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Back in 2008 and 2009 when the economy was hit by the "great recession" many events closed up shop for economic reasons. But its' been awhile since I've heard of any more. Then today I read that a 26 year old art fair in St. Joseph, MO, Trails West!, held annually since 1993 had been suspended.

The organizers cited increased costs of producing the festival, not a surprising reason considering the inflation since 1993 and the security costs incurred since 9/11. But the second reason was one we talk about among ourselves (e.g., art fairs aren't like they used to be) the changing  of consumer behavior.

Learn more: http://www.kbia.org/post/st-joseph-group-suspends-its-annual-art-festival#stream/0

How are you dealing with how people do/don't buy art?

I'm off for two weeks taking a road trip to Reno, NV camping and visiting hot springs to and fro. This was Spencer's Hot Spring: 105 degrees in stock tank in Big Smokey Valley, east of Austin, NV. It's just about in the middle of NV.  We spent all yesterday morning on dirt roads south of US 50 and the Suburban looks not quite like it has been to Burning Man LOL. 

I need an assistant for Bayfield Apple Festival October 5th- 7th. If you live near there and can assist me that weekend in my booth, please reply here and/or with an email address. I will pay you 10% of my gross, or some other mutually agreed-upon rate. 

Thanks to all.

Larry Sawyer

The Show was last weekend.  Three boring days with no sun, cold temps and fleeting rain showers.

Last weekend was a weather disaster everywhere in the Midwest. Heavy rains at Penrod, Bowling Green, Louisville, even St. Louis.

Rochester is a very affluent northwest suburb of Detroit.  Mucho dinero live here.  Everybody dresses in expensive outfits adorned with expensive purses and belts.

In earlier times AA was one of the top Michigan shows. Lots of artists did five figures very easily.

My, how the times have changed.  For most 2-D artists selling even close to $3K is tough chore.

Crafters have better chance.  Especially, ones with low price points.

This monied crowd tends to buy kitschy stuff on the Lowend side.

They are very conservative here in their tastes.

I have done this show at least a dozen times.  And every time I do it the take home sales get smaller and smaller.

This weekend’s take was so small that I would have to use a magnifying glass to see it.

Over three days, I only sold three 16x20 framed pieces.  Nothing larger.

The bulk of sales came out of my browse bins. As fellow photographer Bill Sargent would say, “I sold little precious pieces of paper.”

Here are some hard facts about the show if you consider to do it. And, for many of you, it could be a good money-maker.

You get to setup the day before, Thursday.  Or come in on Friday to setup.

The Show starts at 4pm on Friday and goes til 7:30.

On Saturday, hours are 10am-7:30pm.

Sunday, hours are 10am-4pm.

Booth fee for a single booth is close to $500.

This is a show run by the Paint Creek Center for the Arts.  You can find it on Zapp.

There are at least 300 exhibitors, and jurying is very competitive.

The thing is, when I know good artists that get juried out, and then see what gets in, it makes my head spin.

They do a great job of mapping out the show.  Every space gets ample rear storage.  Many artists move their booth over to the line on one side so that gives them some wiggle, and display room, on the other side.

The Show is held in a great inner city park in the heart of Rochester. A running creek, Paint Creek, runs thru it.

There are two main sections of the show.  One on a lower level, the other on the upper.  

I prefer the upper section.  Just me.

Parking can be a bitch.  It pays to get there early.

For example, on Sunday, I got there at 6:30am. Got the van situated in Position A.  I had three and a half hours to kill.  So I did my usual Sunday strategy. Which is:get the New York Times at a Starbucks (I can easily spend three hours reading it.  Then I walk three blocks to Paul’s Greek restaurant for breakfest.

By 10am I am well read and well fed.

Ready to make mucho dinero, and none named Robert.

Sorry, but I spent another hour adding on to this post after I had saved to this point.  It is all in the ether.

 OK, it is Tuesday morning. I am going to paraphrase all that got lost in the ether last night.

God, I hate doing this twice, but I will do it for you readers.  I have good info to dish out.

  As I was saying....

So Sunday I opened up to chilly weather, in the low 50’s. Very windy which made it colder.

I tarped in all three sides of my rear storage which made a nice little warm cocoon free from the winds.

Almost nobody was there til about noon.  People trickled in walked around and occasionally walked in a booth.

I was mostly ignored.

I had my black and white handcolors up of famous iconic figure like Bill Murray and Christopher Walken.

I would get giggles, laughs and colorful comments then they would move on. It went that way til close of show.  I barely sold $400 for the day.

The woodworker behind me sold one small piece the whole day. A respected glass artist across from me mostly sold little glass balls, he was not happy.

Overall, most people were disappointed with their sales. Many were 50% off from before.

There were successful artists out there.  Many had kitschy Lowend items.  Certain jewelers killed them.

like I said before, this is a conservative crowd.  They are well-monied but I do not see them buying much good art.

I tore down completely on the ground and got a red pass to come in.  I was out of there by 5:15, they did not let us in til 4:30.

It started raining lightly just after I escaped.

I am done with this show.

But, it could be a winner for some of you.  I try to give an impartial comments about the shows I do.  I realize my audience is not the same for a lot of you.  I sell to a niche market, and I realize it can have its shortcomings.

OK, good places to eat.

Pauls Restaurant right on the main drag, walking distance from show.

They are Greek.  You know Greeks do great breakfest from omelette stop crepes.

For a great dinner go west on Walton to Luckys Prime Rib.  In my humble opinion they are the best restaurant in Michigan for moderate price points under $20.

Try the filet for $19. Comes with a delicious loaf of bread, a salad plus one side.

They offer five kinds of fish, all under twenty dollars. They poor a mean martini for Seven.

Aloha, time to play golf.

Show: Estes Park Labor Day Arts & Crafts Show 2018, Location: Estes Park, Colorado 
Dates: September 1-3, 2018
Fees: Jury/Booth $325, Online filing $15
My medium: leather

    Estes Park is the gateway to the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park.  There are many summer homes in the surrounding mountains and Valleys and it is a popular destination for metro Denver. You also encounter a broad spectrum of income levels, and a lot of foreign visitors. I have been doing this show continuously since 2010.  I also do the Memorial Day show in May.  The show is produced by the Estes Valley Sunrise Rotary, Inc.  The Labor Day crowd is large and there is a constant flow of patrons through the show.  The show hours were 9-5 Saturday and Sunday and 9-3 on Monday.

SET UP AND TAKE DOWN

      One hundred five booths are set up around the perimeter of Bond Park and in the parking lot in front of the Town Hall. People with trailers were given an option of starting set up at 7:30 Friday morning and could drive to their sites. I was there before 8:00 and could unload a few spaces from my spot.  Later in the morning, artists parked in designated areas and Rotary volunteers dollied artist to their sites and helped with set up. Take down was Monday at 3:00 pm. Rotarians were available to dolly artist to their vehicles in designated parking areas. Later, artists were allowed to bring in vehicles to load up. You have to have paid taxes before you got a loading permit. The Rotary volunteers are experienced and the best group of any show I attend.

      Trailers park at the fairgrounds and there is a free shuttle back to the park. Artists park on streets or in lots away from the perimeter of Bond Park.

ART, ARTISTS, AMENITIES, WEATHER

      There is a broad spectrum of art and craft at this show to meet the interests of a broad spectrum of visitors to Estes Park. There were high end jewelers and photographers to handmade soaps and edibles. Many of the artists have done this show for several years like me.

      The Rotary had coffee and donuts for artists every morning. There was a silent auction of donated art. Booth sitters were available.  Clean, indoor, accessible restrooms are in the Town Hall.

      Thunderstorms and wind are common at the Estes Park shows. Although thunderstorms were forecast for each day, there were only a few sprinkles. The days were pleasant in the 70’s.-

SALES AND ANALYSIS 

      Sales over eight years have ranged from $2.69K to $4.9K with an average of $4.14K.  I had 75 sales with an average of $57.  Belts were my best seller, but I also sold canteens, billfolds, checkbooks, suspenders, flasks, holsters, pad folios and napkin rings.  I also picked up some post show repairs and special orders.

FUN STUFF 

      We rented our favorite cabin with a hot tub again.  Now for the bear story.  Sunday, a bear was up in a tree by the library at one end of the show. He got down and ambled over to a hill at the other end of the show.  Sunday night he got into the toasted almonds tent. The security guy looked in the tent and found himself eyeball to eyeball with the bear before scaring it off.  There was a big bin of sugar in the tent, but he didn’t bother it.  He did slash one wall of the tent.

      I learned something about bears from the security people.  They say that the food vendors keep bears away from their stuff by putting Clorox soaked rags around their trailers, and on any ice chest kept outside. It repels the bears.

      Wildlife are a fact of life at Colorado mountain shows. Be prepared for elk, moose, bear, beaver, deer and the usual raccoons and skunks.  Don’t leave food or trash in your tent overnight.

Photos: 1. When the crowd was slow on Saturday

             2. Unusual large crown Sunday morning

             3. Tear in tent from bear  

Always held on the Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend.

This is one of the richest suburbs on the Chicago north shore.

They do not allow any hotels within the city limits.

I usually stay with Jim Wilbat who lives nearby in Deerfield, but he was off doing the Bloomington art fair.

So I got to stay at a Red Roof Inn in Waukegan. The city has seen better days since when Jack Benny was born there.

OK, back to LF.

I have done this show about six times. The first two times I made really good sales. Since then, I have seen a steady decline every year.  This year was the worst.  Weather played a big role in it.

The weather forecast for this show was not good.  We had high humidity coupled with stifling heat intermixed with a string of rainstorms that poured on us during setup, teardown and most of the day Monday.

It hurt our sales.  Attendance was down, and those who were walking were not buying much.  Mostly Lowend.

On Sunday I never saw one large 2D sale go by til 3:30. I saw two more and that was it.

Monday, a couple of artists got lucky but most made minemal sales.

The Show is held downtown in the heart of the shopping district.

It has about 250 booths with a hefty booth fee.  Frankly, their fee is not worth it.

I could do better selling hotdogs in a vacant lot than what I do at this show.

I did not even do $500 in sales.

All booths are on concrete, no staking in the ground.

Fire Marshal came around checking booths for fire extinguishers.

Seriously folks, in 45 years of doing shows, I have yet to see anything on fire in a booth.

Most people had some room on one side to hang art.  Most had rear storage.

The people who attend are smartly dressed while walking their pedigree dogs.

They socialize more than they buy. You get tons of complements with little dinero.

I am adding more new insights.

Ironically, while most of us had meager sales, one particular photographer, excelled—it was his best show anywhere in Chicago.

I have been following his posts on Art Fair Reviews all summer.

He has mainly done Amy Amdur shows and, failed miserably at all of them.

Lo and behold he comes to Lake Forest. First day he did about $250.  On rainy Sunday two customers walk into his booth and spend almost $4000 on photos on metal.  He made out like a bandit.  I do not know any others, but, God bless.

Also, over Sunday night the rain was severe. Several ramps off the main highway 41 were impassable, think three to four foot deep.

No wonder nobody came and bought.

Looking for a profitable and stress-free weekend show? Apply to ArtFest Fort Myers - Southwest Florida's premier fine art festival and largest weekend event. Creating an artwork-selling festival for artists is the focus of our year-round professional staff with 19 years of consistent management.

 

HOW DO WE PROMOTE FOR YOU?

$175,000 Marketing Campaign  targeted to art buyers from Marco Island to Sarasota to West Palm Beach.  We are getting the word out about your fabulous art work via TV, radio, daily newspapers and weekly publications, digital billboards, magazine articles, our mobile friendly website, our online Artist Gallery, regional theatre and symphony programs plus social media outreach and e-vites to our special patrons.

 

HOW DO WE SET THE CONDITIONS FOR ARTIST SUCCESS?

You  need  an appropriate environment to showcase your artwork  and create vigorous sales. ArtFest Fort Myers creates that environment along a wide boulevard with ease-for-patron flow of artist booths flanked by a beautiful riverfront park and yacht basin.  You  need  a supportive, income-appropriate audience in a broad age range  to produce excellent sales. At ArtFest Fort Myers, you will find:

• a very loyal base of VIP's, patrons and sponsors who wait all year to purchase art at our festival

• upscale dining areas, including shaded table seating & ample food/beverage options, encouraging buyers to stay longer and shop more.

• on-site arts related activities to keep the patrons engaged while they decide on more art purchases (high school art competition, children's art yard, high school sidewalk chalk competition and more)

HOW DO WE TAKE CARE OF ARTISTS?

• Oversized booth spaces - 3 feet between booths & behind-booth storage area

• Easy Friday Set-up with scheduled staggered drive-up access
• Breakfast Saturday and Sunday plus water all day & indoor bathrooms
• Booth Sitters and dedicated Artist Ambassadors
• Discounted hotel rates & reserved artist parking with complimentary trolley transportation
• 24 hour security
• $5,500 in Artist Awards

Apply Now: https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=6680

Questions:  Jeanne.Seehaver@ArtFestFortMyers.com
Jeanne Seehaver, Associate Director

I participated in my first mountain festival Aug 11, 2018.

I feel it was a success, sold quite a few pieces (mostly stickers and economical prints, a few giclee’s).

Lessons learned:

In setting up my booth I decided to professionally frame my 16x20’s and original sized artwork to grab the customers attention. It worked, but a lot of people did not want to purchase those they wanted the smaller size and I found myself constantly showing what that size looked like. I am curious to learn how other artists handle this. Do you display various sizes of your prints?

Another potentially critical issue was condensation on the inside of my framed art on the wall that had sun. This could have been disastrous and ruined my prints. I quickly pulled the frames off the wall and wiped the inside off. I was able to display them shortly after now that the glass was accilimated to the temp. Whew!

Make sure the air can flow through your tent. At one point my tent wanted to take flight. I thought with the heavy walls hanging from the railing would help (and it did) until the wind turned head on into my tent. Shortly after I added a bucket of water to the front of my tent on ea. side which took care of the wind issue.

I use Shopify for my website and POS. The only issue I had is I needed WiFi for the swipe reader to work, which was not available. I was able to manually type the card in but I felt like I spent a lot of time looking at my phone vs the customer. Does anyone have a suggestion to improve this issue for my next event?

Your constructive feedback and comments are requested and welcomed :)

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This is an answer to Connie’s question “Just wondering if any of you are having any luck trying Air BnB?”  I decided to start a new thread on this, since I think it is a substantive issue.

I have used Airbnb a few times, with positive experiences up until last month, when a host canceled my reservation.  The host, who is listed as a Superhost with all good reviews, canceled my fully-paid-for reservation “because a family member needs to use it”.  I was refunded my payment by Airbnb, but am not happy that my reservation could be canceled on a whim with no repercussions or remedies offered.  I concluded that Airbnb is the reverse of the normal hotel room reservation system:  with a hotel room, the guest can often cancel right up to the date reserved without penalty, while the hotel cannot.  With Airbnb, the guest cannot cancel, but the host can without any penalty.  This does not make it a very valuable service for business people, including artists, who need reliable accommodations.  I for one do not intend to use Airbnb in the future unless there are no other alternatives.

You may be as surprised as I was that a host can cancel your reservation with no repercussions.  On the Airbnb web site https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990/i-m-a-host--what-penalties-apply-if-i-need-to-cancel-a-reservation they state that a host who cancels a reservation will lose their Superhost status and that there will be an automated review posted on the host’s listed “that can’t be removed” indicating that a reservation had been canceled by that host.  But almost one month after my reservation was canceled, the host is still listed as a Superhost, and there is no automatic review posted.  Airbnb will not allow me to post a review, because I never had the chance to rent the condo. 

Also, note the language “that can’t be removed”.  That implies that hosts can remove any customer written reviews that they do not like.  Looking around the internet, there is a general consensus that Airbnb hosts remove reviews that are not to their liking.  So you cannot trust the reservation system, cannot trust the penalty system, cannot trust what they say Superhost means (“0 cancelations” – see https://www.airbnb.com/superhost ), and cannot trust the reviews.

After my bad experience I looked around the internet and discovered lots of Airbnb horror stories.  One person even described Airbnb as “a paradise for fraudsters” (which introduces a whole other set of risk factors).  Caveat Emptor!

This show was on the first weekend of August.

It is run by the local art museum group and is held in a beautiful treed park

on the south side of the town.

This is a very quaint small town located just south of I-94 about ten miles west of Michigan City Indiana.

All booths are on grass and the booth fee is $220.

This is not a Zapp Show.

Just Google “Chesterton Art Center” and the show info, application, will show up.

Actually, Connie lists this show on her venue of shows.

OK, let us get down to brass tacks.

This is a filler show. If you gross $2K plus, you are doing good.

Only about 95 booths.

Plenty of storage space.  

Before day setup, a very mellow teardown.

A very responsive committee with great volunteers.

They give you ample bottles of water daily.

Booth sitters galore.

They have a food truck that sells legendary hamburgers there.

Also local restaurants are there with reasonable priced foods.

Breakfest both days.

The patrons are very well dressed in spite of 90 plus temps both dYs.

The town has many monied neighborhoods.  This is not blue collar-Ville.

So here is the rub.

They come, they look, but they do not buy much art, maybe a little more craft.

Definitely, a Lowend Show.

I barely sold $1300.

Plenty others were in my range.

It was very hot. But it is always hot there, after all, it is August.

This Show has been going there for years.  I remember old timers like Denny who did it for years.

In old times, some artists could do $3K plus, but those days are gone.

Most years, I do Uptown, Minneapolis, on this weekend. A better grossing show.

I make home to Saugatuck in less than a hour and a half.

I find hotels in the $70 range and great local restaurants to eat and imbibe at.

Lucrezias in downtown serves fantastic eats at a deal. They are not to be missed.

Like I said,this is a filler show.

This weekend I will be in Lexington, Kentucky.

Later, gators.

This was the first time experience for this artist in Frisco, did an HA event in Redstone, UT years ago billed as Park City, UT a bait and switch?

All spaces were marked for the early (5AM) load in time. Load in was remarkably not chaotic as was load out, everyone behaved themselves. Minimal presence of staff with fewer instructions at the time of load-in, most instructions were given via their website or online way ahead of the show.

It has been years since I've done a mountain art show and maybe this experience is a reminder to me why I gave up on them. IMHO this was not a "destination" art fair. In other words, it was not an exclusive event like a Cherry Creek, etc. Most people were there as weekend or longer term vacationers or people who live in the area. The event was noted on multiple posters around town and a big banner at one end of the main street. People attending the event were "pedestrians" out for a stroll, didn't look like a crowd eager to buy but rather there to enjoy the day and whatever was going on. Energy was low for buying. HA's promotional material says that he brings out the buying public, or something like that, I don't know how that applies to his other shows but I would say for this show the "crowd" was not there exclusively for the show mostly just the local ambiance. Did not see a whole lot of big items moving through the crowd. Some photography bin pieces were seen though. Didn't "make" any money, lost a lot though! Artists near me felt as if their sales were down from the previous year.

Too many Photographers ( 20%) and Jewelers for a show of this size (125 artists). The weather was perfect. Parking for vehicles and campers was provided at either end of the show, no artist amenities (a granola bar at 6 AM), no booth sitters, porta potties were in the middle of a 4 block long show but were available at the visitor center or local restaurants.

Frisco, CO is a wonderful little town that hasn't entirely fallen to the glitz that typifies some of the Colorado mountain ski towns, it still maintains some of its charm and dignity. It isn't however inexpensive to stay here, even with Airbnb, and food can be a little pricey though there are a few select spots that are still affordable. I guess I could have driven the 75 miles back home each day but traffic on I-70 and going up and down the mountains can be a horrendous experience. Oh and, if yer not used to the elevation (9000+ feet) you WILL feel it. I spend plenty of time in the mountains and still had a hard time with sleep and the exertion of setup.