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Before too much more time has passed I wanted to share our experience at Arts, Beats, and Eats this past Labor Day weekend. It was a good show for us in that we made pretty good money and we had a great time doing so.  The event is in its 19th year and as the name suggests combines music, food and art in a community celebration.  Its current venue is several blocks of downtown Royal Oak, a trendy community north of Detroit.  There is a minimal charge to get in, $3.00 before 11am and $5.00 thereafter.  Once in the perimeter you can enjoy five sound stages and the juried art show.  Food and drink including beer and wine have to be purchased via a ticket system.  

The juried art show is segregated from the rest of the festival with signs clearly marking the line of demarcation. There are 130 artists laid out on three streets in a 'Z" pattern. Those on the top of the "Z" got to set up starting at 2pm as that street was closed earlier than the rest.  The remainder set up starting at 7pm due to a delay closing the other streets. We were at the bottom of the "Z" on Lincoln street.  Set up on our street was fairly mellow.  Most left at 10pm as the show did not start until 11am leaving plenty of time to finish up in the morning. You drive right up to your spot to unload.  Our location also enabled us to drive very close in the mornings to resupply.  

The art portion of the festival runs 11am to 9pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Monday hours are 11am to 5pm.  There is competent after hours security.  A free parking pass was provided allowing us to use bagged meters on Main street just outside the venue perimeter.  We were also provided with two pages of food and drink tickets, but word to the wise bring your own water and other essentials. Even though the hours were long it was enjoyable. We had great neighbors and the folks coming into our booth had smiles on their faces and good attitudes.  Since we work as a team, we were able to take turns walking around the festival taking in some of the music. I walked the art fair three times and was very impressed by what I saw.  The festival staff was genuinely concerned about artist success. By the way, the weather was perfect all weekend.

Load out was typical with a pass required to bring vehicles in once everything was down.  There was a little traffic snafu but other than that everything went fine.

Our sales were OK.  We had one sale of $450.00 and the rest was prints out of the bins, but we sold a lot of them so we came out in the black.  We only spoke extensively with our immediate neighbors.  One was a first timer like us who said her sales were OK but not what she had hoped for.  Our other neighbors had done the show in the past and in the same locations as this year and their sales were down. I would say that there was a crowd flow problem with getting them to make the turn onto the bottom leg of the "Z".  It seemed as though we got about half the traffic as other areas.  Several of the artists spoke to staff about this issue and I think some changes are being considered.  

Lastly, there are several good eateries along Main street as well as some within the festival perimeter.  We opted to go out for dinner after the show closed.  It was definitely a party atmosphere but we loved it. We stayed with family in the area but the festival had a good deal worked out with a local hotel that was also a sponsor of the event. We will definitely apply to this one next year.  

This pass two weeks there is been attack to photographers in Art Fair Reviews (Facebook Group). This coming from photographers and others.

I really like to collect pottery but when I start seeing what my friends Chad Jerzak, Adam Egenolf and Thomas Harris do to produce the work they do and what entitle  I appreciated a bit more. Each one of them has a unique style. More interesting was to learned how much the equipment cost to produce the work. 

Wood working is something that enjoy since I am kid but never took as career. I took photography because I never been good with story telling but I found that with my photography I can communicate my feelings, desires, emotions and explore my insecurities. Every time I take a picture I am dealing with one those. Started in black and white and move to color. I learned that subject matter will determinate if the image will be in color or black and white. I started with with film and did not change to digital format until 2014. I have all my stupid reasons but I decide to get with the modern age. 

I good camera and computer + software is not economical. Space in my place in premium. Search different alternatives and came with a system that work good for me. I take the pictures, go home, select the image that i like, open the raw files and bring to life, prepare the file for my lab and two days later I get my large pieces and start framing them. 

For the galleries none of images go pass an edition of 25 of the image. For the art fair it goes to 250. This limited me to not produce commercial merchandise that devalue my work. I put effort and care in my work. I had a dream when came to Chicago to study photography in 1992. I am living my dream. I am proud of living my dream. I work hard for my dream. 

If you do not consider this process not fine art artistic is nothing I can do to change your mind.

For those that do not understand why photography or digital art is fine art and feel to the need to keep attacking this mediums I will suggest to work in craft forget about us. We live in capitalism society and jurors are the buyers not the artists. Your attacks are no any more insulting than when an idiot said to painter my kind can put strips colors together and make that. Or my kid can cut images from other outlets in create a colleague. 

If you think we have it easier than you you need to in field trip with few of us. We had been force a set rules that some people consider not fair because other medium can not do it. This story get old very fast. Those metal prints devalue the craft the answer is most likely, those canvas prints do that also and my images can pass as painting if start producing in canvas but feel that wrong and devalue the craft. Those the technology has devalue the craft yes it had done it. Those technology make our craft easier and your not that is not the photographers, digital artists etc. Painter now can paint in iPad pro and print the pieces in canvas, water color paper or any other paper media. Maybe instead of attacking you should consider learning more about the new out lets give you. 

I found myself trying understand what is wrong with artists. I friend told you will think the art fairs artist will be closer group of people but instead they work against each other. It is hard to find artist that help each other. There is no reason to put somebody down to make you feel superior. If you want to know how america will be great again is by learning to understand and help each other and not putting limits and walls.

March 2-5, 2017 
La Quinta, California
Presented by: La Quinta Arts Foundation
220 Artists
Deadline: September 30

Application Fee: $50; Booth Fee:  $275-$775

La Quinta Arts Festival is held on the spectacular grounds of the La Quinta Civic Center Campus, a life-size picture postcard framed by majestic mountains, lush green lawns, and a lake.  This spectacular outdoor gallery extolled by Art Fair SourceBook as "the most stunning festival site in the country" is currently ranked #1 Fine Art Festival in the Nation.

Hosting 220 of the nation's foremost contemporary artists, this four day show attracts an affluent demographic and wealthy snowbirds who have second homes in the southern California desert.  The festival runs concurrent with the HITS Horse Show which attracts the most accomplished equestrian riders in the world and is the weekend before the BNP Tennis Open March 6-18. This ensures hotel availability for art patrons and artists.

Noteworthy:

• Gross art sales 2014-2016 averaged $2.9 million per year.
• Average art sales 2014-2016 was over $12,000
• Innovative online Jury process by qualified jury members per category who independently evaluate one medium over a three day period
• Dedicated 24/7 Artist Hotline-contact booth sitters by cell phone
• 24 hour private security and Police
• Leisurely 2 day set-up and tear-down. Paid Labor assistance with flatbed golf carts available
• Artist Hospitality includes morning and afternoon snacks, chilled bottled water throughout the day, a gourmet lunch box delivered daily to each booth. (Artist selects lunch order.)
• Impressive Artist Award Reception
• Booth fees from $275-$775-all booths located on lush grass!
• Year round exposure to art buyers on www.LQAF.com Artist Galleries, $100 annual fee.

Please note:

La Quinta Arts Festival requires the Artist to pay a show fee of 20% of all art sales made at, or as a result of participating in La Quinta Arts Festival. A low booth fee of $275 for a 12x12 space means minimal up-front investment to participate, and allows LQAF to be successful only if the artists are successful. The 220 participating Artists are the stars of our show. Art patrons come for the high quality art! 

I was very excited to get into the Sausalito arts festival. At least from my research this show was the show highest on my list. There were several bumps in my plans as I got ready and the stress I put on myself left me wiped out before I got started. I was going to have to learn everything a newbie learns at the one show my heart had always wanted to do. So how did I do?

Well first I want to thank Lucia Friedericy, her advice was very useful in pricing and Larry when it came to photos.

I think I did well, well meaning I stood nearly the entire time and spoke to everyone in my booth and I was polite to those who asked me details that shouldn't matter, for example: how long does it take you to do a sculpture? and how do you come up with your ideas? I have some of those answers on a banner by the way. I didn't get stressed even though one of my sculptures was broken by a volunteer. I didn't have any of my social anxieties flair up I was so concerned about.

The first evening after setup we had to run and get cleaned up and be in the booth for the gala party people who would be coming through as the went to the party. This was something I didn't know about, due to no paperwork given until we checked in.

That evening I had already been awake for nearly 2 days, I needed sleep. In my booth entered a very nice man in a tux and he asked me questions that just seemed like he wasn't serious, but he was. He handed me his business card and said everyone at the show knew him and he would be back to pay for a particular sculpture. I know I was shocked to sell something but also I wasn't convinced he was for real. I quickly googled him and found out indeed he was someone everyone but me knew. He apparently was someone high up in the duties of the show and he owned 7 food markets one of which my car was currently parked in front of. I became certain he would return so I wrapped the sculpture and was thrilled. The show hadn't started yet and I was in the race!

Day one I sold 360.00 worth of art, day 2 I sold nothing, and the man came back to check on me. When I told him of my sales he was disappointed. He said, he thought his purchase would give me a great start. Part of me thought crap he didn't like my art, it was a mercy sale! my mind spun out of control, do I just let him off the hook, after all he hadn't paid yet. day three came and just at the very end someone spent 800.00 with me and then the man came back. He said he hoped his wife will like it. I thought well he bought it as a gift to his wife, I know I like it. Okay, I will feel good about this. So in the end I sold about about 2235.00. It cost me in expenses 2500.00 plus all that generally comes with a show and I am not counting the broken statue at $1350. So okay it wasn't good but it was my first show.

Now for what I learned, Yes there was foot traffic, loads of it. I would say I have visited maybe 15 shows and this was the busiest I had ever seen. I would say wealthy people with good vocabulary skills not fake wealth. Polite people, people I would like to live around. No one said one rude thing to me. Where I live rude is all you hear. People especially the wealthy were uplifting and encouraging. I told several people that is was the first real show I had done and not to feel uncomfortable, that I just was people to see my artwork that I have never had the opportunity to share, so please take their time in my booth and look my art. Most people responded to that and actually I felt less pressured.

At least a hundred people asked for my card, not just picked it up as a collection. I felt like I was taking my time to get to know the people that came to this show. I would say that at least 20 people said to me, are you new I don't ever remember seeing you, and I always come to the show. There were people who had been coming for 30 years. People shook my had and gave suggestions. It was a very good experience for me. 

When I first came to art fair insiders I was just at the beginning of learning about shows and building courage to show my work. I was an introvert hidden away for many years. It had almost been 28 years since a violent sexual assault crime was committed against me by a customer of mine along with 6 other men (I was a sign painter). I had lost my memory, but my body felt the trauma and I was in constant fear.  fairly soon afterward closed my business. When my children grew up and I had told myself I would resurface and get better. I waited 20 years and went back out to the world to paint signs.

The first sign I painted was at a restaurant. While painting that sign in broad daylight I was assaulted again, my shoulder was dislocated and drug down the street by my throat then, I was doused with alcohol and I was afraid I would be lite on fire. I was rescued by the cook. I went into shock and stayed in that state.  No one really knew how traumatized I was cause everyone was so busy in my life. I stayed home most of these years afraid to drive, afraid to go outside, even though I did those things they made me scared. I have spent years trying to move forward with a completely different direction sculpture. Being among this many people and being able to be okay for my husband to run off and have fun at the show was really nice. I felt like I was going to get my life back. So even though the business numbers don't add up to a good show for me it was. So when you read what comes next you'll understand a bit of my concern.

So the last night at the show it had already ended by minutes we were closing up. I had planned to pack the next day because there would be security and this was an option offered. I had planned on sleeping one more night at the trailer park and loading my trailer with my sculptures the next morning. Unfortunately there was a volunteer who said he was drunk but he wasn't he was drugged. Anyway this volunteer walked into the lady next to me tent and walked into her back area. The lady followed him and I started hearing her yell security.

I had spent years jumping to everything and being scolded to stop over reacting, so when I heard her I thought she was just playing with this guy. finally I walked over to check things out and he was flat on his back in behind her wall of her tent and she was trying to coax him out of her tent. He had tried to climb the 18 foot fence around the festival and fell. He got back up and  had a very dark sense about him and said he wanted to walk on top of the tents and proceeded to try to climb her tent. He climb a painters tent as well that was next to her. He destroyed a lot of merchandise and her hand was seriously injured.

I asked my husband to guard my sculptures and went looking for security. They had already been told and were slowly walking to the scene. The lack of energy and response very much bothered me. So I had no confidence in leaving my sculptures. The show it's self tried to help the artist and well they were in constant communication until the end.

So I know I decided to expose myself in this post, it is how I originally showed up here at art fair insiders and felt it was time to explain a bit why I had to go slow and do things in just a certain manner. And why I look at this show in it's value for me the way I do. The weather was pleasant and over all I think the show has a possibility of being better next year. Next year I will have pieces a prices more around 400.00- 800. and if the election year matters then that won't be an issue. This was the going consensus I walked away with and it seemed to be in agreement with people who had spoken to me before the show.

Bottom line is: you need first to work on how to become irresistible to the art fair audience, how to get their undivided attention, how to become relevant.

Can they get something similar at TJ Maxx or Pottery Barn? Whoops ... something missing here!

People need to understand what you are about, why does it matter to them and what is in it for them. Have any time for social media? Show off your new work on FB -- and how is that website?

If there are people at the art fair it isn't because they didn't have anything else to do (think Saturday afternoons in the fall in America ... college football comes to mind for me) and they are walking down Walnut Street or Westheimer or Meramec or State and glancing around ... 

P.S. unless you missed John Baun and John Houle's discussion about this marketing last week, here it is again: http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/apples-to-apples

Estes Park is the gateway to the east side of Rocky Mountain Park.  There are many summer homes in the area and it is a destination for a broad spectrum of nationalities, income levels, and interests.  I started doing this show in 2010, and I have done it every year since then.  I also do the Memorial Day show in Estes Park.   The show is produced by the Estes Valley Sunrise Rotary, Inc. and they do an all-around EXCELLENT job!!!!  The town is packed for the weekend, and leading up to the show there was a lot of promotion on Facebook.  Este Park is a destination for families visiting the park and Denver motorcycle clubs making the run up Big Thompson Canyon and over Trail Ridge Road.

SETUP AND TAKE DOWN.  Set up officially begins at 9:00am on Friday but Rotarians are present to check you in as early as 7:30am.  If you are early you can park at your site to unload.  Street parking is available within a block of the show, but oversize vehicle and trailers have to park at the fairgrounds.  Free shuttle service is available from there, and in town.  Volunteers are available to assist with unloading and set up.

Note to Rotary: If an artist does NOT want assistance please have volunteers help someone else.  I encountered a persistent new fellow who was very eager to help, but he was really a hindrance for set up as my bins etc. were totally disorganized on the site. I didn’t have the heart to tell him to go away.

Takedown begins at 3:00pm on Monday and volunteers were there to help.  Like set up, traffic was controlled and vehicles were not allowed in until you were ready to load.  After paying your sales tax, you get a hot pink  ticket.  When your booth is knocked down and you are ready to load you get to bring your vehicle in.  We loaded out around 6:30pm.

WEATHER.  Temperatures were in the high 60’s to low 70’s.  There was a misty rain Friday morning during set up, and it rained Friday night.  There were a few sprinkles on Saturday.  There were occasional gusty breezes.

THE SHOW.  The show has 106 booths set up around the perimeter of Bond Park and in the parking lot for the town hall.  Clean, indoor, accessible restrooms are in the town hall.  The town was packed with people and thousands went through the art show.  There was seldom a time when people were not in my booth, and I had several repeat clients.  Belts were my top seller, with holsters, suspenders, flasks, reins, and several custom orders thrown in.  My sales were a little over $4K range, and my largest sale was $360 for two belts, silver buckles and a flask.  

There was a good balance of all art/craft mediums including edibles like jellies, pastas and salsas.  Silent auctions run twice a day with donations from artists. There is no buy/sell at this show.  Nuts and bolts for the show are in www.artshowreviews.com.  The Rotarians have coffee and goodies in the morning, and booth sitters. All taxes are paid to the Rotary at the end of the show.

ANALYSIS.  This was our last shown of the season.  Gross sales at the September Labor Day show since 2010 have been in the $3-$5K range, and I consider it a good solid show year after year.  Most of the belts sold were plain, and only a few were the more expensive carved with or without silver buckles.   The Estes crowd is very middle class and price conscious.  Over the three days I had 65 sales with an average sale of $65

   THE OTHER FUN STUFF.  There were lots of different dog breeds and babies at the show.  Interacting with both was fun.  We were able to rent our favorite cabin that is just up the hill from Bond Park.  It was built in 1898 but it is modern and cozy. The hot tub is great after a day on the street.  We drove down the hill to Loveland Saturday evening for an engagement party for our oldest grandson. Driving back up Big Thompson Canyon at night with a stream or cars exiting Estes Park coming down was a different experience.

Photos:

1. The crowd

2. The “village coming to life”. Longs Peak (14,255') in distance.

3. My new booth arrangement with center island

4. Bear Bottom Cabin

5. Spike bull elk outside of cabin

     Somewhere along the line (right here on AFI!) I learned that jury images need to show a constistency. The pieces need to look like they are all from the same DNA, so to speak. Ever since hearing that, I have had a concern that my jury images are too dissimilar, and that someday I should make them more cohesive. 

So this month, “someday” arrived. I designed and built new statement pieces that are similar to another jury image. In the process of designing, I gave thought to my design and thought processes. Then I started to wonder if anyone else has a similar process. Here’s mine: 

http://sandyartparts.blogspot.com/2016/09/harmonious-blends-making-show-piece.html

It would be very interesting to hear from the rest of you, as to your creative process, as well as thought process when it comes to making a show piece. Please share!

October 6 & 7, Houston, TX - The Whitehall Hotel

The eighth annual Arts Festival Conference, presented by ZAPP®, will take place Oct. 6-7, 2016, in Houston, Texas. The conference will be held in conjunction with the Art Colony Association's Bayou City Art Festival Downtown, offering attendees the chance to see one of Texas' most celebrated art events following the two-day professional development conference.

(artists & show directors jam the elevator at the conference)

Why you should be there:

5. The Meet and Greet. Spending free time with like-minded individuals in a relaxed atmosphere has a great payoff. We have so much in common and can learn so much from one another. You may meet someone whose work you have always admired, and have a chance to ask some questions from seasoned artists/show directors.

4. Hanging with the Pros. Hear speakers from many spectra. Thought leaders talking about the arts whose information challenges you to put your career in perspective. Consider it "professional development" that can extend your vision beyond your current thought process and expose it to a larger context. Consider it Art Fair Business 401 -- the graduate level class.

3. Jury review. Have you ever attended an open jury or seen your images on the "big screen", or even heard them critiqued by professional jurors? People literally stumble out of these presentations with new information that revitalizes their jury images.

(Christina Villa & Ruby Montoya from the ZAPP team)

2. Professional workshops

    For all:

• How artists and show organizers can interact with their communities and bring creative change
• Best approaches for maximum use of social media

    Artist track:

• Public Portfolio Critique - seasoned professional jurors including Katrina Delgado from the Coconut Grove Arts Festival
• An Artist's Toolkit - useful information on using your independence to run a business, budgeting, maximizing publicity, working with local communities
• Creating a beautiful booth that "sells"
• Tips for success when you are new to the business

    Show organizer track:

• Best jury practices
• Engagement strategies for community events
• Crowd management and interaction
• Bringing novel ideas to your event to engage diverse audiences
  
  

1. Networking. I can't emphasize this enough. Seeing old friends, meeting people you've only met online, rubbing shoulders and eating a meal with show directors who have an effect on your financial future, spending time with artists from across the country whose name you may/may not recognize and sharing ideas with them is so stimulating I leave these events still buzzing from all the interaction. Conferences are a great leveler. The payoff in time and money can have long lasting consequences well worth the investment.

(Karla Prickett from Salina (KS) & Jay Downie from Ft. Worth)

A welcoming reception, meals together, a cocktail or two at the Nouveau Antique Art Bar reception, a stroll through the Bayou City Downtown Art Festival are just the highlights of the opportunities to see the art fair business in a larger perspective.

Learn more and join us: Arts Festival Conference 2016

The deadline to reserve your room at our group rate is Sept. 15, 2016 or when rooms are sold out. Reservations at our special rate are not guaranteed after the cutoff date.

Click here to reserve: https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/tab1.aspx?EventID=1842016

I have been reading the "Are there any good shows out there" and the latest about awards. While I agree that many shows are down and that judging is, many times, highly subjective and suspicious, I wanted to add a few words regarding the shows. One problem I have seen is that promoters are not doing their job real well. It is not that they do not advertise, although that is certainly true in many cases, it is that they do not target the advertising to the artists in the show. I have done two shows recently, by promotoers with over 20 years experience each and are well known, where the the Best in Show awardees (rightly derserved) have sold nothing. I have also seen very qualified artists getting skunked because of the crowd wanting lower end goods.

A promotoer, IMHO, has to target the audience to the artists. While every promoter wants to have high caliber artists, if the crowd is not a high caliber artists crowd then it does no one anygood. After all Target does not carry Patek Piliipe watches because their customers either cannot afford a $100,000+ watch or do not want them. It is the same for a promoter. They have to match their artsists to the crowd they advertise to. That is where most promoters fall down. They simply advertise and do not do their homwork and target the audience. This hurts both the show and the artists in the show. The demographics of audiences have changed and the advertising that was successful 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago, must now be refined and rethought.

I aslo think it is up to us, as artists, to ask questions of promoters such as "What is demographics of your targeted audience?" and "Does my art jive with the buying habits of this show?" We may not get answers but this might let promoters know that things have changed.

Did the judges stop in your booth at that big show you just did? Did they look at your work or just pass by and you never saw them? How does an art fair assure everyone is seen and judged? What are the best ways to have a consistent and ethical judging process?

Listen to this podcast and learn from Rick Bryant, Executive Director of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts (State College), Sharon McAllister of ArtFest Fort Myers in Florida (with around 30 years of art fair experience between them) and art fair industry advocate Les Slesnick who shares a system for fairness. 

How long does it take a judge to visit over 300 booths in a day? Listen and find out how to make your jury system work well for all and start planning for your next festival. Listen here at ArtFairRadio.com.

February 4 & 5

Apply to ArtFest Fort Myers -- Southwest Florida's premier art festival and largest weekend event. Creating an artwork-selling festival for artists is the focus of our year-round professional staff with 17 years of consistent management.

ArtFest Fort Myers takes place in Southwest Florida's largest metro area, featuring an international airport serving 8.4 million passengers.  Ever increasing residential and commercial construction, lots of new jobs and record-breaking domestic and international tourism are spurring an exciting community.

• Oversized booth spaces-3 feet between booths & behind-booth storage 
• Easy Friday set-up with scheduled staggered drive-up access
• Breakfast Saturday and Sunday
• Indoor bathrooms; 24 hour security; Booth sitters; Discounted hotel rates
• Easy communication with festival staff, pre/post festival and at the festival
• Reserved artist parking with complimentary trolley transportation

Arts, Beats & Eats in Royal Oak, MI, had the most amazing weather this weekend and it sounds like sales responded. This is a huge event that hosts an art fair (130 artists) and also has 8 stages and food from top restaurants throughout the region. As many as 250,000 people attend. 

The prizewinners:

Best of Show: Fong Choo, ceramics
1st. Place: JD Dennison, photography
2nd Place: Nancy Strailey, Drawing
3rd Place John and Mary Lee, Jewelry

February 18-20
Jupiter, Florida
Presented by:  Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce
300 Artists
Deadline:  September 16

Application Fee: $40/Booth Fee: $505

Celebrating 32 years ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival has grown from a small, local art show to a nationally recognized fine arts festival attracting tens of thousands of art lovers and collectors.  

ArtiGras is a three-day ticketed event held on President's Day Weekend at Abacoa in Jupiter, Florida.

President's Day weekend is the busiest tourism weekend of the winter in south Florida. The shoppers descend from around the state as the snowbirds taking advantage of the beautiful weather and they love our art fair.

Produced by the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce, ArtiGras was recently named one of the top 50 fine art festivals in the country and features 300 juried artists along with artist demonstrations, Youth Art Competition, ArtiKids children's interact activity area, entertainment and more.

During ArtiGras, three of the judges from the jury panel will choose 14 award winners in the Fine Art Showcase and give out $16,000 worth of prizes.  

Apply: www.zapplication.org
Learn more: www.artigras.org 
Contact:  Angelique Allen, angelique@pbnchamber.com
Phone:  (561)748-3955

2016 Summer Shade Festival, Atlanta, GA
August 27-28, Grant Park

This show had me in such high hopes. Professionally done Artist Handbook, emailed out in plenty of time. Option to purchase an ad in the Festival Guide.

There was smooth check-in, excellent communication with the volunteers, and smooth load-in. The artists around me were excellent, in my opinion. Good proximity to the port-a-johns, an "intersection" of the sidewalks, and a local craft beer tent. I was near the center of the intersecting sidewalks, on "The Loop," so I hoped it was a good spot. I had paid extra for an ad, and to be in the juried section of the show.

What I didn't realize until walking around a bit was the real scale of this show. It had a meandering layout of artists, through sidewalks of the park, leading to three separate stages where the food areas were located. So once someone passes your booth, they likely weren't coming back. One of my biggest competitors was ten booths away from mine. I never found the artist hospitality tent.

I did my setup, buttoned up, and gave a neighboring artist (who had traveled from Guatemala for this show and one more) a ride to the train station.

The next morning, I did some wandering around to the artists that were open, bought a new mug, and a small new art piece for my wall. After all, I'd recoup the costs today, right?

Wrong. A very slow start to the show, with only three small sales by 2 pm. Lots of people walking by, on their way to the stages. Small burst of sales from 3-4, then nothing until I closed at 8pm. I again gave my neighbor artist a ride to the station.

The next morning, the artists are talking. No one has seen the Festival Guide we bought ads for, nor did we see any of the judges or talk to any at all. It turns out it was only digital, viewable on the festival's facebook page... if you knew where to look for it. The artists who were there the previous year said that they had doubled the size of the artist section this year.

The second and last day totaled less than $100. Total for the entire weekend was around $700. Everyone said the same, that sales were dismal. The show ends at 7pm, and we start breaking down. They delay the artists getting in until all the food trucks can get out -- hey, at least they made money this weekend.

Smooth load-out, and well coordinated exit. Time to drive home. Peanut butter for dinner.

The high point for me for this show was my artist neighbor. His art was amazing, and fascinating stories about his small village and his travels. All of his art was painted on hand-woven cloth, made by his mother. I ended up trading for one of his paintings that depicted "market day" in his village and bought a scarf for my wife that his mother wove.

I honestly hate writing a bad review for a show that was this well planned. The people were there, but not to buy art.

Pros:
Good load in
Good load out
Variety of artists
Music and alcohol
Water for artists

October 14-16
Sacramento, CA
Indoors at the Sacramento Convention Center
presented by White Buffalo Gallery
200 Artists
Deadline: September 14

Fees: no application fee

1. Booth fee $800, fine artists booths half off, $400 for 10x10 exhibitor booth
2. half booths available for $200
3. a gallery exhibit area set up, you can submit work to the juried art contest if you do not want to have a booth, $20 per piece if accepted.

We are doing something a bit different in fusing the fine art and tattoo festival together, looking to create a new platform for Northern California's most innovative and cutting edge artists in a similar vein as the LA Art Show and Think Space. Northern California is full of incredible artists and we want to connect artist and collector. We are geared toward the hip new generation beginning to truly value and collect art. Our Mission is to connect artist and collector.

Open to all artists. It is a wonderful opportunity to gain exposure for your work and to sell originals and prints to thousands of art collectors, as well as creating art live and to interact with the public. We will have art workshops for all levels and all ages. This show is about inspiring each other and especially the new generations of artists. It is a time to come together and share our passion and love of art.

Our event has been 3 years in the making. If you feel you have something to share and teach we would love to talk about setting up a workshop/seminar with you.

Marketing: 

• billboards on major freeways in Northern California, on HWY 80 in Berkley, Business 80 in Sacramento and HWY 99 in Stockton.
• running ads in major art magazines Juxtapoz, Artslant, E-Volve
• We have been promoting this event in radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, online in event listings and on social media. 
• We will be having ticket giveaways on local radio and social media raffles as we build up to the event date in Oct. 

October 15
Sugar Hill, Georgia
Presented by:  City of Sugar Hill
40 Artists
Deadline:  Sept. 8

Application/Booth Fee: $100

The art element of Sugar Rush will be located on our turf lawn with tents lined along sidewalks, across from the food trucks (guaranteed traffic!). We want artists to be able to feature their work and make money from their work.  We only charge an application/booth fee of $100 total.

Last year we did an indoor, exhibit  style, juried art show.  We had 40 participants and a few sales.  Foot traffic was not as great because guests had to come inside City Hall to view the work.  This year we are putting the artists outside in the center of the party. Different from last year, we will also have a pottery glazing area, candy stations pumpkin painting and cupcake decoration in other areas.

We are located in between two major highways and in the middle of one of the fastest growing counties in the county.  We expect over 10,000 people this ear, as we had that many last year.  We get a lot of road traffic as well as a great, active community!

Some of our marketing: 

Apply:  http://cityofsugarhill.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/2016-Sugar-Rush-Artist-Vendor-Application-1.pdf
Learn more:  www.thebowlatsugarhill.com or www.cityofsugarhill.com 
Contact:  Megan Carnell, mcarnell@cityofsugarhill.com, (770)945-6716

This was the 13th consecutive year that I have done this show.  Golden is the county seat for Jefferson County whose motto is “Gateway to the Rocky Mountains”.  Golden is known for the Colorado School of Mines and the Coors Brewery.  The weekend of the art show is the time that students are moving into dorms.

The show is set up for three blocks along Eleventh Street.  Food courts were at both ends of the show and a music stage where beer was sold was at the east end.  The Golden Chamber of Commerce manages the event.  This was the 26th year of the Golden Fine Arts Festival. In my opinion, the show is successful with buyers in attendance because it is run by local business people who understand EFFECTIVE advertising and marketing.  The jury fee is $30 and 10’X10’ booth fee is $390. Application is made with Zapp.  Local merchants support $1800 in awards.

SET UP & TAKE DOWN: Both are usually easy, but this year their seemed to be less control.  Security tries to keep the center lane of the street open and you can drive to your booth location. I did not have any problems as I completely unload and remove vehicle before setting up and completely knock down before bringing the Suburban in to load up.  Other artists had problems with vehicles with trailers taking up space in front of their booths for several hours both during set up and takedown, making their work difficult.  No vehicles are to come on the street until 5:30 or half an hour after the show closes, but there were vehicles on the street at 5:10.  Most booths have space behind them but some have bushes with only a gutter width.

ATTENDANCE: The Chamber states that the attendance is upwards of 30,000.  The event is well publicized in the Denver metro area and online in advance of the show.  People show up an hour ahead of the official opening time of 10:00am and start buying, and the crowd is there until closing time at 5:00pm both days.   

AMENITIES: The artist reception this year was at the Briarwood Inn. Shuttle service for artists was provided by the Golden High School. Appetizers and complimentary beer and wine were served.  I did not attend as we were commuting to care for a couple geriatric dogs.  The show provided morning bagels and coffee, and sandwiches and chips.  There was complimentary water and booth sitters, and morning coffee with pastries.  There were porta-pots at the ends of the booths. 

SALES: My sales at this show have consistently been in the $3K-$5K range and I went over $5K this year.  This year’s sales were up $336   from last year.  My average sale was $63 and 82 sales ranged from $3 bandanas, from the sets for napkin rings, to a $328 saddle bag and suspender sale.  The best sellers were belts in the $45-$85 range with some $200 belts, holsters, and cases thrown in.  The rest were a mix of gun leathers, dog tack, horse tack and personal leather goods.  I have a bunch of special orders to do, and I discussed even more with locals who may order later (mostly gun leathers).  I have some custom belts to make for buckle sets for the Coors family.  Comments on sales from other artists were generally positive.

WEATHER: Friday was cool with late afternoon and overnight rain.  Saturday and Sunday were in the mid to high 80’s.

GENERAL: Nuts and bolts are in Art Show Reviews on this site.  There was a good mix of high quality art and absolutely no buy/sell. There was also a good mix of out-of-state artists with the Colorado crowd.   Artists at other shows have commented that it is difficult to get into the Golden show. The tax rate was 7.5% and is paid after the show.

     There were some changes this year. The site of the reception was changed and a hotel that provided a break room and lunch in the past was absent.  A city tax license and $50 tax deposit was required and taxes were paid after the show.  There was no information in the artist packet on sales tax rate or post show payment other than the city tax.  There were four other taxes that needed to be paid to Colorado Department of Revenue but no information was provided for artist, including those from out-of-state. The CDR website is not user friendly for finding the tax rates for State, County and two special taxing districts.

     The live music Saturday was obnoxiously loud and led to lost sales because artist could not communicate with clients even farther down the street.  Control was spotty Saturday, but management got the volume under control by Sunday.

PHOTOS: The photos were taken Saturday morning at 10:05, five minutes after the show officially opened and the crowds were the same until 5:00 pm Sunday.