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I have a motor tremor in my hands and find it hard to insert the chip card into the reader.  i was thinking of inserting the card into the reader and then inserting it into my ipad  is this feasible.  and then i was thinking of getting the 49.00 reader  since there is a slot for the whole card and that might solve my problem of inserting the card  does anyone have the 49 reader and how do they like it

This was held last weekend in a charming Five Points Park in downtown Sarasota. Bill Kinney produces the show and does a good job of it. About 130 artists setup on the street and sidewalk with the park as a charming backdrop.

This time of the year you see mostly locals, the winter people have not arrived yet. You are selling to a mostly older, monied crowd. They are very traditional and conservative in their tastes for art. They love the birds, beaches and flowers.

My sales were barely acceptable. I made a little money because I slept in my own bed and did the commute from Ybor City where I live. I need a younger more hip crowd, Sarasota is not my market, but hell, I gave it a try. Many others did quite well. The bird photographer was a happy camper. A well known wood artist hit it big when Jerry Springer bought two of his pieces. The traditional clay artist across from me sold steadily all show long.

Bill crunched the numbers from the feedback from the artists about their sales. He was happy, he called the show a success. I would have liked to have seen more people. It got pretty lonely out there after 2 pm both days.

Hey, November in Florida, show sales are pretty slim, you take what you can get. Personally, I would not drive a long distance to do this one, but for local artists it will do just fine. This weekend I will be at the Sanibel show.

Later, gators.

This was a small indoor show, for the most part, held in a civic center in Lagrange, Ky, about 22 miles north-east of Louisville just off I-71. It was divided across two civic buildings or small convention halls with about 72 artists there.

About ten artists were located outside on the portico of the buildings, where they were afforded free electricity and reduced booth fee. These locations required a tent. The weather was a bit iffy for the outside venues, fairly chilly on Saturday but not so bad on Sunday. I noticed several of the booth outside chose to have open sides. Call me a weenie, but these old bones would have had sides up and the Mr. Heater Buddy propane heater fired up. I opted for the inside location at the higher price and an extra $20 for the electricity.

Set up started on Friday at noon, and was a little slow waiting for a few parking spaces to open up. Looking at the supplied map, I thought there was a drive up to the rear doors. No such luck as I found out there was a concrete walkway behind the hall and a ten foot dropoff down to a neighbor's backyard. I knew I should have brought a real dolly instead of a dinky folding platform cart :-( I was able to start unloading about 12:45 or so, which wasn't too terribly bad.

The hall is a city owned property so the hours of operation were quite firm, and they closed the doors and kicked us out at 5:00. I did the show by myself and it took longer to set up than normal. At 5:00 all I had done was to get the panels up, get the lighting wired up, and about a third to half of the prints hung. Part of the problem is that no storage space is included behind the booth, so it's either allocate part of of your normal space for storage or take it to your vehicle. I lucked out is one respect in that an alcove was across from me where the organizers plugged in a tablet with a Pandora music channel hooked to the PA system. They wanted that covered up so the unattended iPad would still be there, so my outside wall that had a useless pipe and drape there covered up the alcove and I had a place to store my tubs.

The layout of the show was a bit narrow but adequate for the crowds. Booth fee was $200 and I paid $25 extra for a corner spot. Unfortunately the outside wall was in a dead corner and few people noticed there were pieces hanging back there, although I did sell a framed piece that was back there.

Although this is an indoor show in a convention hall, the lighting reeks. There were large dark shadowed areas on my panels. I almost brought a couple tubs of drafting table lights, but decided that was too much trouble to hook up and used a couple of 300 watt equivalent LED lights that lit up the 10x10 space very brightly. Definitely bring your own lighting to this show.

Attendance was down considerably from last year, and everyone blamed it on the post-election blahs. The area itself is conservative Republican, but more of an old-money small town. It is a prosperous area and the demographics have it as an upper income and well educated area. It should have been better, but many of the artists are repeat exhibitors which speaks of decent sales for many in the past.

A few artists did do well, as usual, and many were struggling. All I did was earn back the booth fee, and wound up with about a $150-200 loss considering gas money and cost of the work. It was unusual as there were talkers who were interested and educated in what they liked but just couldn't get to the tipping point to make the buy. I feel there is promise there and will give it another try for one more year.

Tear down went quickly for most people, and were out of there after an hour to an hour and a half. The rental time was for up to 7:00PM, with tear down starting at 5:00PM. Myself and some others were a bit slower and some of the staff was getting antsy at the extra time as they were going to get fined by the city for the time past the contract. We finally just moved everything we could out to the loading dock and finished loading outside. It was about 8:15 when two of us were the last to leave.

As far as organization goes, it was well done with lots of volunteers coming around checking on you to see if you needed a potty break or lunch. Meals were offered outside by food trucks which had decent prices and high quality food. One day I picked up a club sandwich, chips, and a drink for $9. The sandwich was touted as a club but it was more like a "Dagwood" than a club and I wasn't able to eat the entire thing.

Assistance was given at tear down to help cart stuff out to the parking lot and loading spaces. That really did help and was appreciated. My sales were very disappointing, but others were worse. Another photographer there told me all he had sold by mid-Sunday afternoon were greeting cards. He had done shows for 8 years and was seriously considering pulling the plug on doing more shows.

You all are invited to take part in our 5th Annual Secret Santa Gift Exchange. Members of the artist community sign up to exchange gifts. We do it anonymously (or not). All gifts should be handmade/from an art fair/etc.

Then we show each other the gifts, all kinds of interesting handmade objects from handmade potholders (honestly) to batiked pillows and original fused glass serving pieces. 

(Search "Secret Santa" on this site to see the cool stuff.)

Play with us? (Last year 50 artists participated)

It works like this:

1. you sign up here:  
   http://www.artfairinsiders.com/forum/topics/naughty-or-nice-5th-annual-secret-santa-at-afi or email me "connie@artfaircalendar.com" that you want to participate
2. I send you the link to be part of our gift giving. You click on it!
3. You have until November 30* midnight to join at the site DrawNames.com
4. December 3 we use the DrawNames.com site to do an anonymous matching with someone else who has signed up
5. on December 16 all packages need to be in the mail
6. in the following days we show off our gifts to each other
7. The person who got the coolest gift and tells us about it in the most creative way wins a prize.

Hope you'll join us.

May the gifting begin!

*I moved up the date this year because we were all getting frazzled getting things out on time ;)

A couple of years ago one of the staples of Fall in Florida, the Festival of the Masters at Downtown Disney, was cancelled amidst much unhappiness and many complaints about how it was run. Another formerly fine show that had run its course.

But wait (trumpets blaring)!! Its back -- do you know about this? Coming to the Disney Parks: Epcot International Festival of the Arts for six weekends starting in January 2017. From Disney:

We’re excited to announce a brand new event at Walt Disney World Resort: the Epcot International Festival of the Arts debuts Jan. 13 – Feb. 20. It’ll be a trifecta of global masterpieces: combining visual, culinary and performing arts for six colorful weekends.

Details: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2016/11/all-new-epcot-international-festival-of-the-arts-coming-to-walt-disney-world-in-january-2017/

Oh, too bad. I just read closer and see it is not "our" kind of festival of the arts, but in the comments I see people looking for out kind. 

But now that I've started writing this I'll share some of the old stories. You'll particularly enjoy this first one (written by Nels Johnson) as it not only talks about Disney it sheds light on some of the other phenomena in the business:

Nel’s rant from 11/2013 http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/the-indifference-of-the-crowd-was-terrifyingly-disheartening plus great comments there

This one, sort about something else, but Alison Thomas' comment brings us back to reality: 

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/forum/topics/is-god-telling-me-something?page=2&commentId=2160589%3AComment%3A167515&x=1#2160589Comment167515

I liked these too:

2011 http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/disney-2011 & 

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/emerging-masters-at-festival-of-the-masters

Then while you're at it, check out these also. 

Our archives are brimming with all you ever wanted to know about art fairs. Any of you got an old "good old/bad days stories?"

Application Fee:  $25/Booth Fees: $325(single), $650(double), $400(corner)

Every aspect of this event is artist-focused and seeks to provide a venue for enhancing the artist's visibility in the community.  During the festival, cash prizes for Best-in-Show ($500) and Juror's Choice ($500), along with student prizes will be presented.  Other amenities include hotel discounts, free parking, and artist's hospitality.

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.....