Blog

You've got to love it when an art festival holds a press conference/special event/party to announce and show off the artists who have been selected to exhibit at their event. Congrats, Des Moines Arts Festival!

175 invitations were sent to artists across the nation.

• 10 of these professional artists were award winners from last year's event and received an automatic invitation
• The Festival extended invitations to artists that represent 37 states and Canada
• 43% of these artists are new to the Festival in 2016
• The final 175 invitations came from a pool of 952 applicants

See the entire list here at their very fine website: http://desmoinesartsfestival.org/visual-arts/ (I'm seeing some good friends on the list!!)

Great web design, great promotion, great job. Thank you, Stephen King and the team at the Des Moines Art Festival.

Jennifer Rapp Peterson (IndieMade.com) interviews Connie Mettler the publisher of ArtFairCalendar.com, ArtFairInsiders.com, CallforArtists.com and ArtShowReviews.com. Connie shares some of the basics when it comes to showing your work at art fairs, how to apply to juried art shows, and how to sell your artwork at craft fairs.

May 21 & 22 
East Lansing, Michigan
Downtown Streets
180 Artists
Deadline:  January 31

Application Fee:  $35
Booth Fee:  $335 (10'x10') $670 (20'x10') $50 added for corner

Established in 1964, the East Lansing Art Festival (ELAF) kicks off the festival season each spring in the beautiful streets of downtown East Lansing.  The popular fetival attracts 80,000-70,000 attendees.  In addition to the 180 juried exhibitors, the ELAF encourages future artists through the Emerging Artist Program.

This non-profit event is beloved in the greater Lansing area and attracts devoted art buyers from across the state of Michigan as well as Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. Informally known as the "City of the Arts", East Lansing welcomes the finest artists in North America to exhibit at this highly promoted event.

East Lansing is a charming university town with a variety of shops, restaurants and galleries.  The beautiful Michigan State University campus is right across the street, which is now home to the renowned Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum.

At the ELAF-ranked #50 by Sunshine Artist Magazine-exhibiters can expect: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 welcome dinner
• 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
• a festive mood-this is the kickoff of the local festival season

"I just wanted to thank you for a great experience in my first juried art festival this past weekend! Thank you also for stopping out to meet us individually during the course of the weekend. I have been attending the festival as a visitor for years, and this was my first time as an exhibitor. I appreciate everything you did to make the experience a positive and memorable one."

Apply:   www.zapplication.org/

<  Learn more:   www.elartfest.com 

www.facebook.com/#!/ELArtFest

info@elartfest.com

<                              Phone:  (517)319-6804

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to ask if anyone has ever done the Sandy Springs show in Georgia? I'm debating about applying for it.  I would really appreciate any comments you might have.

Thank you, Susan

June 4 & 5, 2016

Urbanna is a very popular destination for tourists up and down the East Coast. For two days in the fall thousands fill the streets of this charming harbor village for Urbanna's Oyster Fest.  Arts in the Middle is well positioned to draw crowds to the area for an early summer celebration of the arts.  

• Artist hospitality including volunteer support, coffee & pastries
• Free parking-on premise for artists
• Tent side load/unload
• Grand tent with music & local foods
• Ribbons & cash prizes-qualified judges
• Over-night security
• Overnight hotel rooms, campground, and cabin rentals nearby
• Host homes for those who wish to take advantage of the overnight hospitality from the warm and friendly folks in Middlesex County

The festival is the featured event for the nationally rated #1 camp resort, Bethpage Camp Resort, that hosts hundreds of visitors each weekend.  Most of our artists will be from the East Coast, but all are welcome!  In an area of much to see and do, you may be tempted to make this a "working vacation" in Coastal Virginia.

What the artists said about our 1st show:

"Such a beautiful venue, and I was blown away with the group of artists that were there!  Thanks for putting on such a well-run show and letting me be a part of it."

"The quality of art and knowledge of the patrons who attended were very strong!  The graciousness of the volunteers was greatly appreciated."

"The venue and the attention to detail with regards to the artist and his/her needs were fabulous."

"Loved most everything, especially host home offer, little blue ribbons and being under the oak trees; beautiful setting and lots of friendly help."

Arts in the Middle is supported by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and funded by the County of Middlesex & Town of Urbanna & the Art on the Half-Shell Foundation.  Hewick Plantation generously supports the show.  Local businesses and other friends of the arts donate time and funding to this effort as well.

Life comes at you. Sometimes so sweetly, sometimes benignly, sometimes with surprises. It should come as no surprise to you that all the minute pieces of an art fair also sometimes do not fall in place. Two shows have asked us to alert you to their changes.

1. Texas Gulf Coast Arts Festival: 

   The Center decided to change servers last week and so our email was disturbed (didn’t receive emails & emails disappeared). As you know, many artists like to email us a question or two before they complete their application. So – I decided to extend the application deadline to this Friday, January 22, at 5 pm.
   
   Learn more about this festival: http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/call-for-artists-2nd-annual-texas-gulf-coast-arts-festival

2. 3rd Annual Elkhart Love of Art:
   Held at the Northern Indiana Event Center/RV Hall of Fame, the Center erred and made a change in the dates for the show. Instead of being held on March 5 the date has been changed to March 12. How does that date sound to you?
   
   Learn more here: http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/call-for-artists-3rd-annual-elkhart-for-the-love-of-art

I am really perplexed about this especially regarding some of the top shows.  We're experienced artists at shows.  Often a promoter's instruction sheet, instructs artists to submit the photos representing the full range of their work which means if you are a 3D artist with functional ceramics, you are to show not only your more intricate items but also your "more ordinary," for lack of a better word items:  the ones that are  less complex to produce and less impressive and lower priced.  When 3 or 4 pictures are required, (not counting a booth shot, we always submit the more complex pieces requiring and showing more skill and more imagination.   We also have those pieces and others like it in our booth. One year after getting into a top rated show, we were approached by a jury person who walked around and we were told that our photos didn't include the full range. That was true as we make about 20 different items and certainly didn't think it would be impressive to do a group shot of the lower range items.  The following year, we submitted one out of 4 photos that did show a more ordinary piece.  We were not accepted that year and speaking to other artists, we were later told not to listen to those instructions in the paper work.  Always send the best of your work, other artists advised us since the competition does the same.   I now think the jury who looks at maybe several thousand photos is not going to be impressed with the artist who includes the mundane photo.  I'd like to hear from artists as well as jury people.  What is your experience with photos and also a jury person's response at shows when you see a booth that doesn't include the full range.  I'm not speaking here about artists who apply in one category, but  then slip into their booths a high percent of something else that would actually fit into a different category.  I'm talking about one body of work that holds together.  Thanks for your response based on your experiences.

April 30 & May 1

This acclaimed arts festival focuses on contemporary, urban, and one of a kind art designs.  Over 125 artists sell their art which includes jewelry, fiber, mixed-media, glass, ceramics, photography, sculpture, wood, painting, paper, and illustrations.  Art in the Park has a Kid's Court, Food/Gourmet Food Vendor area, and Acoustic Music.  

Art in the Park is located on the grounds of the Elmhurst Art Museum, Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art, and the landmark Wilder Mansion.  Elmhurst College is located across the street and downtown Elmhurst is one block away with trendy restaurants, coffee shops, and boutiques.  

Art in the Park is considered a cultural arts destination with over 10,000 people attending annually.  Elmhurst is an art loving community and is a very affluent area with new homes ranging from $800,000-$3million.

Contact:  Roz Long, roz@rglmarketingforthearts.com

Hello all!

With apologies to Bob Hope, I want to thank all of the artists who have submitted reviews (their memories) of the shows they have participated in. I have learned, and continue to learn a lot from these reviews. As an art festival producer, it helps to have a broader idea what the artists like and don’t like. Not that we can always do these items, but it does help to know what is desired (and not desired as well!) and have a goal. For well over 6 years I have been part of another festival producer in Southern CA. Now I am spreading my wings, and ‘flying’ to Northern California and Nevada starting a new company called CWB Events. As of this moment, I only have three events on the schedule, but plan on adding more very soon. Reading all of the reviews was a real education, and now I have the opportunity to put it into practice.  I am always open to new (and old) ideas and suggestion, as learning is a way of life for me! The goal was and is to have quality art and high caliber artists. I plan on continuing with that goal as CWB Events, while expanding as I can. Again, I thank you for the time it takes to submit your reviews, and I look forward to reading many more!

Thanks
Curtis Beck        

Hi,

Nice piece in the Banner.

“Bonita Springs National Art Festival brings thousands to Riverside Park”

Barry or Ehren artfest@artsbonita.org

Tel: (239) 495-8989

Bonita Springs National Art Festival web site:
http://www.artcenterbonita.org/artfest/

I'm a digital artist and the work I create is an odd size. Pictures are either horizontally formatted or vertically formatted, but they are all around twice as wide as the are tall, or twice as tall as they are wide. So, when I size them down to 1920 pixels on the longest size, there is lots of black space. I'm considering showing cropped sections of these paintings for Zapp for my applications. I can crop some of them so they look pretty good in a square format. But when a juror looks at the booth shot, they will see the actual pictures in the booth, not the cropped ones I use for the jury. The cropped pictures will definitely have more impact, but is it kosher to show cropped images? Anybody out there have an opinion on this?   

Here's a little inspiration during these dark winter days, or for when you are wondering why you are doing what you are doing, from Casey Sheppard's, Case of the Nomads.

Three or four years ago, I began showing a few experimental images as part of the mix in my art fair booth. They were kind of fantasy oriented with surrealistic imagery and a bit of humor. They were mixed in with an assortment of landscapes and nautical images inspired by my location on Lake Michigan. I thought that if I showed a lot of different things and subject matter in my booth I could appeal to a bigger audience. I had some mild success with this mix of subjects, but began to notice that the fantasy stuff was outselling the landscapes.

I remembered reading Connie's advice about focusing on a narrow subject so as not to confuse my audience. I wondered if that advice really applied to me. I didn't want to lose all those customers who bought my landscapes and other assorted subjects. But finally, after I had enough of the funky images to show, I took the plunge and eliminated all but my fantasy, surrealistic stuff. You know what happened? My sales almost doubled. I continued to develop this series of images, and I'm having the time of my life. People love this stuff.

Locally, here in Saugatuck, Michigan, people are used to seeing my beach stairs paintings and local landscapes. I've been showing the funky stuff, that I call the "Urban Punk" series in local galleries, but this series has been selling much better at art fairs. Hopefully that will change now because I'm opening a one-man show of the Urban Punk Series at the Holland Area Arts Council on Friday, January 15 with a reception from 6-8pm. Its open to the public and all are invited. Its a show of all the work I've been doing over the last three years... work that I'm also showing in my art fair booth.

I've still got a pretty healthy inventory of the more conventional imagery that I used to show at art fairs. I went through a lot of angst and soul-searching before putting this stuff into storage and focusing on the Urban Punk images. Its never too late to try something new and to mix up the pot a little. Here's where you can see the Urban Punk Series on my website: http://lebenart.com/pages/urban-punk