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I did better at Fort Myers than I expected to, although my expectation were quite low. Lots of low end prints, a few larger pieces, but mostly small stuff. I got lucky with the load-in, being at the Heitman end of the show. Got to the staging lot early, and checked in at Harborside. Found out where the artist parking was (about 3/4 mile down Monroe at the courthouse jury lot), and hightailed it back to the staging lot. Since I was toward the front of the numbers, they let me pull in with my trailer, dump our stuff and get out again.

When we got back to the booth, the volunteers had let our neighbors park their van and trailer in our two spots, so we had to wait a bit while the camper behind them finished and moved, so they could move. One key thing to note here is that booths are on the sides of the street, facing each other, so there is room to get vehicles in and out if one side loads and then the other. But the volunteers didn't have much experience in working this situation. I heard that the situation in the center of the show where the booths are back to back was extremely poorly managed.

Load-out was even easier, since people were able to use some of the surface lots near us. Again, in the center of the show, there is now a waterway, and a large grassy lot that you cannot bring vehicles on to. Very difficult to manage since there is only a narrow driving lane with no passing room.
Saturday 1 PM

We had good crowds on our end. Not a very high bag to customer ratio, lots of lookers, and sales were brisk from about 11AM to about 2PM. After the rain on Saturday, it cleared out. Artists started closing around 4, and I heard that the show told the Harborside section that the show was officially closed at 4:30 due to rain. We never got that word, but we closed up anyway. Sunday morning awards breakfast has been good in the past. We didn't attend, choosing to get some work done and sleep a bit longer. Congrats to the winners! Sales on Sunday were a bit better for me, but with the exception of a couple of larger pieces, about the same flurry of smaller matted multiples. (I'm a photographer).

Saturday 4PM

This is a show I'd like to love, but can't. Lots of out-of-towners, which is a double edged sword. The loading logistics here need work. The volunteers are all very pleasant, and like many shows, fairly untrained. The load-in captain at our end knew what he was doing, and it helped. Parking was far away, but the shuttles did run constantly. It worked for us a couple of times, and it was a ten minute walk otherwise. Never saw Sharon McAllister (the director) or Jeanne Seehaver (the hands). I always judge a show by how visible on the street the director and her staff are. They try to be artist friendly, and the twice daily email updates from Jeanne were extremely helpful.

I hope that is useful to those who didn't go. The Jesus imitator was a blip on the radar. The megaphone preachers were annoying as hell, but no more annoying than the elevator music guy across the street from him with the John Denver songs.

I've done the BAM show several years running in the past, but was juried out in 2015.  The last time I did it was 2014 and the energy, especially in the evening, was way down.  They don't sell beer and wine for customers to walk around with and the music they provided was inexplicably placed inside the shopping mall with chairs for people to sit in there and listen to the music!  This was, of course, of no benefit to the artists.  

I just received my acceptance for 2016 and would love to have some feedback from any of you in 2D in particular, who might have done the show last year in 2015 - before I hand over that big wad of cash for a booth.  I do have collectors in the area and even though it's a 2 1/2 day drive for me I've always found it a pleasant one.  I'm weighing my options and would love for you to weigh in.

Thanks!

1. You did not read the application carefully. Your work is not appropriate to the show. Not all shows are open to all media. 
   
   
2. You did not fill out all of the spaces. You skipped sections where you could show the special nature of you as an artist, or point of view. All facets of the application process are important: all spaces filled in, solid booth images, an artist statement that sets you apart.
   
   
3. Your work is poorly photographed with bad exposures and messy images.
   
   
4. Your artist statement is poorly written: misspellings, bad grammar, doesn't reflect the imagery being displayed. Tip: review your statement annually, update it to reflect current work and say what is really special about your work. Think of it as a resume, why it should make the cut. Jurors don't care about what paper you use, the cone firing, etc.
   
   
5. Have someone else read your artist statement. Read it out loud yourself so you can hear what the judges are going to hear. Are there abbreviations they won't understand?
   
   
6. The images are not consistent. Think of the art as a "family", not identical but clearly from the same maker. The work should be related.
   
   
7. The workmanship is not up to the level of the other work being presented. Make sure the images you send in truly reflect what your work is. Tip: whenever possible visit other shows and study others in your media, especially visit the shows where you were rejected.
   
   
8. You didn't project your images to see what they will look like to the judges. You didn't show them to someone else to get a second opinion.
   
   
9. When applying in two categories you use the same booth shot. The judges don't know what will be in your booth. Or the booth is "photoshopped", a clean empty booth with 4-5 pieces dropped in. Clearly not what will be appearing at the show.
   
   
10. You complete your application at the last minute, so that if there are errors, or the show director has a question about it, there isn't time to get it right. Best tip, especially if you are relatively new to art fairs or applying to a very competitive show: Apply early so you can be sure your application is reviewed by show staff for any problems.

This list is from our recent podcast. Listen for more details here.

Can we make this "20 Reasons?" Do other show directors have some more to add to this list? Do you agree with this list?

Thanks to Cindy Lerick, Saint Louis Art Fair; Christine Berthiaume, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Marguerite Esrock, St. James Court Art Show.

The last time I did this show was in 2012 and I made a whopping $1200 in sales. This year I did much, much better. The committee did a GRrEAT job of bringing the crowds out. Seems like they have been promoting this show all year. And it paid off. Set up on Friday was a little frustrating as we waited about an hour and a half past our assigned set up time before we were allowed in. But, once we got in, we were able to leave our van next to the booth for the entire set up. Booth spaces are generous with at least 12 feet wide and plenty of room on the sidewalk in back for storage. We shared a wide walkway with our neighbor and used our side walls for more artwork.
Saturday started early at 9am and we made a quick sale right off the bat. Crowds came early and they weren't shy about spending money. With temps in the 60s it was too cool for the beach. Sales were brisk for us and every other artist around us, but the rain started at 1pm and everybody went home. It was quiet for the rest of the day.
Sunday was cool and windy, but the crowds came back. We had another good day of sales and we saw lots of packages go by.
Negatives for this show were minimal. Parking was 6 blocks away and the shuttle was useless. We used it only once and found that the drop off at the show was about as far away from our booth as the parking lot. But I'm pleased with the efforts of the committee to bring out the crowds. It was a good show for us and it seemed as if it was good for most artists

June 3-5 
Edina, Minnesota
50th & France, downtown Edina
280 Exhibitors
Deadline: February 21

10 a.m. to 7 p.m - Friday and Saturday
10 a.m. to 5 p.m – Sunday
Extended music, food and craft beer garden hours on Friday and Saturday evening until 10pm

The Edina Art Fair has grown to 200,000 visitors throughout the 3-day weekend, while displaying 280 artists diverse collection of art, entertainment, kids zone, craft beer garden and community art project.

The Edina Art Fair is the first art fair of the summer and is rated one of the top 50 art festivals in the nation. The fair is held annually in the streets of 50th & France in downtown Edina. 50th & France is the pre-eminent shopping destination in the Twin Cities; known for its luxury and lifestyle boutiques! This unique neighborhood has a reputation for bringing a lifestyle that caters to distinction– a distinction its members take pride in.

• Celebrating the 50^th annual art fair in 2016
• The First Official Art Fair of the Year
• Top 50 fine art festival in the nation
• Over 200,000 in attendance
• Discounted hotel rates, and free artists parking
• 24 hour security
• Artists sales averaged $4,500 in 2015
• Featuring the top 280 fine artists from Minnesota, the U.S and Canada
• Artist amenities include booth sitters, helpful volunteers and organized staff, load-in /load-out assistance available, free water throughout the weekend, and a complimentary light breakfast Friday through Sunday.
• Marketing outlets are through several channels of social media. The Edina Art Fair creates an Event Pamphlet with the largest local Minneapolis publication and is distributed to over 500,000 homes before the event and on-site to visitors.  Ad space is available at a low cost to artists. We work with a local PR firm that gains many radio, TV, print, artists features, and social media exposure, valuing over 1 million dollars.

Additionally, the event offers a community art project lead by a community artist, a large Kids Zone, booths featuring young artists, Music, food, and entertainment.

Testimonials:

It was a great weekend and I did very well. Edina has always been my favorite fair to do. Thanks for your efforts. Job well done!!!! ~Joy Mardo King

Had a great show, many returning customers and new ones. ~Sharon Burns

Hats off to the fine folks of Edina that volunteer and financially support the Edina Arts Festival. We travel throughout the U.S. and always look forward to your well run event! We had a great show! It is a festival of UnCommon Merit! ~ Bill and Lauri Keitel

Now accepting applications until Sunday, February 21, 2016

Apply: https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=4307

Information and application:  www.edinaartfair.com 

Contact:  Rachel  Thelemann, director@50thandfrance.com

Phone:  (952)922-1524

Hi-

I've been researching a number of show's entry rules, and I'm a little at a loss on this phrase about photographer's entries: ''Must be hand made or directly supervised by the artist'. This phrase pops up over and over and is used specifically in the rules for photographers, not just for other artists in other categories. It seems to put someone without a $4000 printer at something of a disadvantage. As an alternative, how is a photographer to 'directly supervise' the printer, who might be at some distance? Some rules even say that prints are not to be made by a 'commercial printing company.'

I'd appreciate help working around this verbiage. I'm sure it is much more 'artist friendly' than it appears.

Thanks,

David Perry Lawrence

April 16 & 17Sandy Springs, Georgia
Presented by: Atlanta Foundation for Public Spaces
Sat. 10am-6pm; Sun. 11am-6pm
150 Artists

The two-day outdoor event has an emphasis on visual arts and handcraft and will feature up to 150 local and regional artists representing disciplines in painting, ceramics, glass, woodwork, handcraft, mixed media and more. 

Testing Your Jury Images

There have been a number of posts recently about your presentation and how competitive the application process is.

My http://juryimages.com web site is one of the best resources for artists applying to art shows. It's a two part web site. One part offers free ZAPP and JAS formatting. The other part gives you a way to test your presentation or compare multiple presentations and get feedback from a consultant or your peer artists.

I just uploaded a set of my current images and my booth shot from Long's Park and I invite people to experiment. You can move images by dragging them with your mouse, duplicate them to use them in different presentations, flip images horizontally (for 3D work) to see if work better facing different directions. And you can enlarge them to the size ZAPP and JAS monitor jurors see them. Best of all, you can change the background to see them on black for ZAPP, gray for JAS or white for those shows that are clueless about how to view images. There's a place at the bottom to send an e-mail inviting others to view your page.

http://www.juryimages.com/jury/index.php?action=view&userId=22

To see changes others might have made, press the refresh button. It will get confusing if more than one person is playing with it at a time so you might want to create your own page.

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

We have done this show last 3 yrs. Smaller solid show for us. Customers come to buy. We sell lapidary jewelry priced 30-300. It is well managed . Pull up to load..unload. Not a lot of frills but we look forward to it. They jury right away so you can get on with life. I believe they balance media. Quality artists. Hope to see you there...

Has anyone done this show?  It was recommended (strongly) to me by another artist who also owns a gallery.  I was accepted just 48 hours after mailing in my application which made me a little nervous - especially since it is the same week-end as a show that I trust but for which the jury has not yet met.

As a result of the St. Louis Mock Jury, I was introduced to two wonderfully helpful ladies, Cindy Lerick and Laura Miller.  They help run the St. Louis art show.  I got to know Cindy, thru contacting her with questions I had from the mock jury results.  Long story short, she had the idea to set up a Webinar with me, Cindy and Laura so they could look at my Zapp portfolio. Cindy sent me an email to connect to the Webinar, which was yesterday.  All went very smoothly and easily, especially with me being only slightly computer savvy! They looked at my images and between the two, they picked out 4 of my images that they thought would work best for applying to shows.  What an interesting and eye opening experience!

 They had seen many, many images before and their judgement was spot on.  I loved the combination they picked, as they explained why they worked together. They also gave more tips that were invaluable.  I highly recommend that you call them at the St. Louis art show number, 314-863-0278 and set up a conference of your own.

Both ladies stated that they love to help artists pick images.  And to me, doesn't it work better when someone else sees your artwork thru their eyes and have the training to help?  

It was a fantastic experience and I highly recommend you do this if you're having any difficulties.  Can't guarantee acceptance but you never know!

I'm not sure where to post this now that the discussion boards have changed, but I have a full set of 8' tall Buff knockdown propanels available for sale.  I have 15 total (three 25" and twelve 30").  They are in PERFECT condition.  Originally paid $2325.  Available for $1500, and will deliver up to 300 miles (I'm in Columbus Ohio), or meet midway for free. Contact me at britthallowell@gmail.com if interested. 

Bob and I want to give everyone a "heads up" about a new, exciting gated art show that will be coming to the banks of the" Flats "area in Cleveland, Ohio- as part of the Riverside Entertainment District! The show is named the Flats Festival of the Arts  and the dates are Aug 19-21, 2016. The show will have well know director Scott Huntley (Columbus Fine Arts Festival) and will be backed by a National real estate developer and a major Regional advertising agency. The show will be listed on Zapp next week. See you there!

June 25 & 26
Grand Haven, Michigan
Presented by: The Chamber of Commerce Grand Haven, Spring Lake, Ferrysburg
100 artists
Deadline:  February 15

Application Fee:  $30
Booth Fee:  $270

The Grand Haven Art Festival is a community event inviting 100 artists from the region and nation to transform Washington Avenue into a chic, outdoor art gallery complete with free admission, food vendors, kids' activities and live music.  Residents and visitors from Grand Rapids, Chicago, Detroit and more, visit the annual Grand Haven Art Festival looking to purchase that perfect piece for their homes, cottages and offices.

Artist Amenities:

• Awards: Best in Show, Jury's Choice and Excellence Award and Honorable Mention selected by onsite jury, invited to participate in the 2017 Grand Haven Art Festival. 
• Complimentary coffee and muffins Saturday and Sunday; snacks and water
• Roaming booth sitters to allow for artist breaks
• Boxed lunches available for purchase delivered directly to artist's booth 
• Artist-only parking reserved one block from the start of the show.  Each artist will have two parking spaces assigned to them, with drive up access for set up and take down
• Complimentary invitation postcards
• Extensive Festival marketing promotion
• Paid security Friday and Saturday nights throughout the Festival
• Grand Haven Art Festival Brochure including name, image, booth number and contact information of all participating artists 
• Information packet provided in April including lodging options, area information, event logistics, etc.
• A welcoming and excited community for the 55th Annual Grand Haven Art Festival

Wednesday - February 3, 5 pm ET 

It is application season! Anyone active in the art fair business is deep into preparing applications for jurying into the nation's art fairs. What are the odds you'll make the cut and get into your most desired festival?

Our guests are long time professionals from the business including Cindy Lerick, executive director of the Saint Louis Art Fair and Christine Berthiaume, Crafts Manager at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and Marguerite Esrock executive director of the St. James Court Show. 

We'll talk about:

1. As an intro we'll hear how each show prepares their jurors for jurying and the process of showing the jurors the applications
   
   
2. 10 worst things you can do to sabotage your chances of "getting in"

Have paper and pencil ready. This one is sure to bring you useful information applicable to your finding success exhibiting at art fairs large and small.

Comments welcome below -- what do you want to know? who would you like to have on the panel? A question you want me to ask?