Blog

June 9-11
Salina, Kansas
Presented by: Salina Arts & Humanities
136 artists
Deadline: February 6

Application fee: $40; Booth fee: $325

Expect exceptional Artist Amenities: booth sitters, beverages brought to booth, unload and loading assistance, 24 hour security, free reserved parking within the event for inventory access and an Artist & Patron cocktail Party.

New this year:
Our Fine Art Show will run for three days with shortened daily show hours. We have combined our Artist Reception with our Patron Program and created a new event to allow artists to meet Patrons before the shows open and to develop relationships with a new group of young professionals joining the Patron Program for the first time. We are also developing a Business Patron Program to encourage local and corporate businesses in Salina to support the Arts in our community by purchasing original work for their private and public spaces.

Festival Facts:

• Approximately half-a-million dollars in visual arts sales
• Both shows are juried and ranked among the Top 100 Art Fairs in the country in ArtFair Sourcebook!
• Knowledgeable and engaged patrons
• $130,000+ pledged by existing Patrons as well as both a young Professional and Business Patron Program rolling out this year to support the Fine Art Show
• Over $11,000 cash Merit & Purchase Awards
• Heavily shaded park setting
• Access to discounted lodging
• We spend nearly $40,000 annually in local and regional advertising and marketing for the Festival. 

June 24 & 25
Winnetka, Illinois
Presented by the North Shore Art League
80 Artists

Application fee: $35; Booth fee: $400 single/$600 double

North Shore Art League, the 93 year old arts organization located in Winnetka, IL, will present its national juried show in Winnetka's Hubbard Woods Park again this summer. 

On June 24 and 25 the park will be bustling with artists from across the country exhibiting their works to enthusiastic art buyers. The park is a beautiful setting for a summer art fair, right in the middle of the Village's Hubbard Woods Design District. Conveniently located along Green Bay Road with plenty of free parking. 

The League is locally well-known with close ties to the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College and many art galleries, schools and organizations. 

At the time it was founded, the League was one of the original arts organizations in the country. League members organized the popular Old Orchard Art Fair in Skokie in the 50's (which ran for over 45 years under NSAL leadership) and the New Horizons Art Shows held in Chicago during the 60's and 70's. Our nine-year old local fine arts exhibition, Art on the Plaza, was relocated and revamped to become Art in the Village. Bringing the fair to Hubbard Woods Park is like a homecoming of sorts as one of our very first outdoor shows was held in that same park. We hope to see you there this summer!

Testimonials:

Happy New Year dear artist (a little late). I hope the year brings you happiness, love and prosperity. I know it will bring some of that and am asking if you'd share that bounty with others in our business.

I'm sure you remember when you started in the business the helpfulness of other artists and the great tips you picked up "behind the booth." This was invaluable information that has built your business. Any chance you can "pay it forward?"

Wlll you post a 2016 show review or two on ArtShowReviews.com? The reviews are coming in steadily but yours would be so appreciated. 

We've overhauled the site and it is new, improved, easier and faster to leave feedback! 

Here's how easy:

1. Click this link www.ArtShowReviews.com 
2. Fill in the blanks - about 10 of them
3. Sit back and receive the good karma. You've done your good deed for the day! Thanks.

As always, wishing you fulfilling days, every day.

May 20 & 21
East Lansing, Michigan
downtown streets
180 artists
Deadline: January 31

Application fee: $25/$35; Booth fee: $335-$670

This highly anticipated mid-Michigan festival attracts over 70,000 knowledge-able art patrons from around the region. Established in 1964, the East Lansing Art Festival is an evolving outdoor celebration of fine art and fine craft show that takes place in the streets of downtown East Lansing, adjacent to the Michigan State University campus.

At the ELAF-ranked #9 by Sunshine Artist exhibitors can expect:

• a festive mood- this is the kickoff of the local festival season!
• well-educated visitors, including professional people from state government and the university
• friendly volunteers who welcome artists and make load-in and load-out run smoothly
• booth sitting services and Friday set-up as well as free artist parking, coffee and break area
• affiliation with local public TV and radio-bringing the right people to you
• eclectic live music that enhances the art rather than distracts from it
• international flavors in a unique food court 
  
  

What they say about us:

Very nice experience over-all!

Apply:  https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=5109

This was a show of firsts for us, our first show of 2017, our first show in Florida, and our first show pulling our new trailer.  

So, how did it go?  OK actually mainly due to one customer who came in our booth and made the show for us.  Towing a trailer definitely slowed us down on the road, but it allowed us to organize our stuff so much better and rolling items into the trailer is a lot better than lifting them into our pickup.  We eventually got to Sarasota after over nighting in Tallahassee.

Set up had originally been scheduled from noon until 7pm then a week before the show it was rescheduled to 8:30pm with a notation not to show up early.  So we arrived promptly at 8:30 to see that several booths were already set up and the artists gone to dinner or to bed.  This may have been due to a change in venue.  This show is normally on Gulfstream Ave. near some very high end condos.  Due to construction it had to be relocated to Main street, a very nice area with shops and restaurants.  

We were able to pull down a side street closed for the show and dolly across the street to our booth.  It took us until after midnight to get mostly ready to go.  We came back early the next morning to finish before the show opened at 10am. Traffic on Saturday was OK.  We had plenty of people in our booth to have a good day but their buying energy was pretty low.  

Usually we do a lot of business out of our print bins but that was not the case that day.  By noon we had sold one matted print. Our luck turned when our big customer came in and loved our work.  She bought a large piece off the wall, bought a second piece the next day and ordered a third we will deliver when we go down for Ft Myers.  That put us in the black for the trip.  If we had our normal number of print sales it would have been a great show but as it was we turned an OK profit. Sunday was a little slower traffic wise than Saturday.

Load out went well. We had plenty of room on the side walk behind our booth so we could stack everything in the order it needed to go in the trailer.  I was able to pull in front of our space, drop the ramp and load up in 15 minutes.  

This show was a Paragon production.  I was impressed with the no frills approach.  There are no artists amenities. Since there are two of us we do not need booth sitters, we bring our own water, and we usually do not eat the provided breakfasts at other shows due to dietary restrictions.  

Local artists we spoke with said the show was heavily advertised but it was not the same crowd they normally get at the Gulfstream location.  The weather was perfect both days which was a nice break from the gloomy Alabama weather we have had.  Bill Kinney, the promoter, was genuinely interested in how sales were going for everyone.  He came by a couple of times.  He is a photographer and was showing his work at the show so he had first hand knowledge of what was going on.

Much to my surprise a few days after the show we got an e-mail breaking down sales for each medium. I wish more promoters would provide that information as it helps make decisions for the future.  

Our goal for the Florida shows on our schedule is to test the market there for our work.  We are photographers of urban, industrial, and abandoned subjects usually at night or in low light.  About half the people that come in our booth don't get it, another quarter find it interesting to look at, and the remainder consider buying something. We need a younger, urban crowd for our work, so Sarasota's demographic did not fit.  But, we decided to try it anyway and it worked out mainly due to one person.   

Everyone knows that it is expensive to do shows in Florida this time of year so if you are going to do a show in Sarasota here are a few tips that might save you a little money.  We stayed at a little 60s motel on Highway 41 about 2 miles north of downtown called the Regency Inn and Suites.  It had been renovated, it was clean and had a nice outdoor pool area if you are so inclined.  There is some road noise but it can be drowned out with the air conditioner fan.  We slept very well and our total bill for three days was 285.00.

The Toasted Mango was our breakfast spot.  It is between the motel and downtown on Hwy 41. Excellent food, great service, OK coffee.  The parking lot is tight for large vehicles.  

We ate dinner at the Old Salty Dog which is across the bridge.  Take the first exit on St Armands Circle, and turn right at the first light.  It is on the water, offers $6.75 martinis, and has great Grouper Sandwiches, need I say more.  

Both days we ate take out salads from El Greco, a Greek restaurant located at Main and Orange.  On Saturday when I picked up the bag it was so heavy I thought I had the wrong order.  The salads were huge with lots of great additives.  If you like feta cheese this is the place for you. On Sunday we split one. 

Everything considered it was a good trip for us.  We will definitely apply to more Paragon shows based on this experience.  We are hopeful that Florida will offer enough interest in our work to merit more shows in the Sunshine state. The jury is still out.  The next three shows will be crucial.    

As an art fair outsider, I aspire to be an insider someday soon. I create designs that are screen printed on t-shirts, magnets and stickers and cater to mostly pet lovers. I’ve been doing this full-time for 10 years. I’m resigned to the fact that my business is relatively microscopic to the marketplace and it’s certainly not changing anyone’s life. But I spoke to a customer the other day that made me re-think what I do…

An older woman, Nancy had left a message on voice mail frantically looking for two of my stickers, an Akita and Golden Retriever. She said she spent the better part of her Sunday looking for me. She just totaled her van days prior and had to replace the stickers immediately! She even located two of my retail store customers in Michigan and was going to have her husband stop at one. Unfortunately neither store carried my stickers.

I was puzzled. Bewildered as to why in the world would someone go to all that trouble to buy two of my dog stickers especially after being in a serious car accident? Go to any pet boutique. You can find something similar most anywhere. Admittedly, I didn’t have my ‘customer service’ hat on. I had my ‘this lady must be crazy!’ hat on.

So I call her back and find out she just loves the designs and hasn’t seen anything else like it. That’s flattering I thought but doesn’t explain the urgency. So she goes on to explain the two designs represent her love for the two dog breeds she’s ever owned. And when she walks out to a parking lot looking at the sea of cars and sees those stickers on the rear window, she knows she’s found her car.

Now that she’s going to be driving a new vehicle and after going through the trauma of last week’s accident, she’s just trying to get some normalcy back… so that’s why she needed those stickers. Dumbfounded, I clumsily took her order and got off the phone.

I sat and pondered about my phone call. Sometimes because we get into a routine, things become insignificant to us. We start to push aside some of our work as mundane or less than worthy, things become less about art and meaning and more about business. We forget why people buy our art, maybe it’s not just decorative, maybe there’s some connection, some meaning and they make a purchase because of some relationship to our art that we could never begin to know. But often especially with the low dollar items, we just see it as something we printed on paper, on canvas or to hang on a wall. We forget that art can be about relationships. And we all need relationships.

May 27 & 28
St. Charles, Illinois
Presented by the Downtown St. Charles Partnership
100 Artists
Deadline: January 31

Application fee: $35; Booth fee: Single $395; Double $795

The St. Charles Fine Art Show is held along the banks of the Fox River in scenic downtown St. Charles, Illinois, approximately 40 miles west of Chicago. 

Boasting outstanding architecture and historic significance, St. Charles has long been a destination for the arts, as well as dining, entertainment, outdoor recreation, shopping and festivals. 

 

The St. Charles Fine Art Show attracts an audience of art buyers and supporters who come from all over Chicagoland and beyond. These supporters have generated an average of $60,000 in our Purchase Award Program each year over the past five years.

I know our focus here is on insuring that the artists who are participating in the events earn a living. That is my mission.

But some art festivals do that and more. The Anacortes Arts Festival in Anacortes, WA, has a mission of giving back to the arts in its community, a Giving Back Program. In 2016, the festival handed out $42,350 in grants. That number was $39,974 in 2015 and $49,000 in 2014 (which includes cultural education support).

Each year, the Arts Festival uses its net profit to award grant money to several area groups. This year, it will hand out about $33,000. It is also anticipating donating $9,000 to the Cultural Education Program, $12,000 to public art purchases and $6,000 to the Local Artists in the Schools program, bringing giving for the year up to about $55,000.

The $$ go to the schools, public arts programs, artists in schools -- just what you would hope an arts festival would foster. Learn more about what is happening in Anacortes: http://www.goanacortes.com/arts_and_community/article_350753b0-dd04-11e6-820d-eb79c72b76cf.html

Does anyone know of programs like this at other shows?

Next podcast: January 31, 5 pm ET

The premise: As a "new" artist attempting to earn a living at the nation's art fairs I often think about the business side of things. People are surprised that I even attempt the notion of doing it full time... without a pension! 

We speak with art fair artists who actually pay the bills and make a living, BUT they do so without a pension or some other significant source of income. In other words, these are people who figured out how to be profitable at art fairs! Are there people like that? This is a very practical nuts and bolts discussion of entrepreneurship. Creating art and earning a living with it are two separate endeavors.

Our guests will be long timers and new people just starting to hit the road.

If you would like to be on the panel please let me know. If you have questions you'd like discussed add them in the comments below. 

May 13 & 14

Birmingham, Michigan

Art Birmingham, originally known as the Birmingham Fine Art Festival, takes place Mother's Day Weekend in the streets surrounding Shain Park, in downtown Birmingham. The park is conveniently located in the center of this favorite suburban downtown and features welcoming pathways and beautiful landscaping.

Hi Friends,

I am a military wife and jewelry artist. I moved for my husbands job from Virginia to Florida a few months ago. As I have been making attempts to re-establish myself here in Florida [New Smyrna Beach/Volusia County] I am hitting some crazy road blocks and I was wondering if any FL artists could share their perspective with me.

I know every state is different, but FL seems to have a lot of extra hoops to jump through. I am being told that I need to pay & have a city inspector 'inspect' my work space. It's just a little studio/work space in my garage. No sales or customers will be occurring there. I sell online and at shows. Is this really necessary? It seems like overkill.  Perhaps I am approaching this in the wrong manner. I had listed my self as a 'home based' business [the other alternatives were 'business in a commercial building' or 'flea market' :-( ]

I would be so grateful if someone would share their experience with me.

Thank you in advance.

May 20 & 21
Indianapolis, Indiana
Presented by: Indianapolis Art Center
225 Artists
Deadline: January 22

Application fee: $35; Booth fee: $370 

The Broad Ripple Art Fair is a gated event ($13 resale and $15 day of) that serves as the Indianapolis Art Center's largest fundraiser of the year.  It is held on the grounds of the Indianapolis Art Center and its 9-acre ArtsPark, plus the adjacent North Side Optimists Opti-Park.

What you will like about us:

• Second day pass-back for patrons
• gated fair average of over 15,000 attendees
• Heavy item pick up service
• Staff and volunteer supported load-in and load-out
• Over 400 volunteers.

The Talbot Street Art Fair is the longest running juried Art show in Indiana. This year will be its 62nd anniversary
It is still held in the picturesque Herron Morton neighborhood on Talbot Street from 16th-20th Street. The committee who created this granddaddy of a show is still involved and now joined by working artists to insure this is a successful event for all participating artists. They are striving to keep the show fresh and current. The fair is very well supported by its neighborhood host and by the surrounding communities.
2016 brought temperatures of 96 degrees and record setting attendance reported by police. I spoke with several artists last year - they all reported strong sales, even with the oppressive heat! History shows that “come rain, shine or heat” people flock to this event to find unique, original art.
Talbot Street still remains free to the public, encouraging people to come enjoy the event, which averages around 60,000 in attendance. The committee has an aggressive marketing campaign to ensure success for all.
For artists, they allow Friday set up with the ability to drive to the booth to unload and load. There are close artist parking and RV areas provided. Most booths have ample storage behind them. Although this is a very safe area of Indianapolis they do provide 24 hour security from Friday evening through tear-down on Sunday. The committee passes out water throughout the day and the neighborhood provides coffee and donuts each morning.
And the best is that there are air-conditioned restrooms for when the heat is just too much!!!
This fair is a long standing jewel – well known and attended by buying customers.

Application deadline is 1/15/2017.

Fees are $30 APF and $310 Booth.
Application is available on Zapplication: https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=5145
For more info, go to www.talbotstreet.org.

July 8 & 9
St. Joseph, Michigan
56th Annual Art Fair

Presented by the Krasl Art Center
200 Artists
Deadline: January 20

Application fee: $35; Booth fee: $300-$375

This nationally-recognized event is a mainstay of summer in southwest Michigan, the community's largest celebration of the arts. 200 artists will bring their fine art and fine craft for approximately 50,000 attendees to admire and purchase.

The Krasl Art Fair is an outdoor event located in St Joseph, Michigan along the bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. St. Joseph is 1 1/2 hour drive from Chicago and Grand Rapids. This established art fair attracts fine art and fine craft artists from all over the US and Canada.