.  Some who have permission some who don't and most of it is very distracting to the arts but it is all entertaining.  Every booth is subject to it.    Luckily I had THE ABSOLUTE  BEST both Saturday and Sunday.  Evidently this is not a new thing for the area but it is new to me.  The Silent Disco!!!  This involves a wonderful women named Jody who likes to dance and her husband just want to get her out of the house.  All good clean fun.  So he bought her 20  high end head sets that blue tooth together and a bunch of hula hoops.  The headsets all synch to the perfect dance music.  It is free.  Folks put on the head sets and all dance together, in silence for  the rest of us, and you can add the hula hoops if you  want to.  PERFECT IMO!!!! if your booth has to compete with fire breather, a brass band, drummers or feather bikini acrobatics I pick the silent disco every time.

It was a VERY hot weekend for the area again,  And if you were from Colorado you would say humid but come on they don't  know what humid means in Colorado.   Ice cold water was served to the artists like nobody's business and the artist breakfast was first class.  Load out was a free for all.

Sales, well I don't know of anyone who had a killer show.  I was disappointed but will consider it for next years run.  Sales seemed to be down,  maybe it was the heat.  If you go treat yourself to The Black Cat reataurant, one of the best in the world.

Next up Denver again, Cheesman Park.  Second year for this show and not an easy show to get into.  Artists accepted into Cherry Creek were rejected from this one.  Go figure. Beautiful park and wonderful people to work with.  The show was small and most of the work was good.  Friday set up on the street that runs through the park.  Decent amount of space between each other and room on the grass behind.  Booths on one side.  The set up was on Friday and the show was Saturday and Sunday.   Parking a bit tricky, it is a big city.  You had to park about a mile or so away but they had shuttles to run us back and forth.  The patrons were similar to the Cherry Creek folks just not as many of them.  Again great people to work with.  All the Colorado people are so nice and that is coming from a southern women.  Break down not too bad for a park setting.  Just parked on a nearby street and dollied out, but if you were a tiny bit patient you could drive up to your booth and load then drive out. 

All in all the Colorado tour was a success.  IMO it is like doing Florida in the winter.  I try to escape the heat of the summer and go to higher ground.  There wasn't a drop of rain at any of the shows.  We enjoyed the Rocky mountains and all it had to offer including hiking, white water rafting and of course the amazing happy hours that include food and drink at all the fine restaurants.  You can live like royalty out there in the summer without spending too much $$$.  I love the healthy life style even at the food trucks.  Every show had recycle, trash  AND compost.  It made it easy to keep on track while on the road.

Finally Love and prayers  to the Teilhet family.  Rebecca brought joy into all our lives. We are all heart broken.

After a month of delays in notification from Disney Festival Of The Masters, I just received this email.

As you may be aware, Downtown Disney is undergoing the largest expansion in its history as it transitions into Disney Springs. While it certainly is an exciting time for us, it has presented challenges as we attempt to stage the 2014 Festival of the Masters. Much of the area that traditionally houses the Festival is unavailable due to the expansion work, and so I must share that we have made the difficult decision to not host the event.

We are sorry for any inconvenience or disruption to your schedule. Please be assured that if you paid an application fee, you will promptly be reimbursed. The enthusiastic support of the arts community has contributed to the long-running success of the Festival of the Masters. Therefore, we wanted everyone who submitted an application to be the first to know of this decision.

We value and appreciate all of your hard work, dedication and commitment to your art, the arts community and to this Festival. Walt Disney World Resort has long been an advocate and strong supporter of the arts and we remain committed to nurturing the arts.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time of growth.  

Keith Bradford

Vice President Downtown Disney

This is a review of the 39th Annual Sono Arts Celebration, held on Connecticut's "Gold Coast" town of South Norwalk, on Sat/Sun, August 16-17, 2014. The "celebration" consists of an art show, several music stages, food court and children's activities, all contained within two cross streets that juncture at the SoNo train trestle overpass.

I had been hearing mostly bad things about this show for several years but jeweler acquaintances supported it and said with the large crowds, it was still a "good selling show" for them. I decided to give it another shot, "jurying in" with both my line of porcelain jewelry and decorative porcelain wares. I had exhibited at this show many years ago, mostly in the nineties with my last participation being around 2004/2005. It was never a stellar show for me but yielded a decent profit and good times with its regular stable of artists and the ever popular "Puppet Parade". It was fun. There used to be great art by 200 or so artists run by very capable artist-organizers, even awards and a "somewhat" buying public. None of this remains. Partly due to the "somewhat" buying public but largely due to the state of things in general. South Norwalk has seen better days and this event has morphed into nothing but a crowded street fair.

I was impressed with the show's "Pre-show" materials that the management company emailed. The info was clear, well organized and alluded to some perks which led me to be very optimistic about the event. Not much of it proved to be all that accurate. I had the earliest set-up time of 5:30-6 am and the line of cars to get into the festival street hadn't moved until after 6 am because no one could find the staff to let us all in. With the light of day, the vacant storefronts and the homeless sitting on the benches were unsettling but nothing proved as maddening as the unswept streets, littered by several days' worth of refuse. Several other inconsistencies came into light as well: parking fees, no vegetarian option with Sat/Sun's free lunch, artist hospitality tent not well stocked. But this is the small stuff.

There were about 65 "artist" booths with only 60% really qualifying. The remaining were filled with buy-sell (cut-rate at that), DIY booths (henna, silk scarves, etc) and designer booths (work designed by them, made elsewhere). One such designer booth was the hit of the show with an under $10 product neither constructed nor decorated by them (it says it on their website). Quality overall was abysmal and clearly NOT juried at all. The music was not suitable for any art show with very loud hard rock throughout both days. Two days of nice weather (sun/clouds, temp's in the upper seventies, low eighties) brought out the crowds but sadly they were not there for the art fair, rather just to walk the streets.

Though, I did make a small profit (80% jewelry sales, 20% ceramic sales; $65 the highest priced item sold), I would not return to this event. It was uncomfortable. The puppet parade wasn't even fun anymore, with only a handful of puppets making the rounds...if you blinked, you missed it. For anyone who remembers, this used to be a huge draw, as art organizations, clubs, high schoolers, etc., would construct life-size puppets to parade with accompanying drums throughout the festival streets. It would last 20 minutes or so. I was so bummed. And yes, the jewelers who had done so well in years past, were complaining about how dreadful sales were this year, too. Even a couple of painters who had enjoyed "great" sales last year, echoed the jewelers' sentiments. In the end, it's a street fair in a with an expensive buy-in. So sad.

What are your thoughts about judging at art festivals? 

BlackTree Studio Pottery just completed a weekend at the Lakeshore Arts Festival in Michigan City, Indiana, organized by the Lubeznik Center for the Arts. 

I'm always perplexed by this art fair's categories which are:2-dimenisional | Fine Craft | Jewelry | Photography | Sculptural Objects | Wearable Art. I don't understand the logic behind their categories when judging the best works in this show. Here's why...with 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place in each category, there are 6 winners representing 2-d and photographer. While they distinguish these mediums, as well as jewelry, and wearable art, the "fine craft" category packs in pottery, glass, wood, metal and any medium that does not fit into the other categories. 

As a result, some years there may be not pottery or glass for example, but no matter what the quality there will always be 3 photographers who are awarded a prize.

What's the best way to judge an art festival? Do you think judges should have specific qualifications? Please share your opinion. 

Robert Wallis has already contributed to this one in a previous blog, please read it.

I love this show.

When I think of this show, this is what immediately comes to mind.

Enthusiastic crowds, lots of them on the young side.

Good Kentucky bourbon, a measured shot of 24-year-old Pappy Van Winkles now goes for $64--yikes!  Hot Browns and Pecan Pie.

People are happy to see us, and actually look at the art--how refreshing.

It is a mellow setup on Friday.  I was at the bandstand before noon checkin, knew where my spot was, number 6.  I was out of there by 3 pm, had a leisurely lunch at a restaurant  in between setting up and stocking the booth.

The show is held at Woodland Park just outside of downtown center.

Lots of old trees with lots of shade, some booths like mine are in direct sunlit, but most are shady.  You can tie-down into the ground.  Ample storage behind the booth.

Committee is mellow, helpers are helpful, all the artists are cordial to each other.  This show is the kind that I started doing in the late 70's, it is why I stayed in the biz.

What was really exciting was to see a crowd that actually looked at the art in the booths.  There was none of this herd instinct with everybody milling down the center aisle without looking in the booths.  Which we saw lots of recently at Minneapolis and Ann Arbor, among others.

And they bought art.

Mostly lowend, but they bought.

My new hand-colored work resonated with this crowd.  My neighbor with his woodcuts did a spectacular biz all days.  The clay people behind me were wrapping steadily.

This crowd buys mostly traditional work.

I have done this show at least six times and have never had a bad show.

At Saturday end, I was quite happy with the day's sales.

We all knew by the forecast that Sunday would be iffy.

Sure enough, Sunday started out grey and then turned to rain.  I actually made some of my best sales while it rained.  It did not drive the crowd away, but attendance was half of Saturday's.

Around noon, the rain was done and people started looking more seriously.  We expected another deluge to hit us by teardown, but we lucked out.

The belly-dancers did their usual show from 3:30-5pm and the crowds whooped and hollered.

I was torn down in an hour-and-a-half (Normal for me) and out of there with some nice loot.

OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SHOW AND SALES.

They threw out HRI, good riddance and kudos to the committee.

There were not as many scab booths set up around the park as in past years.

Overall, the show was well-juried.  Not a lot of B/S to be seen.

There were not a lot of big 2-D packages going out of there, but that has been the pattern everywhere lately.

Prices under $100 seemed to be the rule of the day.

We actually got "be-backs" at this show--how refreshing.

The committee listens to us and is very helpful.  Kudos to Kelly and her staff for a well-run show.

I would come back in a heartbeat for this show.

On the CLC card I got Red Roof for $37 per nite out by the interstate.

Gas was at $3.28 in most places.

Pappy's was $100 at some restaurants (that's for a shot--not kidding)  I did not partake of any.

Being a college town (UK) there are many great choices for food.  Think Hot Browns, Pecan Pie, chopped salads, good barbecue, and great chops and steaks.

Malones, out by the interstate off of Man-o- War  Blvd. is a must.  

They have sports bar with 20 million TVs, also they have sushi as well as burgers.  Then they have chop house inside, then they have an outdoor covered patio bar.  You can eat cheap, or you can spend a lot.  They sell Pappy's there for $100.  I did not imbibe.

I love the Kentucky shows (St. James too) I just wish there were several more I could do.  It is a seven hour ride for me from Saugatuck, Michigan.  I see lots of red barns and endless corn fields.  I just crank up the Sirius Radio and set the speed and off I go.

Hope this post was helpful.  Jump in with any concerns or remembrances of your own.

Lots of AFI-ers at the show.  Lots of named  exhibitors who do shows nationwide there.

It is not an easy jury as Robert Wallis noted, but well worth striving for.

I just wish we had more shows like this one to do on the circuit.

Later, Gators, Nels.

Recent discussions here and on various other forums I am involved in led me to post about the Amazon Local Register in a group I am involved in Creative Bead Chat .  One of the admins asked me to do an article to be published on their website.  They also had just featured my work in their online magazine.

So I got busy and compared Square/Amazon/Paypal one of which I currently use and I'll do an update once I use the other two at shows.  Here is a link to the article if you are interested.

What's an Artist to DO!

Creative Bead Chat has over 9000 members on Facebook and I was there when it started so it was great to be added as a contributor.

Here is a link to the magazine

     This was the eleventh consecutive year that I have done this show.  Golden is the county seat for Jefferson County whose motto is “Gateway to the Rocky Mountains”.  Golden is known for the Colorado School of Mines and the Coors Brewery.  The weekend of the art show is the time that students are moving into dorms.

     The show is set up for three blocks along Eleventh Street.  Food courts and music stages are at both ends of the show.  The Golden Chamber of Commerce manages the event.

SET UP & TAKE DOWN: Both are easy because “Traffic Czars” keep the center lane of the street open.  You can drive to your booth location.

Most booths have space behind them but some have bushes with only a gutter width.

ATTENDANCE: The Chamber states that the attendance is upwards of 30,000.  The event is well publicized in the Denver metro area.  People show up an hour ahead of the official opening time of 10:00am and start buying, and the crowd is there until close ng time at 5:00pm both days.    

AMENITIES: The artist reception is put on by the Table Mountain Inn and they don’t cut any corners.  There was great food and a selection of beers and wines.  This year the reception was in the great hall of the Episcopal Church, which has some fantastic architecture and art work.   The Golden hotel maintained a break room and provided lunch for artists.  There are booth sitters, morning coffee and pastries, and water during the day.  We were the next to the last artists off the street after dark at 8:45pm, and there was still a volunteer on site.   

SALES: My sales at this show have consistently been in the $3K-$5K range.  This year’s sales were down about $700 from last year but the show was a “solid double” even if I didn’t “hit it out of the park”.

My average sale was $59 which was pulled down by little kids buying $3 bandanas from the sets of napkin rings.  The best sellers were belts in the $40-$85 range with some $200 special order belts thrown in.  The rest were a mix of gun leathers, dog tack and personal leather goods.  Artists in my area (wildlife painter, jeweler, photographer and potter) all said they had a good show. Others had a “slow” show.

WEATHER: Friday afternoon during set up, there was a rain shower with some lightning. Saturday was hot in the low 90s, but Sunday was bearable with some cloud cover.

ACCIDENTS: An Easy Up with no weights blew over during set up and dented the fender of my neighbor’s new van.  I didn’t see the other accident, but I heard about it at the reception.  An older woman artist, hit the accelerator instead of the brake, panicked, hit a car then hit a tree.

GENERAL: Nuts and bolts are in Art Show Reviews on this site.  There was a good mix of high quality art and absolutely no buy/sell. There was also a good mix of out-of-state artists with the Colorado crowd.   Artists at other shows have commented that it is difficult to get into the Golden show. City tax is collected at the end of the show, but you pay state and county taxes on line. The tax rate was 7.5%. 

We had a good run of information in July this year. Scott Pakulski kept us abreast of happenings in his corner of the Midwest, including Toledo, Plymouth (MI) and his first year at Ann Arbor. Marge Luttrell got a good discussion going on the big CPFA in State College, PA. Sandhi Schimmel Gold shared the heartbreaking news of a fellow artist's tragedy and Jacki Bilsborrow shared a cops and robbers exploit.

Maryllis Wolfgang and Barrie Lynn Bryant were chosen to receive the coveted Red Dot on their profile for all their contributions to the site. Everyone, please join me in thanking all these people who keep AFI alive and well and bringing you the art fair news.

This show is a hard one to get into. The last time I was in this one was four years ago, and was one of my highest grossing shows in a very long time. I kept getting rejected after that, and decided to make some significant changes on the jury images. It worked :-)

Set up was on Friday starting at noon. I managed to get there in mid afternoon, and went off from home without the map and the check-in point, of which there were two. We found the most obvious one, and of course it wasn't the right one. The volunteer gave us directions to the other one, which was on the far side of the city park this show is held in. Unfortunately, the young volunteer was a little sketchy on the details, and it took some back-tracking to find the entrance. Once in, we found the check in tent, and after getting the packet, same problem as before, the volunteers were a little stumped at showing where the space was physically. The park has numerous sidewalks we can drive on, but exact directions are a little spacey. The problem would be easily solved with some 1x2's driven in the ground with a placard stapled on pointed to each grouping of booths. No big deal, but it did waste some time trying to find the space. On the positive side the spaces were spray painted on the grass. I did have a few other artists that afternoon ask if I knew where such and such booth was, so I was not the Lone Ranger on this :-)

Space was adequate, although there was some irregularity with booth dimensions. My neighbor had about 9 feet side to side and I had about 12 feet. The problem was solved at the local level, and I set up on the far side of my space and that left us with a nice gap between the tents. The space behind the booth was about 8 feet to be shared with the artist behind you. Certain sections had no one behind them and could park there the last time I was there. Artist parking was close by on a softball field, that I had no problem walking to despite bum knees.

Saturday opened up a bit overcast, but good weather was in the forecast. large crowds showed up, and you could see the crowds filter in from the show entrance making their way to the further reaches. It was a nicely diverse crowd of all ages,and we had a lot of traffic. Sales were slow initially and I was getting concerned . A few pieces sold, but still not enough to take away the worry. The weather reports shifted during the day and some worries were there. The day ended on a worrisome note for me. The mixed media artist behind me had the magic formula of low price point, $30 for a small nicely matted attractive piece about 6x9 size, and they were flying out of her bins, frequently 2-4 pieces per customer. It's giving me pause to reconsider how I handle my low price point work, i.e.;cheaper, smaller, and interesting matting. Another artist, working with papers, was struggling on Saturday. One jeweler was doing very, very well, and another was unhappy and grumpy with his sales.

Sunday morning loomed nasty looking, gray, overcast, and rainy. The weather radar showed a large nasty, and state sized storm cell coming in from the west around Illinois and lower. It looked pretty bad. We arrived around 8:00 and started setting up a rear canopy and battening down for severe rain. I decided to pass on the awards breakfast and set up the tent and storage tubs for the rain. The back neighbor arrived and we decided to overlap the back flaps so we were both under a roof, as it were. I did find out for myself later on where the holes in my tarps were :-( it's time for new side tarps, no doubt about it. A fiber artist neighbor behind me catty-cornered was breaking down as we were getting prepared. They did poorly on Saturday, and decided the heavy rain coming was going to kill the show, so they were getting out of Dodge. They leave, and about 30 minutes later, the awards are announced. You can guess who won the award for fiber :-) Money was involved, but I don't know if anything was cancelled or not. The organizers did know quickly that the artists had pulled out.

As a side note, Hudson River Industries was in the show initially but was removed.

The rains did arrive, and I had some spray into the booth but a cloth clipped to the awning kept the mist out and the tent open. I was pleasantly surprised that i managed to eke out some decent sales of canvas prints and framed pieces, besides the flip bin work. I was about 40% down from four years ago, but considering the rain and weather, I was happy enough to make a profit after all expenses. I did hear that another photographer was struggling to break even and another one zeroed out. It may be significant that  the one who did zero has primarily large scale and high price point canvases. A couple of well-known photographers who almost call this show home weren't here this year.

The rain came back again but didn't last that terribly long, but it did impact the crowd. There were major concerns about load out due to soggy ground and turf damage. I didn't bring my 4-wheeled cart, just a little folding cart, and if that scenario unfolded with the vehicles on the sidewalks and everyone in line, the estimated load out time would probably extend into next Tuesday. Luckily, they decided to let us drive on the grounds. I took my time loading up, finishing up almost last of the artists still loading up, and got out about 5 minutes before the drizzle hit again.

I didn't get a chance to see Nels, as he was at the far end of the show from me, but I would have told him to check out Joe Balogna's restaurant about ten minutes from the show. They have great pizza and fantastic fresh baked breadsticks with garlic butter. The building they're in started as a synagogue in the 1890s with the stained glass windows still there. I've seen Ashley Judd there before as she always stops there when she's in town.

Despite some of the young volunteers not knowing the show layout, they were everywhere bringing water and checking to see if you needed a break. Portapots were everywhere in close walking distance, the fair food was unusually good and decently priced. The Thai curry chicken was $9 and the bowl was enough for two to share. Coffee was available from a funky little "canned ham" trailer. Organization was very good with communications several times, and Kelly, the show coordinator, made it a point to come around and introduce herself to every artist. This is a show you can be comfortable with. They can't control the rain, but they were out spreading straw to keep the mud and grass damage to a minimum. It was a show done with a smile. 

I am half way through my second year of participating in Art Fairs and thanks to all of the suggestions and Art Fair critiques each show I have done this year I have been in the "black".  Last year I was fortunate enough to "break even" (booth fee, gas and food) at each show and considered it a "learning year".  Following are my learnings from last year and how I adjusted this year with great results.

- Research the shows that are a "fit" for your work.  Because I still work full time at another job, I keep my shows local and the price point for booth fees is $100.  That helped with expense and was a good price point to let me give this a try without going broke.  I am still struggling a little with "what sells" but am not ready to give up on any of the shows I did last year. I realize sales results can change from year to year and the market is finicky so I look for local, well organized shows.

-While at the show take the time to walk around and look at displays that are the same medium as your work.  In my case photography.  I also spend time with other photographers asking questions about the display and what has worked and not worked in the past.  As stated over and over on this site, a professional display will bring in buyers.  Last year I had such a "hodge podge" of work displayed, I see now how fortunate I was to make any sales.  I don't know how customers could see what I had for sale.  No rhyme or reason, the framed pieces did not match what I had in the baskets.  Also my framed pieces were on a small shelf.  I invested in mesh panels, all pieces are framed in black and my baskets only have reproductions of what is on my wall.  Keeps the inventory down to something manageable.

-Respect the space of your neighbors and do not complain out loud about your sales or the way the event is organized.  Move your vehicle when you are done unloading and don't encroach on their space. I realize I have to spend a weekend with my neighbors and don't want to burn any bridges with the organizers. I know that if my sales are not very good, at this point in my experience with Art Fairs it could be the show is not a fit or I need to adjust my display or sales technique. Be genially happy for those around you that are having a good show and take the time to congratulate them.  I find staying positive makes the weekend much more enjoyable. 

-Get to the show with plenty of time for set up.  I have forgotten a few things and was glad I had time to run to the local Walmart for replacements.  (Last show I forgot the table cloths for my tables).  When those around me saw my dilemma they all were so helpful.  One of the artists offered her rugs for my table but a local caterer gave me some table cloths to use.  (One of the things I have found I love about doing Art Fairs is the camaraderie of all of the Artists and the locals.) 

-I have learned to pack a cooler with plenty of water, lunch and snacks.  Also I learned the hard way to make sure I have comfortable chair to sit in!  I dragged around a card table chair all of last year and have switched to something more comfortable.  I would like to get a directors chair so I can sit and be eye to eye with customers, but that will have to wait until next year.

-Read Art Fair Insider blogs and keep learning from the veterans! And contribute to the Art Fair reviews so others can get the same benefit that I have gotten from this group.

My second year has been great so far.  Not enough in sales to quit my "day job" but the sales are trending up so that is encouraging. I plan on adding to my list of applications for next year and am looking forward to continuing this venue.  My heartfelt thanks to all of you!

I was prepared for this one. I knew about the treacherous terrain, the challenging load in/load out. But folks I know who are in the know, said I would kill here, so, even though we couldn't find Mt Gretna on the map, off we went to Pennsylvania.

Did you know there is a Little League World Series in Williamspot, PA? Oh yes. And the traffic backup was incomprehensible. I mean, they knew it was coming, right? Anyway, Russell was able to maneuver around it using gut instinct and we only lost an hour. Eventually, the GPS was able to find Mt Gretna and delivered us right into the arms of the man with the yellow vest and flashlight. By then it was almost 6, so a lot of the chaos was over. Our spot was off Pennsylvania, in the woods but not hidden and it was in the path to the porta-potties, food court and music, so the hope was that basic instincts would bring the people to us on their way to other things.

Load in was not too bad. We were able to park on the main road and carry in our stuff. Forget dollying unless you have tires on your rig that were army surplus tank tires. A minor altercation took place on the main road between two guys, each challenging the other to move. I was tempted to advise they pee around their spots and get on with it, but I resisted the urge and kept on lugging gear.

Our spot was lovely, had great back space and we had cool neighbors. We also had a sink hole smack dab in the middle of the booth space. It was deep enough to stagger a person and I knew I had to either redesign the thing or come up with a way to warn people. Eventually, I filled the hole with rocks from the sidewalk, stuck a tree branch in it and made a sign that said "careful!" Not classy, but it made many visitors chuckle. Turned out to be a good ice breaker.

So, Saturday was pretty good. My first customer spent over $300 which is good for me and I was hopeful. Turned out to be awesome, I never had a chance to leave the booth because the traffic was constant, I was jazzed, I had found another good show! And then, Sunday morning it rained.

Now, some folks, wake up, look out the window, see rain and stay home. Smart people check the forecast. The forecast was for a beautiful day after 12 and it was. Sadly, only the smart people came out. The port potties were pristine at 2 o'clock. What does that tell you? My sales tanked as they did for almost everyone around me. Some people did well, but not many from what I could see. Very disappointing.

There was decent food in the food court, the music was loud enough to enjoy but not so close that it interfered with your ability to chat up buyers. You get a free t-shirt but you never see anyone from the organization after that. No, I take it back. One lady in a booth sitter cap stopped by early Saturday. The setting is beautiful, even with the ground being an obstacle course. But when I factor in gas and hotel and booth fee, I would have actually made better money staying with the local show that I dropped in my search for fame and fortune in Pennsylvania.

Wise veterans say you should never judge a show after just one shot. I'm just not sure I have the energy or money to try again. Something to ponder over the Winter.

Well - what a difference a week makes!  I raved about the HDG Seafood Festival last week, and now I must be objective about the Art Fair.  It's not a BAD event.  If it did not follow the Seafood Festival a week later in the same exact place, it might even be a good one.  Here's my 2 cents worth:

• Organization - less than super.  Promoter moving artists around, creating new spots, backing trailers between tents with less than a foot clearance each side, etc.  Need better planning and stick to it.
• Artist accommodations - Pretty much none.  Quite a hike to the porta potties.  They did bring surveys around.
• Artist mix - pretty decent
• Buy/Sell - More than the Seafood Festival!  And this is an art show.  One double space with the word "Craft" in it's name was 80% cheap chinese fake murano glass and Origami Owl knockoffs.  
• Quality of Vendors - all over the place.  One was selling pvc flamingos that come from china, they spray paint them and sell for $25.  They even repacked them in the chinese boxes.  While this is "Craft", it is certainly not "Fine Craft" and has no business in an Art Fair.  Same goes for the $2.00 per strand beads on Elastic.  Craft, but not Fine craft, IMHO.  The true artists were well represented and very, very good.
• Layout - strange, but not bad
• Customer mix - all over the page.  Compared to the prior week, the 'economically challenged' clientele was a larger percentage, and much more challenged, and the upscale customer was more upscale.  Many more customers that were unable to dig into the purse, lots of "I can't afford anything until payday - do you sell online".
• Sales - so-so, but not bad unless compared to the prior week.  Taken as a whole, the 2 shows together work for us.
• Food vendors.  Don't bother.  Bring your own or go down the steps to the Promenade Grill.  Vendors we overpriced and low quality (soft serve was the exception - very good)
• Other notes - too darn many dogs.  We are dog owners.  We love dogs.  If shoppers have dogs that don't get along with people or other dogs, please leave them home.  Vendors - if you have things blocking passage outside your tents, please make this the first thing you move.  Had to walk an extra 50 yards to the truck with the dolly because of a blocked (unnecessarily so) pathway.

I would not drive 100 miles to do this show, but since we are already here for the Seafood Festival, it was convenient, the setting is awesome, the atmosphere was very enjoyable, the promoter was nice and easy to work with.  Next year - double booth please, it will give us a better shot at good numbers!

October 18 & 19

Atlanta, Georgia

Olmsted Linear Park

125+ Artists

Deadline: August 22

Join AFFPS for their three time award winning Fall Festival on Ponce on October 18-19 in Atlanta.  This event will feature over 125 local and regional artists with the beautiful back drop of historic Olmsted Linear Park.

The Fall Festival on Ponce is an Atlanta arts and crafts festival. Visitors will enjoy the gorgeous landscape designed by one of America's most celebrated landscape architects,  Fredrick Olmsted Sr., which was carefully restored by the Olmsted Linear Park Alliance.  

An estimated 20,000 visitors will attend this event with over 125 displays of fine art and crafts, folk and "outsider art."

In addition to the abundance of unique art, there will be a children's area, local gourmet food, beverages and a small stage for acoustic musical performances. Attendance is Free.

This is the third year the AFFPS will hold an outdoor arts and crafts festival in the chain of parks on Ponce de Leon Ave. in the historic Druid Hills neighborhood. This event supports this historic park and we use it conservatively with sensitivity and consideration for the park and surrounding neighborhood.

Learn more : www.festivalonponce.com 

Apply today:  www.Zapplication.org

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2014 shows are NOT all closed, find more right here: www.CallsforArtists.com

You know you want to say, "I was there!" Then stop dawdling, head to Zapp right now!

Newest news to give you pause: 

• We are receiving huge support from art community
• Over 15 national recording artist performing
• Our Media Campaign is in high gear, blanketing the region
• Social campaign is driving over 300,000 impressions a week

The Huntington Beach Fest has major promotion partners, a great relationship with local art museums and is hitting your demographic in an underserved area. Be there! 

September 5-7
Huntington Beach, California
Pacific Coast Hwy & Beach Blvd.
150 Artists
Deadline: August 15

We know we were late getting the announcement out on this new show, but we have been working over time ever since to make up for that lost time. Lots has happened on this show since the initial announcement. Artists have many questions and the organizers are eager to answer the most frequently asked ones: Answers Here

More questions? contact Jay Freedman now for answers: freedman@nfse360.com

A long time valued member of this site says he is tired of no action being taken on issues related with our business and will be leaving the site.

An advertiser who has tantalized me with an opportunity fails to complete the deal.

Poor attendance at an art fair which has delivered well in the past deals a blow to the pocketbook.

Unprecedented rainfall in NYC (13" in 24 hours!) destroys millions of dollars of property.

A beloved entertainer takes his life.

Endless problems of insurrection and political mayhem in other parts of the world seem unsolvable. And who is even thinking about how climate change that will affect future generations?

Feeling low this morning I turned on Morning Joe and then Good Morning America before I came to my computer. How long could I listen to that? It made things worse. Syria, Iraq, the Kurds, Gaza. OMG -- that was a wrong decision.

What do you do?

This first year event took place in my hometown of Jackson MI and was a combination of Fine Art, Taste of Jackson (restaurants) and a Run or Dye run. The fair took place in downtown Jackson on Michigan Ave which is a very wide street with plenty of room to set up. This was a juried event with a $35 application fee through ZAPP and a $100 fee for a 10 x 10 space. A $5,000 1^st place, $2,500 2^nd place and $1,000 third place prize was given for booth presentation.  There was also three $500 “people’s choice” given.  However the people’s choice was online voting and the total votes was close to 75,000 so it was more of an online popularity vote.  I would have liked to see that vote take place at the event with a ballot system.

Set up took place on Friday night, however registration started at 4:00 and the streets were not closed yet so the Artists had to wait until the streets closed at around 6:00.  There were some stragglers still parked on the street after the road closed and some of the Artist began set up before the road closure.

Saturday arrived and I was ready to go.  There were a few “first year misses”.  There was a volunteer tent set up but no “Information” area for those attending the fair to get information on what Artists and restaurants were at the event.  The participants were not given a sign with identification and booth number to place on the outside of our tents, nor was there any kind of name tag provide (which did become a little bit of a problem when the tent was full). Also, no “Artist Parking” space was identified.  Being familiar with the area, I found a spot very close to my tent. Traffic was steady all day Saturday and I did very well with my sales.  My price range is $5 to $130 and I made sales at all of the price ranges.  There were many Artist that had items for sale in the $500 to 2K range.  I talked to a few of the Artist and they were having difficulty selling anything in that price range.

The Sunday traffic was very slow and I did hear from many of the attendees that they did not even know about the event.  Another “first year miss” was the marketing campaign (plenty of marketing avenues but the marking only took place one week before the event). I did make some sales on Sunday and I would say that, for me, the event was a success.

All in all, I think the event was a success and the event organizers were very receptive to constructive feedback.  I will be attending next year and plan on providing the organizers a link to this blog, so please “pipe in” with any constructive feedback that you think may be helpful for next years event.