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This the final part of what I think before the season start.

As the first show comes and goes, I am writing the final part. I finish East Lansing Art Festival and walk out of there happy. I was not expecting to much out this show but I reach my goal and little more. Now the real test starts. Each month for here now I got 3 shows per month. From East Lansing I realize what it will take do for me to be successful. I realize the social media is source to promotion and a source find the negatives of the art shows. I realize while I will like to chat with other artist at the shows I should only walk away from my booth to eat lunch or bathroom break. I realize that before every show I need to work in promotion and marketing. I realize that need to keep producing new work every week.

The most important thing is to be polite to fellow artists and remember even I belong to a great community at the end is just all about me. I am the only one responsible for my success and more important my failures.  

What it means to most in the life I choose is that I can let down the people that help me one way or other (Munks, Nels, Barry, Carla, Larry B,  James P, Marie J,  Connie, Therese, Carole, Mom and somebody very special to because every time I sit down in my computer to work I see his work Richard LaMartina). Is funny Richard I never see myself doing this type of work and every time I take a picture for this series I think of you old friend and tears come to my eyes because you are not here anymore.

If they had a casino up here I might have had a better return but as it was an art show my odds of success dropped exponentially! My spouse likes to go to casinos to gamble, not much, maybe $20 or so on nickel slots. I used to tell her to give me the $20 and we'd both be ahead, she'd have the satisfaction of losing the $20 and I'd have the money to take her to dinner. Then I got the joke, maybe I should have given her the booth fee!
Having just finished the Art Market show in Estes Park, CO I'd better get my thoughts down quick! First though just the facts!

Show Hours and Dates: Art Market of Estes Park, Estes Park, CO

May 24 - 26 (Memorial Day Weekend), 9-5 Sat & Sun, 9-4 Mon.

Logistics:

The show is set up on the sidewalks around Bond Park in downtown Estes Park. So, as far as locations go, this show had high visibility from the main drag through town. A real plus, or so I thought. The volunteer staff from the show do a good job of wrangling the artists into their spaces and as people arrive at their own staggered time frame there was never a problem of over crowding.

Amenities:

No water, no snacks, some volunteer booth sitters for the occasional break. Clean regular restrooms in the town hall or the library around the corner.

Storage, Booth Space, Load-In/Out:

Depending on your location, most booths had storage space behind, not a lot of space but it was there! No space between booths to speak of. This is a small park and they really tried to make use of all the concrete acreage available to them. No booths were on the grass, perhaps to keep it from being trampled or keep people from making it a soggy mess when it rained. Which is did.

Demographics/Buying Trends:

The whole range showed up, all ages and types. The few artists I touched base with seemed content with their sales. A painter across from me sold two larger pieces above $200 each, an artist working with wood sold several large pieces throughout the weekend and another photographer said he sold well with unmatted/unmounted work. As for me, well it wasn't "nada" but it wasn't pretty! Based on my experience with other "mountain" shows in the past I filled in my inventory with lower price point items ($25) thinking they'd pull'm in. I sold three of them...all weekend. There were plenty of lookers and admirers but that was it. Reasons, I could speculate from now till next Thursday be-that-as-it-may-be see my reflections.

Quality/Range of Art:

This was not a high end FA show rather more of a craft show with some FA thrown in. The work that was there was well done.

Food:

There was the usual "Fair Food", one over priced hot dog wagon (with lemonade!) and the ubiquitous popcorn van! Estes Park is a town with plenty of restaurants a few are within walking distance of the park and you can call an order in and pick it up.

Reflections:

Years ago after trying different venues in Colorado I gave up on them and developed two guidelines: 1) don't do mountain shows and 2) don't do holiday weekend shows (with some exceptions). I broke both rules to try a show I hadn't done before. I have two guidelines...I should have stuck to them!

Why not mountain shows? They are small communities with limited means. Its not that they don't appreciate the art, they just can't afford it on wait staff salaries. They're looking for items that fit their budgets. I thought this show would be different as it is a major tourist draw. I know that isn't entirely true as there are those who can afford higher priced items, they just don't show up in droves.

Holiday shows? Well...its a holiday and in my experience people are typically looking for entertainment and not art. There are exceptions to this rule but they are few and far between.

One glaring observation I made. Estes Park is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. On any given weekend the sidewalks are packed with people crawling from one souvenir and T-shirt shop to another. You can hardly move! Not so this weekend. The place almost looked like a ghost town, there actually were more people walking through the art show than town. Even the restaurants were perplexed by this lack of traffic. This is mere speculation but it could have been due to a perception that Estes Park was "closed" due to the flooding and severe road damage from last September. CDOT went out of their way to reconstruct one of the major routes to town and had posted alternative routes to town. Could it have been that it was a rainy weekend in Denver? And so on and so forth.

Okay, now for the Dave Piper star rating! I'd give this show ✩ and that is because of the nice job of logistics by the volunteers of the art center.

I know it seems a bit far off to be thinking of hotel reservations for St. James but there are two conventions in town that week so the hotels are booking up fast. Again this year
I've managed to secure us a discounted rate at the Sleep Inn on Preston Hwy of $59 for a king and $69 for a double (the normal rate is $109 a night).
All the rooms have mini fridge, microwaves and flat panel tvs and they provide a free hot breakfast bar. The proximity to the show can't be beat about 3 miles away. It's safe, clean and free parking.
If you wish to book a room call the hotel direct at 1-502-368-9597 and let them know you want the artist rate approved by Sonny, the general manager.
As of today there are only 45 rooms left so if you're interested don't wait.

I didn't do East Lansing this year but last year vandals punched the backs of several tents overnight causing fragile items to break or fall to the ground. My pro-panels protected my work but the panels were pushed in slightly. Nothing but a good punch could jar my panels enough to move hanging work and some pieces were askew. I think the security needs to be stepped up a bit at this show since this is the 3rd year I've heard about vandalism.

Many thanks to all the people who sent support to our Pledge Drive. We drew the first 20 names in a yesterday and here are the winners:

1. Kay Gallagher
2. Suzanne Krongold
3. Marianne Caroselli
4. Andy Shea
5. Ann Light
6. Jill Banks
7. Pamela Burgess
8. Carol Joy Shannon
9. Robert Johnson
10. Maggie Zielinski
11. Gloria Danvers
12. Lisa Fair
13. Robert Stein
14. Susan Hohman
15. Sue Kroll
16. Laurie Leonard
17. Janie Manaski
18. Bonnie Eastwood
19. Lisa Loudermilk
20. Brian Miller

Congratulations to each! Several of them were winners last year too.

To claim your prizes visit the Prize Page, choose your top 4 prizes and send me those choices: info@artfaircalendar.com, and I'll make arrangements for fulfillment. While many people had their eye on the top prizes, we don't like to choose for you. So which one suits you the best?

Please let me hear from you before the next podcast so I can set your prizes aside.

There are many more prizes than 20. On Monday, June 2, at 3 pm ET, "celebrity hosts" will be joining me on a new podcast. They will share some info about their event and then draw the names of the next segment of winners. Hope you'll join us then to hear your name called.

Which, of course, also means that if you haven't pledged yet you have more time to help us support our websites. We really appreciate each and every pledge, no matter the size. Here's where you can do that: http://www.artfaircalendar.com/art_fair/pledgedrive.html

Tuesday - May 27, 5 pm ET

Hope you'll join me and Internet marketing guru, author Scott Fox (my son) as we celebrate 10 years of informational websites about the art fair business. We're doing a countdown on the Ten Most Informational Links on ArtFairInsiders.com with the stories behind them.

This site has hosted some fascinating writers over the years and we'll highlight their helpful info. 

AND we will begin the drawing for the Pledge Drive Prizes. 

We have 65 prizes. We will not be giving the prizes directly, but we'll announce the list and the winners can choose their own prize. Of course, the first name called will get first choice, etc.

Will you be a winner? Odds of winning are very good, maybe 2.5 to 1! 

Will you call in and tell us your art fair story? Has this site been helpful to you in ferreting out the best shows, staying away from the bad ones, finding the best resources, making some friends? If so, pledge and also call in to the live show. We'd love to hear from you. We're old friends by now.

CALL IN NUMBER: 805-243-1338

            

            

  A GALLERY SHOW 

             

July 26-August 17  

New York City, New York
Red Hook Waterfront, BKLYN
Opening Reception: Sat. July 26 2-6pm   
Gallery Exhibition: July 26-Aug 17, weekends 2-6pm
Early Bird Discounted Deadline: May 19
Final Submission Deadline: June 2

Open Call for Submission from artists all over the USA for an exhibit in our gallery, The Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC) - an 8,000 square foot civil War-era warehouse on the Red Hook Waterfront. With its trendy restaurants, bars, boutiques and billon dollar view of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor, it's an exciting place to visit and EXHIBIT.  

The enormous space of the gallery affords us the opportunity to exhibit really huge work, and we welcome it.  We are pleased to be joined by a prestigious juror-Lauren Hinkson, Assistant Curator at Solomon Guggenheim Museum. With her experience, expect an exceptionally exciting exhibition.
        

Lauren Hinkson is the Assistant Curator for Collections at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.  She conducts permanent collection research with a focus on contemporary and time-based art.  

        
Best of Show Silver: $500 at the Opening Reception, the artist whose work is juried "Best of Show Silver: by Lauren Hinkson will receive a $500 cash prize.

People's Choice: $250: The artist whose work is voted "Best" by attendees during the course of the show will receive a $250 cash prize.

Curator's Choice: $250: The artist whose work the Show Curators choose for excellence will receive a $250 cash prize.

Certificate of Recognition $1,000: $100 each for ten winners.  All selections will be made by the juror, Loren Hinkson.
 

Artists accepted into Color can also send one additional work that will be exhibited in our Affordable Art area.  All works must be smaller than 12"x16" and must be priced for sale at $500 or under.

"I think if pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it"- Alice Walker, The Color Purple

"Mere color unspoiled by meaning and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways"-Oscar Wilde

"There is no blue without yellow and without orange"-Vincent Van Gogh

ELIGIBILITY:
This call for submission is open to all residents of the U.S. and its Territories, 18 years of age or older.  This is a juried exhibition for artists working in all traditional and non-traditional 2D and 3D media, including film/video when part of an installation.  

All artwork must be original in concept, design and execution.  Note: Crafts, kit work or reproductions of original works in other media (such as giclee print of oil painting), unless used as part of a mixed media work, will not be considered.  

Oversize Work, Assemblages and Installations are welcome at the discretion of BWAC, but must meet all other specifications and be delivered, installed and removed by the artist (or their agent) upon arrangement with BWAC staff. All work requiring electricity must auto on/off with the line power.

JURYING:  Entries that differ significantly from their digital images may be rejected.  Decision of the judges is final.

SUBMISSIONS AND FEES:  
Only original works may be submitted.    The Early Bird discounted fee is $45 if received by midnight, May 19, 2014 PST.  The regular fee is $65.  The fee is for up to three (3) images, plus $5 for each additional image.  Sculpture and installations:  artists may use two additional images for details, at no extra charge.  Contact bwacinfo@aol.com if you need them.  You must have already applied before you can request extra images.

All entries must be registered/received by midnight, June 2, 2014 PST.  All entry fees are non-refundable.

CONTACT/QUESTIONS:  
Please direct all questions to bwacinfo@aol.com
To Reach full Prospectus (PDF): click here
To Apply: click here         

Does this bring back memories to you? Mama Does the Work depicts the toil and hardship of women during the early 1900's, when the man smoked his pipe and sipped home brew companionably watching his woman work. This is a very different painting for me, but I'm excited to tell you the story. The idea came from an old faded photo . . .it even had the title Mama Does the Work hand written on the back. My neighbor and friend is a genealogy researcher and this old dog-eared photo was among a bunch of family photos. It's a puzzle as not one of their extended families know who these two are. 

So here's to moonshining and to hard working women!!!

I've read the importance of an Artist Statement artists should publish about their art work and of course my mind went into overdrive. WOW what drives me? I'm driven for many of the following reasons:

I'm in the twilight years of my life and when I reflect, I'm so blessed to be in this place in this time. I'm again blessed because my breast cancer has waited quietly in the wings until I had something important to say in my paintings and blogs, now it's reared up again. Of course I'll do whatever it takes to be able to continue telling stories of the beauty surrounding me.  And so importantly, due to the perseverance and support of my companion, I'm again painting what is in my heart and my dreams.

If I were to say what of nature is my favorite, I would have to say sky. Because we have so much rain here in Oregon the sky is ever-changing as it is almost always clouding up or clearing up. So I paint the sky trying to duplicate and convey the beauty to you. Next would have to be water. Every town I've visited here has either a river or a creek or both. Therefore, most of my paintings include water.

Because of the abundance of water our trees and farms are rich in nutrients and show rich colors, this I try to convey to you in paintings. Lets not forget the mountains. To the east of us the Cascades loom, rugged, snow topped, volcanic. This too I convey to you in my paintings.

Now the life I always blend into my paintings. In my mind a painting without life is barren. When you see a picture of the ocean alone where is the excitement, the excitement is seeing a whale or porpoise or even a lowly sea-lion. Then you remember that particular picture. 

So this you see . . . . this is my artist's statement . . . . . 

I did Bayou City at the 300 artist size and I never made it around to see all, and no way could patrons if they really stopped to look at the art. Either they went to a special artist, were looking for "just the right piece" or were making a quick "gallery" tour.  Forget "be backs"; their shoes wore out the first go round.  It was well run for a massive show and Houston is my best market, but when it went to 450, I declined.  I agree with the other artists that feel like the organizers money woes are matched only by mine and most of the risk was transferred to the artists - entry fee, rain gamble, not to mention the art overload.

I waited for someone to post a review but since I haven't seen anything yet, thought I would give it a go. I have done this show before and I like the layout and even though there is an entrance fee to get in, the crowds do come.

Set up on Thursday was in the rain and an unusual cold front, (last year heat stroke, this year near freezing-go figure?) I worried the weather would keep the crowds away. I was in the baseball park where I was last year and I drove right up to my booth to unload. There are 225 artists exhibiting and it is laid out all around the Art Center. Some spaces have to be dollied in, but where I was it was drive and drop.

Saturday was downright chilly but the crowds came anyway and the day was a good one for me. Some of the other people there said they did half of last year but I did better. I did see a lot of packages walking by but not so many big items.

Sunday was a gorgeous day and the crowds did come out in mass. Breakfast is provided both days but you had to be early to get it because it went fast. Luckily, there was a great coffee spot right by my booth. I was by myself and I have to say although I saw many volunteer t-shits walking around and I put up my flag to get a booth sitter, It was a long time in coming but maybe it was just my area that was overlooked. I had nice neighbors that spotted me when I needed to hit the bathrooms or coffee stand. Most of the day I was busy and before you knew it it was time to pack up.

I am a 2D artist and I have to say that I had a good show but I can't speak for others, the jeweler next to me said it was slow but the potter on the other side did well. Kyle Harrington and his staff run a beautiful show in a great venue that is totally supported by the city, and I saw advertising in magazines and on the local TV stations. Would do it again? In a heartbeat. Indianapolis supports their shows. 

East Lansing Art Festival.

This is the first show I do since I stop working at my 10 to 6 job. So many questions about why quit and how can expect the shows to support me. The reality is that I could not believe how can I do both things at the same time. There are some many things that I need to take care now (health insurance, federal income taxes, state income taxes, medicare and social security).

I was call from the wait list. I did not have to much information until 2 weeks before the show. I book Super 8 for the weekend and that was a big mistake. Nothing that will make me tell them sorry but I can not stay here but it was close to it. I also found out that no all hotels are part of online booking service. I miss on Red Roof and that is always my first choice.

The trip is only four to five hours from Chicago. I was surprise how easy it was. They schedule you for a set up time. I got there a bit early since I did good time in my traveling from Chicago to East Lansing. I can pull up to my space and unload. Go and park at enclosed parking lot which there is no extra charge for it. Set up my tent and then head to the hotel. One thing that make sure is to know where a Target or similar, Menards or Home Depot, Movie Theater and food place are located. These place had help me to have a relaxing show. This around I need a second battery charger and because of the hotel I manage to watch the new Godzilla and stay out of the hotel until I was ready to sleep.

The show started Saturday at 10 am and end at 6pm. There was change of rain from noon to 6pm. That really never happen. I end having my best Saturday of the season so far. There was people purchasing art most of the afternoon. We get a very good artist dinner and that save me a meal cost. Sometimes you to this dinner and you going to another place to eat. The judging suppose to happen during Saturday but I think it never did or was not even aware of it. I do not know who won.

Sunday the show goes from 10 to 5. There was a lot of people walking the show but very few sales. I only did 1/5 of Saturday sales. I found out later on that East Lansing Art Festival is a Saturday show. So you really need to hope for good weather and sales on Saturday. If you do not get close to sales goal for the show in Saturday it will be uphill battle on Sunday.

Another sad thing that happen in the show a food Vendor run over to tents and total on tent and mayor damage to the second one. God figure that on out. Also Saturday night even the police station in front of the tent and fellow artist had his back wall and awning slide into pieces. Then the guy next to  me also had the same problem. The damage is under 300 so insurance wont help.

The break down is very easy. Take your tent down and pass to get in. You pull in to your booth or parking lot near to your space and load up. I was back in Chicago by 10 pm CT.

Like any other show there are artist that did not break even. The cost for the show for me was $325 for booth and jury fee. $130 for the hotel.  $100 for gas. I was told that this show usually produce between 1500 to 2500 in sales for photographers. I will only recommend to photographers that are close enough to the show or use it as a filler or back up.

September 27 & 28
Omaha, Nebraska
Aksarben Village
80 Artists
Deadline: June 1

Noteworthy:

• $1000 in Cash Merit Awards and automatic invitation to 2015 show for award winners
• Unique panel jury process that ensures that applicants are thoughtfully evaluated
• Paid demonstration opportunities available
• Application fee is $30 through May 15 and $40 after 

Amenities:

• Free parking garage, surface lots and off-street parking
• Discounted lodging within walking distance of the show
• Artist Services location, centrally located, with dedicated cell phone number for Artists request
• Experienced booth-sitters
• Assistance with load-in and tear-down
• Complimentary sand tubes delivered to your booth during set-up and removed at the end of show
• 24-hour security provided by off-duty Omaha Police Officers
• Private, Artists' Lounge with complimentary snacks and beverages, indoor restrooms, artist-only computers, free WiFi and booth-setting by appointment 

Jury: $30 | Booth Fees: $300 | Electricity $75

ARTsarben will showcase the work of 80 artists from throughout the U.S.  The focus of the show will be on offbeat, creative and novel artwork that is affordable and can be purchased as a gift or enjoyed every day, such as vintage jewelry; hand-sewn purses; one-of-a-kind, whimsical items for the garden and home and other treasures will attract buyers and browsers of every age group.

Aksarben Village is a $300 million development that combines retail, restaurants, entertainment, residential and hotels to offer an exciting planned urban community in the heart of Omaha.

Established art fair presenters the Omaha Summer Arts Festival and Vic Gutman & Associates are proud to partner to support this fall event.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Find more art fairs looking for artists: www.CallsforArtists.com27-28

The Delaware Arts Festival is a nice, laid back show that I enjoy doing. It is early in the season and close to home. The show funds a local art scholarship. The festival is very well organized and run by local volunteers. They are really friendly and treat the artists great.

Setup begins at 6 AM and the show starts at 10. When you drive up to check-in, you get a packet with a map and show info. You get to drive right up to your booth, so I don’t bring my dolly. The booths are laid out on Sandusky and Winter streets in the center of town. Organizers do a good job of keeping two lanes open while everyone unloads. Parking is easy and close.

You should register for booth sitting in the morning, but volunteers still checked on me to ask if I was alone, and that was nice. The booth sitters showed up right on time.

This year, Saturday was cold with intermittent rain, to the crowd was a small group of die hard art fair fans. Yay for them! I was wearing many layers, but I was cold all day. Shoppers didn’t linger, since they were cold, too.

Sunday was cool but sunny and the crowd was much better. My sales were good, higher than last year.

The Delaware crowd is not highfalutin. They are conservative, working class and careful with their money. I noticed that yard ornaments and outdoor sculpture were popular. I made a good selection of pieces for under $50.00 for this show and I was happy with that decision. I didn’t walk around much, but I did see a wide variety of work, from simple craft to some beautiful fine art. I didn’t see any buy-sell.

There were a lot of dogs. I was really glad the great dane that went by wasn’t excited.

Pack up on Sunday was smooth. You break down, go get your vehicle and then load it up. The organizers keep two lanes open the whole time and there weren’t any traffic jams. You have a full 2 hours to pack up before they open the streets. I was done well before the two hours were up.

2014 has been off to a much different start than we ever expected.  After getting waitlisted for 2 January shows, rejected / waitlisted for our Feb shows it looked like our first show of the year was going to be in March in Albuquerque before we continued on to Texas.  Well, that all changed as we left Tucson AZ for Dallas TX in a hurry due to an impending death in our immediate family.  We ended up cancelling a few shows and rearranging our travel schedule.  So after a much longer break from art shows than expected, we’re finally starting our 2014 show. 

Instead of starting our spring shows in AZ/NM and TX as expected, we finally got back to our regularly scheduled art show life when we arrived in California, both of our May shows were new for us so it’s always fun and challenging to discover how things work for each show. 

Our first show was the El Dorado Hills Art & Wine Affaire that was held on Mother’s Day weekend (May 10-11).  El Dorado Hills is an upscale community that is an eastern suburb of Sacramento.  The show is held on Town Center Blvd right in the center of town with great restaurants and shops, with very few chain restaurants / stores on the main Blvd., although many of the customers used the Target parking lot that was just behind the Town Center area.  This show is put on by the Chamber of Commerce and has been running for 14 years.  

Weather was great on Saturday, sunny, high 70’s, got a bit breezy in the afternoon and we had to tie down a couple of our displays, other than that we had no issue.  However, it quickly became apparent which booths didn’t have adequate weights, many, many artists were hanging onto their booths by Saturday afternoon as the gusts hit.  Volunteers came around on Saturday afternoon to warn everyone that a wind advisory was in effect and the weather people were predicting 40 mph gusts on Sunday and warning everyone to be better weighted down. 

Volunteers put the tents / tables up for the wineries and the volunteers took those tents down on Saturday night to prevent loss or damage.  Our artist neighbors, who were very poorly weighted, took all their products home Saturday night and removed the walls from their booth in an effort to minimize damage.  So we were left with our booth set up but no booths on either side or behind us.  Luckily we survived the night, we have 57 lb. weights for each corner and the glass cases were placed on the ground overnight. 

Sunday AM set up took a long time as we were trying to roll up walls, fasten things down as the wind was gusting, blowing and stirring up all kinds of trouble. I heard that some of the artists lost their booths or some product, but honestly we were so busy rearranging and tying things down that I never got out of the booth to know how much damage was done.  The winds continued all day and we heard a few crashes further down the road, but I really don’t know how much damage was done.

Load in / Load out

Very easy, although tiring. This is a same day load in show, so we were there at 0’dark thirty Saturday AM.  There was a bit of confusion caused by the paperwork the Chamber sent to the artists. Paperwork stated you had to be set up by 9:30 but the postcard and website indicated the show started at 11.  I called the artist liaison and the real story was that cars/trucks had to be off the road by 9:30 but the show started at 11 although the organizer said we’d see people wandering through before that so our goal was to be ready by 10.  More on this later, but we could have slept in another 90 minutes and not missed anything. 

The load in / load out was from 2 different directions depending on which side of the street you were on.  There was NO micro-managing the load in / load out, the volunteers managing the entrances just validated your booth number and sent you on your way.   You can drive right to your spot and load / unload, artists worked amongst themselves if there was a vehicle in the way or someone needed to shift a bit to let someone else have access to their booth.

Sales / Fees

Saturday – fantastic, Sunday – mediocre, but overall we had a pretty good show. It felt someone "flipped a switch" on the types of buyers we had.  Saturday, big items, many customers with multiple items including one lady who came back twice along with her daughter. 

Sunday – 2/3rds the quantity in sales but all low end price points, only one sale over $100 and no sales of multiple items.   Not our best show, but far from our worst and a nice final sales number to start the year.  Booth fee was only $210, but with a 10% commission, it becomes a pricey show to do.  We did well enough to come back, especially when so many artists were telling us that Sunday historically had been a better day because it was Mother’s Day but everyone felt the foot traffic was really light this year due to the winds.  Sales didn’t really start until after Noon each day, which is when the wineries start pouring wine.

Artist Amenities

None, with a low booth fee I didn’t expect much but given that they were charging a 10% commission you would think they could at least better communicate with us.  As I mentioned in the Load in / Load Out section, there was confusion on the start time, they could have at least let us know that the show really didn’t start until 11 and wineries didn’t start pouring until noon.  Would have been nice to have a little more sleep on Saturday AM. 

Because the show is held in the Town Center, there are plenty of restaurants to choose from, public restrooms so no need for Porta Potties, Yay!!  That was a plus in my book.  Of course, the public restrooms were also great for being able to wash up a little after load in and change into show clothes after we were set up, it was nice not to being trying to change clothes in the truck or back of the booth.

A few other observations, this is a small show, around 80 artists plus 25 wineries, so patrons can easily walk the entire show and then shop.  We were off the very slow sales both days, but Saturday between 2-4 we had enough sales to make up for a very slow start.  We had several sales that were multiple purchases and one customer who came back twice with her daughter, they accounted for almost one third of our Saturday sales, they really liked our jewelry. 

It is a commission show, they state in the paper work that they will come around to pick up the checks and evaluation forms but no one ever came by and we were told to mail it in.  Very trusting and somewhat unusual  for commission shows.  Will we come back?  Perhaps, but only if we’re going to be back in this same area next spring.  This isn’t a show I would travel very far for, but it was a very pleasant show to do. 

The patrons were appreciative of our being there, no price haggling, an affluent community and while it was an art and wine event, we didn’t see anyone who had too much to drink.  The focus of this event really was on the art and the wine, the wineries weren’t selling their wines, just tastings were occurring, but they were promoting their wineries and upcoming events such as the spring barrel tasting, etc.

Now, on the road again, to the Bay Area for our double header of new shows for us this year.  After a frantic week of trying to do a little restocking, carving out a little time for RV maintenance that had to happen, we headed into Los Altos for the show that is organized by the Rotary.  After 2 previous years of driving into the Bay Area with our RV, we decided to leave the RV parked where we are paying a monthly fee and get a hotel for this show.  The cost of RV parks in San Francisco is very high, not very many to choose from and traffic is a nightmare, especially when towing a large 5^th wheel and having idiot drivers cut us off at all major freeway interchanges.  So, we left the RV parked in the Sacramento area and drove into the Bay Area for our 12-2 pm set up time.

Los Altos is a community close to the Silicon Valley, we previously had done a show in Mountain View which is a neighboring community and had done well at that show so went into this one with what we hoped were reasonable expectations.

Los Altos Art in the Park is put on by the Rotary Club and is in Lincoln Park just off the Foothills Parkway.  This year the number of booths were reduced to 175 artists, primarily in the jewelry category.   The reduction was an effort to give the individual artists more visibility and increase sales per artist.  Booths were generous, 12 ft deep, 13 ft wide so plenty of storage behind the booths, booth size increased from last year, another positive sign for the artists.  The quality of art at this show was pretty high, there were a couple of booths that I suspect were buy/sell or at least made only a small component of the art they had for sale.

The big news for us at this show was that after 9 years of participating in shows, Dale won his first award!!! So very proud of my husband, I must admit!  He was one of two jewelers who won the “Juried Favorite Award”!!  We did not know he had won an award until Saturday morning when the volunteers were handing out booth signs / numbers and the director came by to tell him he was getting a special sign as he was one of the award winners.   Given the fantastic jewelry we saw at this show, we were both honored and humbled, and yes, very, very surprised to win an award.

Setup was staggered on Friday with assigned times between noon and 6 PM, trailers were not allowed in until after 6 PM.  We had the noon – 2PM time.  Arrived about 12:15 and drove to a spot close to our booth.  The park is a long, skinny park with 3 rows of booths, the center row features artists that are able to be open on 3 or 4 sides.  Our booth was located on the row furthest from the road, so we had to hand truck everything to our booth location across numerous tree roots and around other artists booths that were also in the process of setting up. 

It wasn’t too far or difficult, just took a little extra time.  We were done with our set up by about 2:30 and headed off to check into the hotel and relax for the rest of the day.  Load out on Sunday was a free for all with the usual issue of people bringing vehicles in before being packed down, but overall it worked pretty well.  Our biggest issue was trying to find a path to hand truck our stuff where we weren't running over tree roots or other artists belongings as we had 2 rows of artists booths between us and the curb where we were parked.

Sales for the weekend were okay, not as high as we had hoped for. Saturday the sales seemed to come in waves.  It was never a very large crowd, but an affluent crowd with no haggling on prices, several sales were multiple items to the same customer.  Our first sale of the day paid our booth fee, so that was a nice way to start the day.  Overall, sales on Saturday were pretty good, but nothing spectacular. 

Sunday started really slow, we sold one large piece on Sunday with just a few small sales.  Sunday ended up being about 2/3rds of Saturday’s sales and overall sales were okay, a little lower than we wanted for a show with a $379 booth fee and a 10% commission. 

This was a show with added expenses for us as we left the RV in Sacramento and had hotel expenses, so our profit was a little lower than we had hoped for with a show in this area.  Other artists that we talked to reported varying success with sales, some were having outstanding shows, some just okay.  No one that I talked to said it was bad, just average to good.  

While our sales were okay, we had the pleasure of watching a metal sculpture artist who was across from us “hit it out of the park” on Sunday.  He sold 2 very large pieces Sunday morning, then several small pieces and ended the day with a large sale at closing time.  Not sure of his total sales for the day but I know he had an awesome day.

Artist Amenities

Lunch was provided each day, 1 boxed lunch per booth, coffee and muffins were available in the morning, dinner was provided Saturday night.  Booth sitters were available if needed.  Overall, the Rotary went out of their way to support the artists and the volunteers were happy to have the artists there.

Other notes:  Weather was perfect for the show, sunny with some occasional clouds and temps in the 70’s.   This show did not have any of the distractions that we’ve seen at larger shows, everything was well organized, Lara Pai did a great job communicating, compared to many shows, it was very refreshing to have someone so organized making sure every detail was taken care of and that the art was the ONLY focus of the event. 

Heading north over the next couple of weeks as we make our way back to the Pacific NW to return to summer shows where we’ve had success in the past.  It’s always fun to try new shows, but right now we are also looking forward to going back to some shows where we know what to expect, catch up with some artists friends who don’t venture outside the PNW and feast on the Copper River Salmon that will be arriving at the docks around the same time that we will be arriving in Seattle.

Well,it is the second weekend in May, I try to make gas-money and rental trailer north for the summer--so it s Mayfaire.Let's not confuse this--this is no Artisphere, no Bellvelle,Il.  This is Bake by the Lake.

It is always hotter than Georgia asphalt at this show.

Duh, not on the gulf in Florida, usually no breezes, it is hot folks.

Guess what?

This year was a cheerful exception.

We actually had balmy breezes this year that kept temps in the high 80-s instead of 90-s.

Lakeland is an old southern Florida town--for years, largely dependent on the phosphate industry.

They are very traditional, very conservative.  

This is an old show, well run.  The museum folks are in charge.  They keep art foremost in their minds.

I have done this show since the 80s.  Never a biggie but a consistent $1.5-$2.5 return.  Oh, it is 30 minutes from my house.  Low overhead, just bring lots of battery-powered fans.

Same people win the awards every year.

Surprise.  This year we were judged by golf cart.

We got dots, but never saw the judge.

Guess she was too busy writing a blockbuster follow-up to her initial

excursion into art.  She had a degree in something photo.  She had observed airport command towers and did a book about it.  That must have been a biggie.

Anyways, we got judged and the regs got their.  What else is new at Lakeland.  Doing new things in art, the way nobody else has done before, gets no recognition there.

Bad rains Sat. nite, a few booths flooded.

Sunday was perfect weather day for this show--buut the crowds never materialized.

Oh well, I survive and move on for another day.

Going north for the summer.

Columbus, here we come.

May 22, 5 pm ET: Listen live and call in at 805-243-1338

As the new interim executive director took on the reins at the Bayou City Art Festival in Houston late last year, it became apparent to Susan Fowler that the organization was stretched beyond financial viability. This is a festival that depends on an admission charge that had been negatively impacted by the weather.

Four festivals back to back with rain had drained their savings  that were in fact a literal rainy day fund because the Bayou City Art Festivals are outdoor events.

The Art Colony Association, which hosts the Bayou City shows, needed to do something fast to keep the popular festivals alive and well.

When the Board of the Art Colony met in January they put the wheels in motion to expand the event from 300 artists to 450 artists plus several other changes that they hoped would lead to financial stability.

We'll be speaking with the Executive Director Susan Fowler and Kelly Kindred, Director of Operations to learn

    •    how a board of directors oversees an organization and its' fiscal responsibility
    •    how the decision to increase the size of the show was made
    •    how successful were the changes that they made to the Spring show
    •    what they learned from this experience
    •    what to expect next from this festival

and lots more.

Listen live at 5 pm ET. Call in with your questions: 805-243-1338. Email me with questions and comments. Leave questions for me to ask them in the comments below.

This podcast is sponsored by our 5th Annual Birthday Pledge Drive to support our art fair websites. Learn more: http://www.artfaircalendar.com/art_fair/pledgedrive.html

Belleville, IL - May 16-19, 2014 - Art on the Square

Maybe you were at this show. It is one of the goodies. 

We all complain about the music, the food, the kids activities, the sponsor booths that are ubiquitous at the art fairs, so I just found the schedule of activities for last week's Art on the Square that to my mind turns that griping on its head.

Besides the kids activities and the stages look what else they are doing:

Saturday

10:30-11 a.m. Framing and Matting: Enhancing Your Artwork with Colin Shaw of Arch Framing in St. Louis

11:30 a.m-noon I Loved It! I Bought It! Now What Do I Do with It? with Deb Bokemper of Ageless Design in St. Louis

12:30-1 p.m. -- The Art of Lighting Art -- Making It Come Alive, with Carol Hiatt or Carol Hiatt Design Associates of Belleville.

1:15-1:45 -- Inside/Outside Show on KTRS-AM 550, with John Shea and Jim McMillan

2-2:20 p.m. Green Design -- The Fingerprints of Art in Your Environment with Diane Rosen of Diane Rosen Interiors in St. Louis.

3-3:30 -- Traditional-Contemporary -- You Can Mix It Up! with Gigi Lombrano of Gigi Lombrano Interiors in St. Louis.

4-4:30 p.m. -- Coloring Your Home with Kara Osthoff of Kara Osthoff Designs in Belleville.

Sunday

Noon-1 p.m. -- Tiffany Brooks, designer and host of HGTV's 2014 "Smart Home Giveaway."

1:15-2 p.m. -- Coloring Your Home with Kara Osthoff of Kara Osthoff Designs of Belleville.

2:30-3:15 p.m. Tiffany Brooks

3:30-4:15 p.m. Tiffany Brooks

There will be question-and-answer sessions following all seminars.

P.s. You can listen to a podcast that I did with the show organizer, Patty Gregory, right here: http://my.blogtalkradio.com/artfairs/2013/08/14/how-to-bring-buyers-to-the-art-fairs

It is full of helpful information for show organizers.

Besides exhibiting at art fairs in the Midwest and Florida, I have exhibited at ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the past four years. I love this event. It brings tons of art-loving people into Grand Rapids every fall to see the work of 1800 artist in 200 different locations around the city. It turns the city into a huge art gallery. There are two top prizes this year. $200,000 awarded to one artist by popular vote, and $200,000 awarded by a committee of art experts. There are also many other awards. Anyway, big is usually better for this competition, but big is also, usually, more expensive as well. My daughter, who is a video producer, helped a friend fund the publication of a children's book using Kickstarter, and she suggested that I consider Kickstarter as a way to finance a BIG entry into ArtPrize. Her friend raised $20,000. Wow, I thought, maybe this is a good idea.

I started investigating Kickstarter and learned that this website is a conduit for raising money for creative projects through "crowd-funding." The idea is for lots and lots of people to give small amounts of money in support of projects they think are interesting and worthwhile. I also learned (and this is a key concept) that a typical Kickstarter campaign does not ask for handouts or charity. The idea is for supporters to receive rewards for their help that can be as valuable (or more valuable) than the amount of money pledged. I also learned that a Kickstarter project only gets funded if the fund-raising goal is met or exceeded. Kickstarter projects are never partially funded.

The entry I had in mind for ArtPrize is a 20-foot tall version of a digital painting called "Outhouse Island." After pouring over the Kickstarter website, which is very helpful and easy to navigate, I determined that I needed to raise $5000 to create my 20-foot picture. This budget includes $3500 to create the picture, and another $1500 to fulfill my promise of "awards" for people who help my campaign. In my Kickstarter application, I created a description of the project, uploaded a video (which my daughter helped me create) and established a list of 11 "awards" for different dollar amounts which included a thank you card with an image from my ArtPrize entry, a t-shirt with the same image, and an assortment of limited edition prints from my digital paintings. After a quick review by the Kickstarter people, my 30-day campaign went online and my work had only just begun.

I got lots of advice from other Kickstarter successes, but the most important advice was to be persistent in my appeals for help. I'm sure there were many people out there who were annoyed by my persistent pleas for help. But there were a lot more that were intrigued by my project, and became cheerleaders for my campaign. I used the extensive email list of people who have purchased my work over the years, as well as email lists of friends and neighbors. I pointed out that by helping in this campaign they could add to their collections of my work at lower than retail prices. In retrospect, I now realize that I overused these lists. During the month I sent them four messages. I did get lots of supporters through these efforts, but I also got lots of people who opted off of my lists.

I used this blog to promote my campaign, as well as a few other blogs that relate to my subject and my medium. I received three pledges directly from Artfairinsiders, and some valuable advice from Connie and others with experience mounting Kickstarter campaigns. My best source of pledges came from Facebook. I posted appeals and updates every day either on my personal Facebook page or my business (LebenArt) Facebook page. I encouraged all my Facebook friends to share my posts and wound up reaching thousands of people with information about my crazy outhouse project.

Pledges trickled in at first. After two weeks I was only about 1/3 of the way toward reaching my goal of $5000. I began rationalizing the limited success of my campaign. I thought, even if I don't reach my goal, I can contact the people who pledged and offer to sell them the "awards" they specified. At least I would make some sales through Kickstarter. Then, I doubled my efforts. I added some creative awards that I hoped would attract more backers. I began investing in the "boost" function on my business Facebook page. I encouraged everyone to share my posts more vigorously. One key lesson I learned a couple weeks into the campaign, was that some people, who might want to support my project, were shy about Kickstarter's method of collecting funds. To make a pledge on Kickstarter, you have to establish an "Amazon Payments" account. Your pledge goes into "escrow" until the campaign is over and the goal is reached. If the goal is not reached the funds go right back to you. If the goal is reached Amazon Payments withdraws the money from a credit card you have on file with them. I learned that some people didn't want to put a credit card on file with Amazon. My solution was to accept pledges by check from those shy people and add their pledges to my campaign through a third party (my wife, Marcia). Several people took advantage of this option.

During the third week, pledges started coming in more frequently. And a good many of them were from people I didn't even know. The fourth week continued to see lots of pledges with two coming all the way from Australia, and one coming from Paris. I reached my goal with four or five days to go, but pledges continued to come in. With my Kickstarter iPhone app, I spent a lot of time checking my phone to see who was pledging next. It was exciting and exhilarating to open the phone and see two or three new pledges coming in. Even after the campaign officially ended I got direct calls from a few people who wanted to pledge. When the dust finally settled I had raised $5908 from 93 different people. I was blown away and humbled by all this support. People were genuinely inspired by my project and wanted to be a part of it. I called them my "Outhouse Islanders" and assured everyone that wanted to pledge that there was still plenty of room on the "island."

Kickstarter continues to be a great resource now that my campaign is over and successful. Through the Kickstarter website I sent out a survey to all my backers requesting pertinent information about the awards I would be sending them (specific artwork titles, t-shirt sizes, addresses, etc.). I am able to track each supporter's info online and also keep track of the awards I send out to each backer. Of course, now that the campaign is over, I'm a little overwhelmed by the task of creating and sending out all these awards to all 93 of my backers. It will be a lot of busy work, but, well worth the effort. I now have the money I need to create my ArtPrize entry (which makes my wife, Marcia very happy).

As of this writing, I've been invited to exhibit "Outhouse Island" at 50 Monroe Street (the building that houses the Huntington Bank that is right between the BOB and the Grand Rapids Art Museum). I'm still waiting to hear from a couple of other venues that I am interested in.

Kickstarter is probably not for everyone, but its a great way to finance a special project. To run a successful campaign takes a lot of work, and the funds you receive at the end are not free. Its not a charity. You have to offer some value in the form of awards for the pledges you receive. And the more value and the more appealing your awards are, the more chance you have for success.