The Atlanta Arts Festival is held in Midtown's Piedmont Park, the same site as the Spring Dogwood Festival. The last time I was in this park we were participating in the Dogwood and vowed never to return. The main sponsor was (I think) Purina Dog Chow and they were holding the frisbee dog championships in the middle of the park. I think there was maybe one dog to every two people. So you can imagine how pleased I was to see these signs!

The festival is set up in a very large circle on the grass. It is very pedestrian friendly and most artists do have shade. The set up requires (I am told) a very regimented procession of vehicles in order for everyone to get in and out. The executive director is Julie Tepp who used to work with the Dogwood Festival. Several years ago she vowed to return the much loved Atlanta Arts Festival which went by the boards in a recession many years ago. She has a lovely park, an affluent neighborhood, great artist coordinator (so sorry I can't remember Nancy's last name), a cadre of volunteers and all the bells and whistles of a good event (kids activities, a cooking stage, entertainment, family art activities and artist demonstrations).

I saw and met a bunch of members of this community including: Michele Levett, Hyacinth Manning, Matthew & Bea Hatala, Michelle Babcock, Diane French, Michael Stephens and Robert Jones. I loved seeing old friends like, Amos Amit, Ronnie Phillips, Mikel Robinson, Scott Wilson, Holly Foss, Sandy Atkins-Moran, Harry Roa, William Cowherd, Jack Brumbaugh and Michael Bryant. There are approximately 200 artists.

The weather was perfect. When I was there on Sunday afternoon there was a good crowd and a lot of people visiting the booths and interacting with the artists. I did see some packages but can't give a good report on sales. Perhaps some of the members listed above can add some details.

I don't know, Nels, is there enough "meat" in this?

Sales were being made --

The treat of the day though was seeing an old friend still exhibiting his fine paintings: Scott Wilson. We did a lot of reminiscing. Great to see you Scott! I wish you  many more fine art fairs and a continued fine life!

Saturday was stressful with minimum sales and a storm that came and went. Sunday went much better with a large sale and better weather. The organizers seemed accommodating although they fell short on a few things, I could see they were trying to make the participants feel respected. The event was visited by locals rather than tourists. Lots of children and lots of dogs. Friendly folks out for a sunny day in the park. 

All in all, I'd say it was a good event, ( but it's relative based on my sales I know). It was good to meet another artfair insider there too since I'm a newbie.

Alex

I was in Atlanta September 18-20 for the Third Annual ZAPP Conference. I've been to a fair number of conferences and will tell you right off that one of the best things about attending these events is the people, both people you've only heard about (art fair directors, artists), people you've met online (say, ArtFairInsiders.com or Facebook) and old friends and acquaintances.

The first activity was to attend the Atlanta Arts Festival in Piedmont Park. There I met a great group that I've known online for a long time: Julie & Tracy Tepp (Atlanta Arts Festival organizer), Kelly Kindred (Bayou City Art Festival), Nichole Smith (Newport Arts Festival) and Liz Smith (Artisphere).

Then off to a meet and greet where lots of familiar people appeared: Mo Riley (Ann Arbor Street Art Fair), Les & Ella Slesnick (retirees), Sarah Rishel (artist), Terry Adams & Tara Brickell (Cherry Creek), Patty Narozny & Elise Richey (Hotworks), Cindy Lerick & Laura Miller (St. Louis Art Fair), Katrina Gallegos (Coconut Grove), Karla Prickett (Smoky Hill River Festival), Stephen King (Des Moines) and a bunch more.

I went to dinner with Liz Smith, the Slesnicks and two men who have served on a fair number of art fair juries: Jerry Gilmore and Jerry McFadden. Hint to you: if you want to find good local restaurants hang out with Gilmore. He was on a mission to eat his way through the Southern cuisine.

The conference was a whirl of information

• including a keynote address about the changing demographics of the US population and what that means to the art audience.
• Lawyer Marci Rolnik had a mountain of interesting information about copyright that could easily have been worth the whole conference for artists. 
• Karla Prickett, Deanna Henion (artist) and I were on a panel about jurying moderated by Leah Alters from the Columbus Art Festival. (I got lots of feedback about the thread on this site where you all told me what you wanted the art fair directors to know about your thoughts on jurying. I made a full report. Many thanks for your input. I was prepared.)
• Reed McMillan brought a host of ideas to invigorate art events including flash mobs, pop up events, the Renegade Indie shows, inviting food trucks, shifts in consumer behavior, re-imagining partnerships with communities
• a Symposium led by Stephen King with outsiders to our industry, Tucker Berta a strategist with economic districts; a representative from Americans for the Arts, Mitch Menchaca; the CEO of a dynamic website, Custommade.com, Michael Salguero; artist Kirsten Stingle who is also a storyteller; and Carlton Turner, executive director of Alternate ROOTS, a regional non-profit arts organization. This was the best part of the conference for me. The mix of people telling their own stories of how they have brought art to the streets and their approach to making their work count despite the today's economic realities was inspiring.
  
  Reed recommended a book, Raving Fans, a Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service. Have any of you read this? It sounds like it would be full of ideas for our business.

Karla Prickett & Jay Downie

• Two workshops on social media with attention being paid to artists needs and the art fairs separate mission
• Last (and always the best part) a Mock Jury with show directors and artists viewing the images of artist who were in the room. The jurors were Jerry Gilmore, Randall Smith and Nichole Smith. If you have never seen a live jury or seen your own work in the midst of others' work, put this on your list of things you need to do. It is always eye-opening and one of the best things you can do for your career in the art fair business.

Throughout both days Larry Berman provided complimentary image evaluations and private portfolio reviews. Great to see artists Carroll Swayze, Beverly Hayden, Aaron Hequembourg, and Ron Schmidt once again.

I also met Julie Cochrane from FestivalNetworkOnline.com but hardly had a chance to talk, Jay Downie from Main Street/Fort Worth and as always enjoyed the company of the folks from State College, Rick Bryant, Carol Baney and Pam Lautsch.

The ZAPP staff led by Leah Charney did a great job of putting together a conference with good topics and interesting speakers who were full of useful information.

Rick Bryant helping me with Facebook

----------------------------

When I think of Atlanta I always think of a vibrant, growing city, population pulsing and new business abounding. Being from Michigan I've certainly seen the impact of the hard economic times, but I have to tell you, these hard times were evident in the beautiful Midtown area of Atlanta also. These gleaming buildings, maybe not even ten years old had many closed storefronts and empty spaces. I have always tried to ignore the economic downturn, and wanted to believe that if we all work hard, are smart and creative and make good choices we can be fine. Atlanta told me differently.

I had thought the term "new normal" was something the artists invented to explain the new economic realities but I heard it on the lips of the participants in the Symposium, not even referring to art fairs. 

Do you "like" this post? Please click on the button.

Welcome to the Cooper studio.  Yup, still on the topic of that summer art fair.  Who'da thunk it was so complicated, eh?

The summer art fair.  And no, we don't have to limit ourselves, it could be a fall event--we'd even allow winter if you move it indoors.  Think art festival, then it becomes season-less or generically seasoned.  However/whatever.

Today we need to talk about one of the major problems with the art festival venue.  In a nutshell?  Rampant abuse of the format.

I've looked into the history of the art fair a bit.  The original purpose was for a group of artists to show their work, sans a brick and mortar style gallery.  It makes perfect sense that the local art center or art gallery would help with that, organizationally speaking.  They often pull in a lot of volunteer work, and their mission statements tend to read like this:

Mission

Our Mission: To bring People and Art together

Our Vision: To enhance the quality of Life through Art

Our Goal: To provide communication and aesthetic appreciation of the visual fine arts, through the use of education 

(Krasl)

 Or this:

It's About the Art.

Experience collaborative, creative merrymaking at its finest.  Join friends old and new... 

 (Marion)

And this:

From a spark of love of the arts and small town life, the idea of Art on the Prairie grew with dedicated planning...

(MaryRose Gallery)

How did we get from that to a company directing a collection of 14 art fairs?  And in the off season hosting a "boot camp" to tell artists what they need to do to be art fair artists?  Average price to "show your art" there?  $479.  And then the company grows and needs to make more money, so of course, another art fair is created.  Is it about the art, or about the company needing more revenue?  Please don't tell me you need a moment or two to think about your answer. 

And of course, they are not the only culprits.  When the local school dance team needs a fund raiser, their moms decide to host an art fair.  When the town 4th of July festival isn't big enough, they add on an art fair to attract more attention and numbers.  Does it matter that they don't have a clue about showing art and their mission statement doesn't have anything to do with promoting art? 

"We can charge the artists to show us samples of their art, and make some money there, and then we can pick the ones we like to exhibit their art at our fair and make even more money there."  "We can make money, lots of money" . 

Which is all well and good for the hosts of art fairs.  But what happens when there is an art show every other weekend?  When the art fair patrons begin to see the art show as "just another art show, and we went to one last weekend so why go to this one, it's pretty much the same."?

Obviously the art fair patron is the ultimate decision maker regarding the success of the art fair.  But the artist doesn't need to be the hapless victim caught in the middle.  If you are an art fair artist, or planning on becoming one, do some questioning first:

1.  Who is hosting/directing the fair?

2.  What is their goal or mission statement?

3.  Is it business or is it art?

Think of it like this:  Is it called an art fair, or a money fair?  Whoa.  Caught you, did I?  If as artists we would chose to exhibit at events that put the art first, could we thin out the events that think of their revenue first?  

Because when the art fair host thinks "anything for a buck" it trickles down to the artist.  And when the artist thinks "anything for a buck" they start to use phrases like "cobble something together to sell next weekend/next year".  That's not good for the artist.  It's not good for the art fair patron.  Most of all it's not good for art. 

When you look at that schedule of art fairs for 2012, please, put art first.  Thanks for reading.

Later, Cooper

With my iPhone app for metal quotes, silver just dropped to $32.00 an ounce and continues to drop.

And, in the time it took to PREVIEW this, just dropped to $31.81.  What twist of fate is now happening to us?

It's been a grueling three weeks, having entered this popularity contest for votes in order to win a $5000 grant. It has consumed me! The contest is called Dream Big Grow Here, and its purpose is to encourage small businesses in Northeast Iowa (there are other contests in other parts of Iowa) to expand and promote their idea or "dream". My dream, which I have had and been working on for 6 years, is to extend the designs that I've been developing on my pottery into other, manufactured products, like textiles. It's been slow going because of time and money shortages. This grant could give me a jump start.

I am now in second place, behind a garden center, and quite a bit behind too. But I have a lot of support and I believe this last day will bring people out of the woodwork.The voting ends at midnight tonight.

If you could please take a moment out of your busy day and help me towards this goal, I would be so grateful!

Let me also add that I have started a raffle for one of my teacups that you can win if you let me know that you voted. You can add a comment here ("voted" is enough), or on my Facebook page which you can reach if you click on the Facebook icon on my contest entry.

Click below to vote:

http://www.myentre.net/busProf ile/tabid/95/Default.aspx?entr y=356

Thank you!

Elisabeth

January 28, 2012

Waukesha (Milwaukee), Wisconsin

ArtWorks: Studio Clearance Sale

Waukesha Expo

Hours: 10am-4pm

100 Artists
Deadline: October 1 

We all have those pieces in our studio: we're tired of looking at them; they're damaged, last year's "model", or old pieces; or we just never really liked them to begin with.  We don't put them out to sell, but we don't want to throw them out either.  So what do we do with them?

Studio clearance is a section of your display must have art pieces available at a reduced price.  A minimum of 25% discount.  Up to 90% off.  This show is scheduled at a time of the year that is slower for artists and we need to give shoppers a reason to come out and view our work.  This is a "meat and potato" style show.  Nothing fancy.  Just come in and sell some art.

There is NO expectation for your booth.  You can bring a table and chair, and only discounted art to sell. (Make it even easier and just rent a table and chairs from me from just $20).  Or bring your entire display and have a section of art at discounted prices.  Your choice.

The show's advertisement will state that ALL artists will have art on sale in their booths.  Booths are limited to 100 spaces.  Note booth sizes are 8ft wide x 10ft deep.  You may have to adjust your set-up to accommodate this size booth.  A limited number of half-booths are available at 4ft wide x 10ft deep.  Also 1.5 booths spaces are available (12ft wide x 10ft deep).

Admission is $3 at the door.  However, if shoppers bring 2 canned food items, they get into the show for FREE!  All food items and any money collected at the front door will go to the Waukesha Food Pantry, our non-profit partner.  Parking is free.

Learn more and download the application:

www.artworkswisconsin.com  

*************

Looking for more art fairs to fill up your schedule?

Check this out:  www.CallsforArtists.com

As previously mentioned, our favorite watch company had a deadline to provide information on the making of said watches.

Not only did they do this but they also mentioned possible legal action, perhaps a bluff but an effective one.

Here is some of the  info I received from the festival director......

regarding the time it takes to make the watches--glue drying time is a large component of the 85 hours that it takes to "make" one of these watches.  

regarding the many commercial outlets for their product--none of the stores sell a complete line of the product, only 6-7 styles.

The director mentioned that she didn't understand why more artists didn't complain about suspect b/s.  I explained that a lot of artists are afraid of being blackballed by festivals as complainers and that as a patron, I wasn't going to be kept out of a festival.  

Photographic proof of shipping papers, boxes etc would be wonderful if anyone can get them if they see the "watchmakers" at a festival.   Perhaps a shot of two of the participants.  

I wish I had better news but the issue is not dead, just a bump in the road.

What could be better: a wonderful setting, great weather, enthusiastic crowd and show promoters who care.  Oh, I forgot the best thing great business.  It more than exceeded our expectations!

Jill and Peter Stern

Fri.: 1pm-8pm
Sat.: 10am-6 pm
Artist Reception - Sat.: 6pm
Sun.: 11am-5 pm

     Please join us for the Great Lakes Art Fair. The GLAF delivers an exceptional event experience for artists and their patrons. This fair is a unique fusion of lush landscapes, tempting food, and an optimal indoor venue of spring and fall events that are rapidly becoming established as the Midwest's premiere indoor art fair!

Special for Fall:  

• Art fairs are always looking for ways to enhance the event both for artists and the attending public. This Fall the show will open on Friday at 1 pm and close at 8 pm. We will be returning with the hugely successful Friday Ladies Night Out promotion that drew over 2000 women to line up for entry on Friday!  It also allows for some Friday setup for artists.
• Robust marketing campaign planned with media partners 

 The juried component of the fair will feature 200 local, regional, and national artists. Expect an elegant entrance gallery showcasing your art, community partnerships and other fresh components that create a wonderful regional marketplace for artists and their patrons. Our goal is an expansive marketplace that brings fresh energy to the regional artistic community.

Location:

     The Suburban Collection Showplace is located in Novi, Michigan, situated in Western Oakland County, one of the nation's most affluent areas. Although 2009 marked the first year for the spring and fall Great Lakes Art Fairs, the Suburban Collection Showplace is familiar to patrons as a premier indoor venue for specialty events.

Attendance:

     Over the past decade the Rock Financial Showplace has been host to premier indoor art fairs each year during the months of April and October. Attendance figures from these fairs have averaged in the tens of thousands.

Artist Amenities:

• custom Great Lakes Art Fair discount coupons
• e-mail blast content
• free tickets, postcards and other collateral materials to distribute to their patrons
• drive up to your booth to unload and load
• artist hospitality area and reception
• artist gallery 

      We want you to help us build this biannual event into an event that regional artists can count on. Please join us.

Apply at our website: 

www.GreatLakesArtFair.com/artistapply.html  

We use for our online applications. 

For more info: info@greatlakesartfair.com, or contact Kristina Jones at (248) 348-5600   

Visit the website for more info: www.GreatLakesArtFair.com  

We were discussing the concept of "pay what you think it's worth" in another blog post recently. Briefly, customers name their own price, based on the value they believe they receive. 

I'm a registered owner of Reason/Record (music sequencing and recording software), and normally upgrades cost around $100. The company sent this email to its customers today. 

Today we are excited to announce a special offer for registered Record Reason Duo users.

From the day of release on September 30th until the end of October, owners of both Record and Reason will be able to upgrade to Reason 6 by naming their own price.

Wait, what?

That's right. If you own both Reason and Record you decide what you will pay for the upgrade to Reason 6. We trust you to decide what Reason 6 is worth to you. Whatever you decide, that's what you'll pay*.

*Anything you want, as long as anything is at least $1.00/€1.00. But you've already decided to pay more than that, right?

Amazing -- a mainstream software company following the lead of some upscale restaurants and Panera Bread. Would this work for artists? How would a customer determine value on one of a kind artwork? Comments?

The past few months I've become more aware of a disturbing trend that seems to be on the rise-breaking into artists' booths at night.  I'm dwelling on this now by the cozy light of a campfire in nowhere, Rhode Island and a cold one in hand, and I'm...puzzled? vicariously violated? utterly astounded? all of the above? -by the fact that people are desperate enough to steal from the starving.  OK, most of us here debunk the myth of the starving artist (I hope) but, let's face it, society in general does not view us as the movers and shakers.  Our work doesn't command that much on the resale market, if you can call it that.  So what are these lowlives looking for when they invade booths at night?

I was in Setauket, Long Island last weekend- a nice little village on the North Shore of stately historical registry homes, estates- your typical upper middle class neighborhood.  This was a show in its 46th year, no fly-by-night venue.  Out of all the cities I've been in over the past 3 months, this was the last place I would have expected to encounter such an egregious violation of one's hard work.  Hell, when I grew up here, we didn't lock our doors at night.  Call me naive, but I never thought of artwork as inherently stealable unless it's a Thomas Crowne Affair.  Let me clarify, I know I'm walking a thin line here.  I know jewelers who have been stalked and robbed at gunpoint, but what I'm talking about is non-precious metal/jewel art that can't be melted down or resold to a pawn shop.  My paintings really don't have much value to the average scumbag, and I'm ok with that.  I'm really disturbed that this happened in an upscale village to the extent that it did.

Many artists arrived Saturday morning to find that, at the very least, their booths had been violated and work had been moved around.  The worst was a painter who had $4000 worth of work stolen.  What was appalling was the show's response to her, which was to brush her off and refuse her request to pack up and leave.  Show security?  I didn't give it much thought before this show, but Framer Dude (who missed his calling as a detective or bounty hunter) has always done a late night walk through to test security and deemed this patrol as lacking, along with several others we have done.  I realize that shows have only a certain amount of dollars to divide up, and perhaps they too are guilty of the same naivety and complacency that I am-that art shows are not big on the hit list.  But this show's layout was a prankster's or a thief's field day- one older gent for security, a dark street, and a row of booths that twisted around through the woods, with a bar in the middle.

My point here is not to lament the evils of the world.  I'm not that much of a rube or a whiner.

I want to pass on a tip that may thwart would-be thieves- who are probably low tech and seeking easy, unsecured targets.  Framer Dude and I take out stock in zipties, also known as cable ties at Home Depot, for setting up the booth.  These have a multitude of uses and we discovered a new one when we sat down and thought about how to make the booth less accessible at night.  When we close the zippers down, we now use a zipties in the four corners and four side zippers, through the holes in the zipper toggles, and attach them to the legs and bottom poles.  I think most thieves are counting on easy access, quick in and out and won't waste the extra time or thought (if they have any after letting off their crackpipes) to tackle a booth that requires a pair of wire cutters to get into.  

Not a fail-safe, but at least it makes it a bit more difficult, rather than just unzippering the tent.  Of course, if they're crackheads, they might carry razor blades and slash their way through the sides, but I haven't thought of a way around that.  Perhaps I should leave my huge German shepherd in the booth at night?

What are you doing this weekend? Do you live in the Midwest and have a few hours? The very coolest art event of the year appears in Grand Rapids, MI, September 21-October 9, ArtPrize. Designed as a very different art competition, the goal is for the general public and artists to collide, exchange ideas and come away changed. An international group of artists compete for amazing prices, people come from all over to view the art and vote for the prizewinners. This is year 3 -- please take my word for it. Downtown Grand Rapids explodes with very cool art and lots of folks turn out to enjoy it. Consider being there. More info:  www.ArtPrize.org.

Usually a few adventurous people from the art fair business apply to compete. Who is going to be there this year? Any of you. Amazingly, someone from the art fair business took away the $250,000 prize last year. Here's more info:  http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/250000-prize-to-one-of-our

Artist John Leben is participating. He has installed "Fukushima", a digital painting, at the Courtyard Marriott: here is John's story: http://lebenart.com/Exhibits.html

I'll be there on Sunday. Will you? Let me know so I can vote for you or we can meetup. 

The bottom line (profit) - it was not as good as I hoped but better than I expected given the cold rainy weather. 

Disclaimer – I work alone and don’t get away from my tent much so all of this is observation from my tent at space 48 and a couple walks early in the morning.  YMMV   This is a relatively small show with two sections separated by a very busy road.  One section, where I was, is surrounded by stores that, with the exception of the closed Borders, look open and healthy.  The other section does not have stores around it and is all artists.  I did not get over to the other section but reports I heard on Saturday afternoon were not good.  The weather improved slightly on Sunday so hopefully the folks over there got some business.  My section was helped by a Saturday morning farmer’s market that brought a lot of people in and the various stores and restaurants.  There were a few booths in a dead zone at the every end.  A break in the booths for a parking garage entrance seemed to keep people from getting all the way down there.

Setup – Anytime you reduce the traveling area to one van wide you are going to have issues.  Clif and I arrived right on time and were able to get in and unloaded quickly.  At that time there were no tents setup so people were able to drive around us but once we got unloaded and went to move the van (as per instructions) security said to stay where we were because it was too congested and we couldn’t get out.  This was not a terrible thing for me since I have a lot of stuff I want to put back in the van after setting up but someone with a space in the middle who arrived late would have a hard time getting close to their booth.  But security was present and very helpful to get as many people in and out as possible.  This setup would benefit from staggered setup times – the end people first and so on.  The other side of the show setup on Saturday morning.

Show – This is a much more eclectic customer base than I was used to in Florida.  Every walk of life, race, and nationality was represented.  They were friendly, appreciative, and unfortunately surprised.  This is the one complaint I have about the show.  Many people said to me “I didn’t know this was here”.  Advertising fell down somewhere.  Most of the customers I got had come to the area for another errand, the stores, the farmers market.  The worst part was Sunday evening after breaking down when people asked me what was going on.  They were sorry they had missed it.  I made mostly framed sales  for $225 - $250 and a special order.  The guy next to me zeroed with $1000 - $3500 pieces although he thought he might have made some connections for future sales.  The woman next to me with handmade purses and clothes seemed to do quite well.  From those I talked to I would guess that mid-range works best here.

Other than the advertising I have nothing but good to say about Bill Kinney.  He was present, involved, and concerned.  Most shows I am lucky if I see the promoter at all.  Bill checked in several times throughout the day with everyone.  He did remove a buy-sell booth and I’m pretty sure he had someone move their van back to parking when they hadn’t broken down completely.  Security was also present and very supportive.

Load-out – The single filing eased as people broke down and moved their stuff to the sidewalk.  It was generally painless if you followed instructions.

There was a parking garage nearby for parking which was free on Saturday and Sunday.  It accomodated all but the tallest vans and there was space provided elsewhere for oversize vehicles.  There were several hotels within walking distance.  I stayed at a hotel 6 miles up the road.

Traffic is nasty all around Washington D.C.  Bring patience and leave in plenty of time to get where you are going.

I have been looking at getting a large format printer (Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6100 Large Format Printer) and I am seeking input from any experts out there who might like to chime in. I would be using this to print up my own work for sale.

I welcome any input anyone is willing to give. I know a little bit about printers, so don't be afraid to throw in technical jargon if the situation calls for it. : )

Thanks in advance

Michael R

My wife and I are quickly coming to the realization that we will need a bigger van with a better load capacity than our current Kia Sedona. I have been exploring Chevrolet Express or something by Ford, but like many art fair travellers, I need the best possible deal I can find.

So, does anyone have any thoughts on vans, what works, what doesn't work, pricing, sizes, types...etc.

Thanks for the help.

Michael R

Call me stupid, I guess, but I took a loss and I’m still undecided about giving it another shot. Okay, so the good things about the show first. The Friday morning set-up was nice. I was there at 7:30 AM and took my time getting set up and was ready by noon and the show didn’t start until 4:00PM. The Friday evening thing sucked, and was pretty much a waste of time as most late Friday shows are. OTOH, I suppose if you’re going to have a Friday set-up, you might as well see if you can squeeze out a sale or two after set-up. Nothing squeezed and I didn’t hear from anyone around me that sold anything on Friday.

The temp on Friday morning was 44 freakin' degrees. Too damned cold for an art fair, although just a few weeks earlier it was 100+ degrees. I made the right call and had packed my Mr. Heater Buddy portable propane heater. Saturday was likewise cold and everyone was shivering. The artists next door to me stopped in a few times and warmed up. It made a big difference and you could feel the warmth as you walked into the booth.

Space was 11x11, and it was tighter than a crab’s butt at six fathoms behind the booth with no place hardly to sit. I got lucky, and the person behind me was in the wrong place and someone with a small tent set up instead who didn’t need any space behind the booth. The 2 feet was dead on though, and just enough to place a lawn chair sideways back there for my wife, and I sat in the doorway in the back. If I got anything out of the tubs in the back, it was a major operation in logistics to remove everything to get to it. Since I didn’t sell much, it was a moot point anyway. With the amount of space available on the street sideways, it would have made much more sense to space the booths further apart and keep the back space the same.

I never did see the promised Porta-Pots and we were told to use restrooms in the restaurants in the area. BW3 and a couple others were okay with it, but one restaurant on the corner closest to me put a sign up that said “No Public Restroom”.

Quality of the work at the show was all over the ballpark with some very good outstanding work and work that looked like trinkets. Funky art, as the name of the show implies, doesn’t have to mean lower quality. I suspect the cachet is also implying lower cost as that seemed to be an issue in many cases on my work, which is mid-priced. I sold a few $80 pieces and mostly $20 pieces, and not enough to total a positive outcome. There weren’t many photographers there which surprised me, and I saw where one photographer was printing movie stills of the Three Stooges. I guess it’s in the public domain so it’s legal, but it still gives me a queasy feeling. I guess if I had to summarize the work at the show, it would be more oriented toward outsider and naïve art rather than traditional modes.

The show has more potential, although the 20 or so commercial vendors at the show are being used as a revenue stream to keep the cost to the artists down. I understand the need, but it still bothers me. On the positive side, they lined the sidewalks and weren’t in the artist’s rows although they were opposite on the street.

Tear down went pretty quickly and I was out in two hours which is fast for me. Artist parking was about 5-6 blocks away if you were on the wrong end of the street as I was. I have a bum knee and an arthritic ankle, so I’m not a fan of hiking particularly when I’m tired. The last day, sorry to say, I said to hell with it as I was losing my shorts and wanted out of there fast and parked up close where we were told not to. I noticed more than a few trailers and big extended vans in there besides mine, so it looked like I wasn’t the only one feeling that way.

Many of the artists around me said they didn’t make expenses, although one photographer said he was doing “okay” whatever that means. Several said they didn’t sell anything and were tremendously bummed out. It looked like you would do okay if it was a local show with no lodging or travel expenses. I would consider trying it one more time, only if I could generate enough bright splashy work with eye-candy appeal to fill a booth.

I am licking my wounds right now and avoiding my credit card statements after the last two shows where I didn't even make expenses.  Two shows which by all research should have been at least paycheck shows, and I'm all out of Xanax.  What is an artist to do?

Setauket, a little village of wonderful demographics right next door to my hometown on Long Island, sorely disappointed in many ways, especially with the nighttime booth robberies.  But I'll address that in another blogpost.  I did well as a rookie art show artist here in 2008, and expected (perhaps delusionally, in retrospect) a sort of prodigal-daughter-returns-home kind of show.  It was a dogwalk.  There are some shows that urge me to take up pet portraiture again, because THAT would have sold.  The shoes were here.  The weather was perfect.  The wallets stayed firmly out of sight.  And every breed in the AKC was here too.  I had some maddening nibbles from two interior designers, who of course  did not have their business cards on them, one said she had a client on the Gold Coast who"didn't want a landscape, but something beachy" and my giant conch "was perfect".  Now I know how guys feel with a case of blue balls. 

Well, ok, I thought, this whole trip so far has been one good show, one bad show.  Onto Montclair, NJ.  Let's go wrangle this monster RV over the Cross Bronx Expressway and the GW into the well-heeled Jersey suburbs.

Aaaack.

Did I say my prayers Friday night?  Did I neglect St. Luke, the patron saint of artists?  Should I have conducted a small animal sacrifice? Should I have bought far more cheap wine and cigarettes to numb the increasing panic as the hours ticked down to five o' clock Sunday?

Oy vey. (I can say this, I just back from Long Island and stuffed myself on good bagels and lox)

Howard and Rose did everything right.  They advertised prolifically, and are wonderful people to boot.  The show is in a great area.  The weather again cooperated.  But the dogwalkers ruled the day.  Munks described in a recent post the vacancy in peoples' eyes, the absence of hope.  My booth buddy neighbor said, "These people could walk off a cliff."  I was not the only artist who didn't make expenses.  I'm stymied, and more than a bit anxious.  And I don't like the cheap red wine I'm drinking.  I'm second guessing my decisions made earlier this year (completely sober, thank you) on where in New England to show my very New England beachy work.  If it's true that it takes three years for an audience at a particular show to accept that you are here for real as an artist, well then, I'm screwed, because I'm basically unemployable at anything else.

So how do YOU prop yourself up after falling face first?

I just returned from Grand Rapids where I installed my ArtPrize entry over the grand stairway at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel. Its called "Fukushima: The Bald-Headed Suiters and the Angry Slab." It is a digital painting made up of 44 20-inch square canvas panels and it measures about 7 feet high and 19 feet wide. It was inspired by the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima, Japan. Its about technology run amok.

I've been sweating bullets for the last couple weeks, worrying about getting it done, and worrying about how to hang it. Thanks to a couple of very handy maintenance guys at the Marriott, the picture looks great.

ArtPrize begins on Wednesday, September 21 and runs for two and a half weeks when the city of Grand Rapids turns into a giant art gallery, with over 1500 paintings, sculptures, installations, videos, films and what-not on exhibit at about 150 different locations around the city, all vying for over $450,000 in award money awarded by popular vote. Its an incredible event and worth seeing if you get a chance. When I was installing my piece at the Marriott, the hotel manager was still waiting for an artist from Beijing to arrive with his entry. There are artists from around the world exhibiting in Grand Rapids, Michigan!

Now I have to scramble to get ready for the Peoria Art Fair this week-end. Too bad my ArtPrize piece is booked in Grand Rapids. It would be great to show it in Peoria. Wouldn't fit in my 10x10 booth anyway...

Check out www.ArtPrize.org to see how you can participate in picking the winners. And stop by the Marriott. I'll be there Wednesday evening with my entry.

John Leben