As most everyone knows this year both Naples National and Coconut Grove fall on the same weekend.

Thoughts and opinions as to where you will go.

From my friend artist Greg Strachov ...

Dear Connie,

     There was an incident which the art community should read about in hope that it acts as a warning.    I received an email from someone who was interested in surprising his wife with one of my paintings.   He said that he was a biologist who was out at sea doing research.  He also said that he saw that his wife, in California, loved my work and that their anniversary was soon approaching.   I sent him some images and prices of my work and he selected a $4,800.00 painting.

    A week later, I received a check for ten thousand dollars and later that day, he sent me an email asking me to "please pay the shipper when he arrives to pick up the painting".    He then sent an email asking me to send the balance of the check to California,  to the main office of the moving company.   My bank had a twelve day hold on the check!   He became upset when he learned of the hold and said the he will call his bank to get it cleared sooner.   A few days later he emailed me and said that the check had been cleared and to go to a specific bank to send the check to the shipper.    I waited and then went to my own bank and asked if the check was clear and learned that it would be less expensive if I go to the bank that he recommended.   I asked the bank representative to investigate if the check that he sent was in my account.   When she opened her computer, she found that the ten thousand dollar check had a stop payment put on it ten minutes ago.   If I did not stop at my bank and simply went to his, the funds would have come out of my own savings since his money was no longer there.

  My advise to all artist is  be careful when you deal with email or telephone customers.   I called the FBI about this and they instructed me to go to their website and file a report.   I was a little surprised at this too because I would file this report and never know if there was something done.   Be aware!  

Has anyone else recently received one of these "opportunities?" Do you  have any suggestions for the rest of us?

Has anyone done the Greek Orthodox Church (Holy Trinity) in Charleston SC?

Was it a good show or did everyone just eat?

Chris

Now that the election is over no one can use it as an excuse for poor shows. Our first show after the election was this past weekend and it was a good show for us.
I sure hope that we all have excellent shows going forward without any more excuses or reasons to have excuses.
I cannot think of any negativity and I don't want any.. 
Howsa bout you? Are you looking forward to a great upcoming year ?????

The Three Rivers fest is held in beautiful downtown Covington, La and is stretched out over a 5 block area. I like this setup because it makes it easy to visit all the booths withough having to zig-zag through a maze of booths and possible miss something. Not all shows have the advantage of this type of layout due to the show location.

Load in starts at 4:30pm and was a fairly easy load in and setup. With the daylight saving time it became dark early and I was glad I had my trusty Ryobi battery light to brighten things up. If your booth was lucky enough to be near a street light you were ok.

The festival staff and volunteers were great. We were offered bottled water often and frequently asked if we needed anything.

There were several restaurants serving food and drinks as well as a food truck with scrumptioulicious Gumbo...and as always the caramel corn artists.

The weather was fantastic with temperatures in the upper 70's and low humidity. That's the kind of weather anyone can enjoy being out in. Best of all was that since it was held on the street everything was not covered with dust all day...

There was a good balance of work and I didn't notice any wood watches of buy/sell.

The Festival had good crowds pretty much all day SAturday without much slow time and our sales were good. Usually Sunday crowds are anticipated to be smaller but we were pleasantly surprised with a better than usual number of visitors and buyers.

The festival has an excellent party and awards presentation that was held on SAturday night right after closing. In the past it was held on Sunday morning prior to the festival starting.

Load out was not too bad. I was able to use my Ryobi light again. We had to dolly stuff out...but it wasn't that difficult. Definitely one of my favorite shows and I really like Covington. It is special to me because I lived there back in the late 1960's... and it is only a 55 mile drive for me now...

March 4

• Marketing to art buyers 30+ years and older with disposable incomes and women who love appreciate beautiful things
• Advertising area South Bend, Fort Wayne, Elkhart, Kalamazoo, Chicago neighborhoods, and all of southwest Michigan
• Media: Television, newspapers, internet, posters, billboards and leaflets

• Drive up to the building to unload and load
• Reasonable booth fee and Professional management
• Host families available for your overnight stay
• One-time Life time jury fee (once accepted to KoZmo Events shows you will always be invited back)
• Best booth contest and Best over all: Credits to use for future show with KoZmo Events
• Seating area for patrons to enjoy soft music, food, and wine.
• Art Dollar giveaways to be spent at the show to encourage patrons to buy art.

This from my friend, Carolyn Edlund, of Artsy Shark:

Artsy Shark is looking for 48 artists to feature and promote in the coming months. Submissions are now open; all mediums are eligible. Deadline is November 18th. Learn more http://bit.ly/2eDNxON

The panel at the Arts Festival conference "The Verdict is in: Best Jury Practices" had on its panel Christine Berthiaume from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Tara Brickell from the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Stephen King of the Des Moines Arts Festival and Nancy Musser who consults with art fairs on jury practices for Zapp, was well worth the time.

The candidness of the panel's remarks was refreshing and stripped away any concept of "other." We are on the same team, artists and art show directors. We all want the same thing: an excellent art festival.

Some of my notes:

• 35-40% of applicants come in in the last two days. Makes it difficult to review to make sure everything is in order. Maybe 80% the last week. Half in the last 24 hours. 

• If you are waiting to hear from other shows — still get the application started so it will be ready as soon as you are free to make a decision. Do you want to do it quickly, or slowly so you’ve got everything done? 
  
  
• Indoor booth/outdoor booth — — suggested that if you are applying to an indoor/outdoor your booth shot should reflect the show you are applying to.

• Suggestions for Artists who are doing all gallery shows, and so don’t have a booth shot: put together a display shot from what you have and set it up to replicate as closely as possible what you think your booth will look like at the show PLUS note (if there is a place for it) that you don't have a booth yet, new to the art fair business
  
  
• Make the shot look like an artists gallery, the booth shot keeping in mind what will be attractive to the viewer. E.g., don’t you send a booth shot that shows your work on the ground.
  
  
• As the rounds of the jury continue, it is for the jurors like “peeling away the onion”, down to the very best work.
  
  
• Don’t give the jury any reason to kick you out of the show. 

How they choose jurors and run their jury:

• 25% first round; 25% second round; then discussion. 

• Publish the name of the jurors ahead of time. 

• "We spend more time jurying our show than we are open as an art festival," Cindy Lerick from St. Louis Art Fair 

• Show award winners, invited artists. Review all images by category. Then score by category. Include peer jurors in the jurying images so they can see their work amidst their peers. 

• Quota per category, no — Cherry Creek. Judge based on excellence of work. 
  
  
• No categories - Des Moines - sorted by Zapp application ID#’s. Choosing a balanced show, put your work into a small category, leveling the playing field — not choosing a quota. 

• We review entire show the night before with the jurors. Next day start scoring. First round 1-7, no 4’s. Next round show of hands. 

• Best non-art entry was images of goats and the art was goat cheese - Tara Brickell from Cherry Creek
  
  

A couple of important tips (yes, you've heard them before, but there is a reason for that):

• Invest in professional images.
• Attend a jury, if at all possible. 

I have a show in Louisiana this weekend and I'm wondering if it is worth the drive. (around 7 hours) .....The country is in shock and art is probably the last thing that people are thinking about and also probably afraid to spend. I will go because it's paid for and because it is what I do... but I am truly afraid that the art world is looking back towards the 2008 dive bomb. I truly hope that doesn't happen but I am not encouraged. Would like to know how you feel. This does not need to be political, I am not questioning your vote...but lets face it, many of the people that buy our art are not the typical people that voted him into office. Well, my type of contemporary art anyway, can't speak for all.  It's about our livelihood.....

December 3 & 4
St. Simons Island, Georgia
Presented by Glynn Visual Arts
10 am-5 pm each day
70 Artists
Deadline: November 21

Booth fee: $190 (includes electricity)

~Also we want to go pre-paid with no contract. your suggestions will be appreciated! Thanks so much. Kathleen Smith & Steven Hedstrom

October 8 & 9 - Houston Civic Center & Tranquillity Park, Downtown Houston

Participants in the Arts Festival Conference (sponsored by Zapplication) in Houston were given passes ($18 at the gate) to attend the festival. These conferences are always held adjacent to an art fair. You'd think after all the art fairs I've attended (for 30 years participating in events) I'd maybe lose interest.

You and I know one of the special things about art fairs is that each one is different, that is part of their allure, so I was excited to finally attend a Bayou City Festival, an event that has been the subject of much conversation.

It is held in a beautiful downtown area, spread out over many city blocks, with fountains and parks and the Houston skyline and a Beaux Arts City Hall in the background. It has wide streets, but it is a lot of walking! The day was beautiful, couldn't have asked for anything nicer.

I attended with Christine Berthaiume from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival who was scouting for people to apply to her very desirable show. She would approach a likely prospect and invite the artist to apply. Almost invariably the reply would be, "I've tried and tried, sure wish I could get in." Most of my readers know that the show director (or as she is called for this event, crafts coordinator) does not jury the show or invite people to be IN the show.

She would reply, "well if you have any questions and if I can help you with your application please call me," and hand over her card. We met more than one person who testified that she had actually called and that Christine had been helpful. 

Christine with New Orleans photographer May Levy

Some of the people I met:

Jennifer Ivory from Oregon. Jennifer wrote a passionate blog on this site a few years ago when the Bayou City Arts Festival increased the size of the show. She told me she was in Houston again "because it was time to give the show another try."

Jeweler Matthew Naftzger whose work emphasizes recycling. He said he'd forgotten to bring his wall panels and had been to Home Depot the day before and come back to the show and constructed these plywood panels.

The original Texas artist, leatherworker Dave Piper who has been custom making sandals for many, many years and participated in just about every show in the country. 

I got to catch up with my favorite blogger and old friend, Nels Johnson.

These were the best looking table covers ever -- custom made to fit the tables in satin and ultra-suede. 

Crisp and beautiful booth, fine woodworking from Peg Martinez

This is a show with many double booths with amazing roofs:

This is the work of frequent reviewer and member Melanie Rolfes and her partner Michael Zavison (my apologies for the bad lighting in my photo). We're going to do a podcast soon about how they manage to get a double booth and these very large pieces in a vehicle.

Pros for this show: beautiful location, wide streets, a great place to show work in an uncrowded atmosphere. Cons: it costs $18 a ticket to get in with no readmission included. The layout was not logical. If you wanted to see the whole show you had to make a concerted effort. This is the only place to sit down. There were no tables near the food areas. I spoke with people who wanted to sit down to eat and left the show area for food, never to return.

Proof that the show had something for everyone ;)

Want to know more about this show? Then don't miss Melanie Rolfes' blog, Bayou City Arts Festival & Zapp Conference, and Nels Johnson's Another View of the Bayou City Art Show

I've been really busy lately, including having rotator cuff surgery three weeks ago. But this weekend I finally had time to write an article that's been on my mind for a few months now. From time to time I get asked by jewelers how to take their own professional quality pictures of their work. So I wrote a detailed article about the equipment I have and some tips on how to use it.

http://bermangraphics.com/blog/professional-jewelry-photos/

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

This has absolutely nothing to do with art shows directly but it might be helpful if you own an iPhone, or use iTunes or iPhoto to back up your phones contents!

I upgraded to Apple's newest entry into the iOS family with the system upgrade 10.0.2. I couldn't stand it when I upgraded to iOS 7 but I learned to live with it. A new low has been achieved with the iOS 10.0.2 and its need for redundant pressing of the home button just to get off the screen with the day and date, as-well-as other clumsly "upgrades". But I digress needlessly.

I wanted to backup the photos that I had on my phone to iPhoto, because they have the GPS data that my super expensive and needlessly complex new camera doesn't give me, and kept getting the message:

photos in the camera roll cannot be imported because the device "device name" is locked with a passcode

and iTunes kept saying that it didn't recognize my device, even though every time when asked if the device was trusted I touched the "trust" choice on the phone. I was caught in an Apple loop from which I didn't know how to escape.

I had a lengthy discussion with Apple "Chat" and somewhere in the midst (mist?) of the conversation, it was suggested that I update iTunes. More conversation...App store not available...yada yada, finally got the updated version of iTunes downloaded and installed and Viola! like magic the iPhone was recognized by both iTunes and iPhoto. That hadn't been a problem previously with other iPhone updates so I had no prior experiences from which to gather that I had to update iTunes as well! It must be rigged!

It's taken me a few weeks to get over my worst mistake ever.  Here's the story:

I spent all week thinking maybe I should cancel out of the Fall Festival of the Arts in Redwing that weekend.  The weather was looking cold, I had my parents coming into town on Sunday, I needed to spend time with my 16 year old and my husband was out of town.  I have never in 23 years of doing shows canceled out of a show so I felt super guilty about the prospect.  On Wednesday I actually went to website and was about to call when I decided to check the weather one more time and saw it was supposed to be in the 60's on Sunday so 50's on Saturday would be worth enduring.  Then I was able to work out some other scheduling glitches and I felt good about going forward with the show.  

Saturday morning I was up at 5:00 am and driving the hour or so drive down to Redwing.  Finally as I was rolling into town I suddenly thought... "Did I ever get an email about this show?"  Suddenly my heart was racing... "Did I actually apply to this show?!"  The app is out in the middle of the summer and I've always worried I would miss it.  It was on Zapp so even as I was driving into town I was trying to go to my Zapp account and scrolling.... NO!  It wasn't on there!  AHH!!!!  I am so used to doing this show the last 10 or so years I was just on auto pilot.  They don't usually tell you your booth ahead of time so I didn't even have a reason to look that up before I left.

Sure enough my name was not on the list and I had totally not applied!  I waited an hour for the volunteers to show and talked to them about the possibility of picking up a no-show space but eventually it was evident that even if there was an empty space they wouldn't let me have it (past award winner or not- they were new organizers and didn't know who the heck I was) I totally understood - it's really not a good precedent to set.  

I drove home and tried to enjoy the beautiful fall leaves but mostly just "yelled" at myself for being so stupid!  Lets hope that is the last and only time I ever do that!  I will be applying super early next year!  All in all though- it could have been way worse and hey- I was actually thinking about canceling.  And on Sunday I had a great day with my 16 year old!

So has anyone else every done this?  Any other terrible mistake stories to share? Love to hear them (just so I know I'm not the only one!)

8th Annual Arts Festival Conference, Oct. 6-7, Houston, TX -- sponsored by Westaf, otherwise known as Zapplication

To go or not to go? That is always the question. To take the time and $$ to travel to a distant city to learn more about art festivals? Seems unnecessary after my 30+ year immersion. However ... usually I go.

I go for the new ideas and information, I go to see the people, I go for fun, I go because I love travel. Will I go again? Yep. Here is why:

1. The seminars led by people who love the arts.
   
   Session I: Reciprocal Relationships between Arts & Community with Laura Zabel
   The first session usually challenges the attendees to think on a larger scale about the place of arts in a community, beyond the box of art festivals.
   
   Laura is from Fergus Falls, MN, where she is the ED of SpringBoard for the Arts, an economic and community development agency run by and for artists. Best advice: if you are challenged start small, don't wait until you get a big grant. 
   
   A huge light rail construction was being built 4 miles long through the town. How to keep the downtown alive through the disruption that would take 4 years? They organized events, a zumba teacher teaching dance outside a coffee shop; stained glass project in the hurricane fencing; special events in the bars and restaurants; bicycle tours of the area. It changed local politics and engaged the community.
   
   Her suggestions: organize around people's passion and ideas; let collaborators change you; show up; be skeptical of best practices and make up things as you go along; embrace the creative process. Just do it. Growth is driven by doing the work. Cross pollination with others who then bring in another idea.
   
   Discouraged by your arts organization. Visit their site and be amazed at what can be done with little funding and great ideas: SpringboardfortheArts.org
   
   
2. Measuring what really matters in the Social Media Sphere
   Ariel Jones led us through the ins and outs and do's and don'ts for expanding social media engagement in Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.
   
   To make it worth your time figure out what is best for you. Do you have great photos? do you have a great blog? Use your advantages.
   

   Most of all: be interesting, be newsworthy if you want it to work.

   Is it current? (newer is better) Is it talking about something locally? It’s all about the neighborhood. Is it impactful? or unusual? Is it about human interest? Is it prominent? Are you networking? 

   Instagram really useful for visual artists: the process, beginning middle end (and I'm going to do a podcast about this because I really learned the possibilities of this for artists for making sales.)
   
   give without expecting immediate returns
   
   talk about the things going on around you, not just you — share their info 
   
   if you’re a dancer, don’t be talking about it, show it on Instagram
   
   FB, Twitter, Instagram (under 35) FB helps sell tickets; no links in Instagram; it is about relationship; good for selling art and showing your stuff
   
   2 Easy, useful tips for show directors and artists:
   1. Show Directors go to your artists FB pages and "like" them. Artists, "like" the shows back. This builds an interconnecting network. 
   2. Artists when  you are traveling to a city, look at that city's Facebook page and add your information to that page. FREE advertising!!
   
   

The afternoon sessions were separated into an administrators track and an artists track. For admins sessions on communicating with your board of directors and best jury practices with Christine Berthiaume (New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival); Tara Brickell (Cherry Creek Arts Festival); Stephen King (Des Moines Arts Festival) and Nancy Musser (ZAPP trainer). I have so much information on that that it will be in Part II of the Zapp conference.

(Show directors Margue Esrock (St. James), Cindy Lerick (St. Louis), Karen Delhey (The Guild), Mo Riley (AA Street Art Fair) and Tara Brickell (Cherry Creek) synchronize the next big step!)

For artists there was a Public Portfolio Critique. Artists sent in their images to be discussed by seasoned jurors with good discussion about each. The second session Carroll Swayze brought her great ideas for optimizing your success as an artist, working harder, not smarter. Listen to the podcast I did with Carroll on that topic here.

Thankfully then we adjourned to a beautiful, funky, bar nearby for a reception, where I met an AFI favorite, Melanie Rolfes and her partner Michael Zavison. They've both consented to do podcasts. Melanie with her incredible tips on finding affordable lodging on the road and Michael is going to "talk trucks".

Day Two:

Artist track: Learning all the ways to manage and maximize ZAPP for show applications.

Admin Track: Engagement Strategies for Community Events with Barry Fell from Celebrate Fairfax

His top tips: 

• Identify your stakeholders
• Use social capital to build the event
• Use the psychological contracts you have build. Everything you see and feel at an event builds the social capital
• Engagement with your community which build your brand and your reputation
• Build your political capital - support of the community; so you can pick up the phone and get it done. 
• Internal support - make sure you personally are involved and insure that your staff is also

By utilizing these strategies you can extend the quality and stability of the event and it will bring you new opportunities. People will stay with the event but because they feel valued. You know these stakeholders and you have built a relationship which leads to long term goals.

The afternoon sessions were:

Artists: 

• Setting up your Space for Success with veteran juror, independent curator and fine arts consultant Trudy Van Dyke (and infrequent contributor at AFI). This session was extensive and I took lots of photos. I'll be writing about it separately. Very soon.
  
  Some of her images were of member Greg Little's booth, that was discussed on this site this year!  Please forgive this poor image, a shot of the screen in the presentation. It was perfect.
  
  Top tip: A dynamic artistic booth is what gets you into the show and gets you the sales. 
  
  
• Festival 101 for Artists with Amy Amdur. Amy has been in the trenches for over 30 years and produced over 41 festivals. This session was specifically for new artists with overwhelming details that gave even the veterans new ideas for improving their success at the shows.

Admin: 

Barry Fell returned to speak about public safety at the events with case studies that about Crowd Management and its importance in event planning.

Who I met and wish you had also as these are the dynamic people who keep our events running:

Show organizers: Robin Aiken and Kerry Murphy from Artisphere; Angelique Allen from Arts Gras; Kerry Allen, Rita James, Meredith McIlmoyle and Jennifer Wilson from the Anacortes Arts Festival; Amy Amdur (who needs no introduction); Paul Anderson from Sausalito, Sarah Aziz from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust (3 Rivers); Kayleen Barton and Heather Joy Puskarich from The Woodlands Waterway Festival; Christine Berthiaume from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival; Amanda Bleakley from the Paseo Arts Assn.; Tara Brickell and Amy Curlee from the Cherry Creek Arts Festival; Katrina Delgado from Coconut Grove; Karen Delhey from the Guild of Artists & Artisans; Josh DuBose and Renee Rice from the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar.

Margue Esrock from St. James Court Art Show; Barry Fell from Celebrate Fairfax; Mary Flad from the Decatur Arts Alliance; Carla Flanders from the Lakeshore Art Festival; Randal Fox from AFFPS; Diane Hdges and Brenda Hyde from Historic Granbury; Barbara Hill from Fiesta Arts Fair: Stephen King from Des Moines; Erma Lee from Main Street Fort Worth; Cindy Lerick and Laura Miller from St. Louis; Angie Macon from Decatur Arts Alliance; Gilbert Magdaleno from the Arts Council of Oklahoma City and Maureen Martino from the Lakeview East Chamber.

Sarah Peil from The Grand 1894 Opera House; Elizabeth Regner from the Lubbock Arts Alliance; Maureen Riley from the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair; Mary Sherman from the Grand Haven Chamber of Commerce and Melanie Whitley from the King William Fair.

Artists: Will Armstrong, April Bates, Brian Carter, Terry Peddle Corcoran, Stefani Domenico, Benjamin Frey, Sara Corkery, Diane Hinckley, Linda McGonagle, Amy McMurry (who won the free Zapp conference pass in our annual pledge drive), Mark Grosser, Cynthia Reed, Paula Ritchie, Dar Schafer, Cat Tesla, Eva and Frank Thompson, Jefferson Woodruff, Jenny Wright, Melanie Rolfes, Michael Zavison and Grace Zuniga.

The Zapp team: Kristina Villa, Kate Kreuz, Kim Morski, Nancy Musser, Anthony Radich and Susan Walicki.