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"The kid is doing better than us, and, it is his first show here."
Anita Bauldorf, wife of painter, Steven
"Art shows are a lot like "Hotel California", you can check in, anytime, but you can never leave."
Photographer, Nels Johnson

Well, that probably, and succinctly, describes this year's Artigras held at Abacoa Town Center just south of Jupiter.
At least year's ago we got to ogle Lonnie Anderson on the arms of Burt Reynolds. She is now gone, he is pretty infirm, and the show is death-spiraling into just another fricking art show in Florida.
With the booth fee,gas,hotels,food,etc. most of us have $1K tied up in expenses before you make a dime. If you can't turn better than $3K here, it is not worth coming to.
Oh, I guess for you northern artists, you can write it off as a Florida weekend vacation--beats shoveling snow.
We had great weather til about 1pm on Monday (it is a three day show, same time as the Grove). Monday's at this show, if you make $300 you are doing good. So the rain did not cost us much.
But, Saturday and Sunday,the crowds were moderate, mostly uninterested in art. Some people killed them, but not most.
I know one photographer, who used to do mostly do B/W and now went color on canvas,went home with a nearly empty cAmper, they cleaned him out.
For the most part, sales were sluggishly,slow. No flurries (what's a flurry, anymore). Very few be-backs. Mostly low end numbers were sold.
For photos it was the "P's", palms, piers and Pelicans.
Florals and seascapes prevailed. Ad nauseum,ad nauseam. Forget about art outside the box--it does not reside here.
A lot of us did really good here last year and this year we did half.
So far this year, sales have been pretty static. I have been slugging it out for the last eight years barely keeping my head above water. Getting pretty tired of it. I keep hoping it will turn around.
About the two quotes at the top of the blog.
First, the Bauldorf's son was doing his first Artigras. He has done other shows. He is a young talented painter, just like his dad.
They did not have a kick-ass show, and junior was kicking their ass in sales--but it was still low figures.
As for me, I have always been an Eagles fan.
At my age, he'll, what else am I gonna do? Hustle old farts on the golf course. Not. Be a greeter at Walmart--double not. Do real estate--get real!
I guess you all are stuck with me.

 
Setup: Friday after 12 noon; show 10-5 Saturday and 9-4 (yes, you read that right) on Sunday. This is the third of four shows at the Community Center grounds, the only place on Sanibel that hosts an outdoor art show (Richard Sullivan of Boulderbrook Productions does shows on Thanksgiving weekend and--new this year--January; the local Lions Club has one coming up in exactly one month.) 

We got a break from the weather, and although it was a little crisp in early morning and just a bit breezy at times, you'd have to say it was near-perfect show weather. Quite a contrast to the Boulderbrook show last month, where we stood inside the Community Center and stared out the window as the howling wind took a few tents to the ground.

The water levels from that deluge and a few that followed have not yet dropped to their usual January marks, but Rotary did a good job amending the original booth layout so that everyone was on dry land.  Artist and patron parking locations were adjusted as well, which was a good thing: In the grassy lot across from the show, two vehicles that arrived Sat. night for a theatre production didn't heed the barriers and parked in low-lying areas that had been marked off-limits.  They couldn't extricate themselves at the end of the play, and by Sunday morning, their vehicles had sunk up to the axles. 

Anyway, back to the art show! Total attendance (I got this from a Rotary member during breakdown) was about 5600 for the two days...about par with last year, he said. This is one of those shows where they're lined up at opening bell, ready to see some art! Attendance always drops in the afternoon as folks head out to restaurants and beaches, so you want to bring your "A" game early. (Oh, and if you provide shipping, advertise it! Lots of vacationers, and only a few shipping locations on the island.) 

Nearly half the attendees, I'd say, are homeowners on Sanibel and Captiva; a few of my customers came from S. Fort Myers. This is peak tourism weekend here in SW Florida; traffic is heavy and there is a $6 toll to get on the island, so you're not going to lure folks from other FL towns to this show.

The Rotary does a good job communicating before the show and they are experienced with their check-in and setup rules on this postage-stamp-sized lot. It goes smoothly and efficiently: Check in across Periwinkle Dr. from the show, allow the Rotarians stop the traffic to help you get your vehicle into the show area, unload, move your vehicle if necessary back across the street, then set up.

Tip: Look at the show map when it's available and figure out if you are likely to have storage space. Not everyone does, but you can usually find a nearby artist that can let you "borrow" some of theirs. Tip 2: Get there as early as possible so that you can unload your stuff into the space next to yours and get your tent up and weighted before your neighbor arrives.

On show days, parking was in several locations, some within easy walking distance, others required a shuttle hired by the show. (I skipped the shuttle and grabbed a spot nearby each day). Storage space varies with your location. With booths to my right and behind me, I didn't have any.

Compared with next month's Lions event, this is a high-caliber show. Lots of good 2-D art and some fine craft, an abundance of jewelers and (mea culpa) wildlife/bird artists for this beach-loving community. A couple of junk stands, too, and the artists manufacturers from Hudson River Inlays.

Sales were pretty brisk, especially, it seemed, for painters. (Two of my nearby friends sold nearly all their big pieces at four-figure price points. Most of the other artists I talked with were at least satisfied, although many commented that the buying energy was a bit down compared with recent years. This was one of my more mediocre Sanibel shows--just a bit better than I did at the Thanksgiving show, before the tourists arrived-- no doubt because I had a ton of competition in the bird photography genre.  But that's cool, I get lots of post-show business from Sanibel, and I handed out about 150 business cards to locals.  By the time the post-show sales are delivered, I'll be just fine.

Load-out was managed as well as the setup. Environmentally-conscious Sanibel has minimal commercial lighting; thus the early stop on Sunday (4 PM) was instituted this year to help as many artists as possible get packed before dark (about 6:30). I was nearly the last one out, at 6:45.

The 4 PM end time on Sunday got rave reviews. The 9 AM start? Not sooo muuuchhhh.

Questions? Comments!

The Columbus Arts Festival is an A-tier show held in downtown Columbus, Ohio in early June.  Their jury process is a two-day affair and is open to the public.  Five paid jurors view projected artwork and booth images on five large screens, and each juror has a laptop where they can view thumbnail images and supporting information and mark their scores.  Each year the show receives in the neighborhood of 1100-1200 applications.

Last year I attended Day 1, when the jury slogs through all of the image sets, seeing each artist's 5 images projected simultaneously.  Last year the images were shown for just 3 seconds before switching to the next set.  I'm still unclear how a juror could see each of the images, make a Yes-No-Maybe decision, and select their decision on their laptop all within 3 seconds, but time marched on and by the end of the day all the apps had been seen.

This year I attended Day 2.  As an aside, due to time-wasting computer glitches on the first day, the last category -- painting -- still needed to go through round 1 so the day started with that leftover task.  I noticed that this year each slide set was projected for about 5 seconds rather than 3, and from my perspective that extra time made a big and welcomed difference.  It was much easier to really see and absorb the work.

On to Round 2.  At the beginning of each category a staff member read the definition/requirements of the category (as listed in the prospectus) and gave both the number of original entries and the number of remaining entries after Day 1's jurying.  In almost every case about half of the category remained for the second round.

This time the images were projected for about 10 seconds (what a luxury!) and the artist statement was read aloud.  Although the jurors were permitted to discuss what they were seeing, they didn't do so.  I had heard that in past years sometimes a juror would either advocate for a particular artist's work or try to dissuade others from accepting an artist, but I didn't see any of that.  The jurors were instructed to assign a rating of 1-7 for each artist, with no 4, and with 7 being the best.  Scores were not announced.

I noticed that there's definitely a difference from year-to-year in the overall flavor of the work being entered and also in the work each set of judges likes.  Not sure what to do with that info, rather than to think that here's yet another area where luck plays a role in whether you're accepted or not.  Who's to know who's applying, what they're entering and what the judges will put through?

Finally, if jurors noticed that an artist had entered in the wrong category -- presumably to get a better shot at acceptance or perhaps purely by mistake -- the artist was disqualified.  They were not reassigned to the appropriate category and juried there.  The artist statement (or "techniques and materials") is the giveaway.  If you're in mixed media, you'd better mention materials in several mediums as it's not always obvious by looking at the image.

The second round took about 3.5 hours to jury 500 +/- applications. 

June 25 & 26
Des Moines, Iowa
Iowa State Fairgrounds
Presented by: Stookey Companies
240 Artists
Deadline:  March 1

Application Fee: $25; Booth Fee: $305

Stookey Companies, an event coordination business, manages Iowa's largest fine art show: ArtFest Midwest 'The Other Art Show', an affordable/alternative show held the same weekend as the downtown outdoor show at the fairgrounds. 

Offered as complement to downtown show, there is a free shuttle between shows and free admission making it easy for the shoppers to travel easily between the events. 

Approximately 40% of the artists are from Iowa and 90% from the Midwest giving the show a distinctly Midwest flavor. Held indoors in air conditioned comfort at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.  FREE wireless in the building!  We have discontinued the silent auction, so no request for auction donations. We hope you will join us for Iowa's best festival weekend!

                                 Website:  www.artfestmidwest.com

Day one of the two day open Jury for the Columbus Arts Festival has begun. Our Jurors are in the midst of round one of the jurying process. All are welcome to join us at the Sheraton Capitol Square in downtown Columbus. to watch the process.

The deadline for the Riverside Arts Weekend show is coming up and I cant find any information about it.  Has anyone had experience with it?  Its the one in Riverside, IL in May.  Thanks for any info.

• Large 12'x12' booth sizes
• Low fees
• An air conditioned hospitality suite for artists
• Wednesday set-up is available and encouraged
• Dedicated artist assistance for load-in and load-out; booth sitters
• Artists are invited to come early (Monday, June 13) and participate in our plein air paint out and photography contest, and to attend the awards ceremony and opening reception held on Wednesday evening
• Free parking and lodging discounts are also available

From an email I received from Andrea:

I along with several other artists make antique button, vintage button, vintage cameo and vintage glass jewelry.  I have been told before that although they like what I do with the buttons I do not make the buttons therefore I am disqualified.  

To me no one and I mean no one does not buy something to start their art with.  That would be like telling a painter he is disqualified because he does not make the canvas or the paints. How do I weed out shows that feel this way.  There is so much involved with button jewelry from finding, collecting, researching, restoring and this is all before I create them into a pieces of jewelry.  

I have spent a fortune applying to shows only to be turned down.  I have been in several fine art shows and have done well.  However I think for many shows they disqualify me and therefore I am wasting my time.

Andrea, I'd bet your work is lovely. In a recent podcast one of the first reasons stated by a show director about "why you didn't get in" was because the applicant didn't read the application well. No one is making all the parts of their work. That is a given. My best advice is to carefully read the applications for the shows you are interested in and then making a phone call to the show, perhaps even sending them an email with an image of your work attached and asking them if it meets that show's criteria. 

Does anyone else have other advice for Andrea?

I had a meeting with a local shop owner who has run a strong business for several years, and one I completely trust. She looked at some of my work ( I do sculptural and blown glass jewelry) and said she thought I'd be a great fit for The Rosen Show in Philadelphia. I have not done much in the way of wholesale, but am ready to put the effort into learning. Normally, I do juried art shows.

She also suggested ACRE.

Has anyone done either of these? I noticed that Rosen shows take place different times of the year and at different locations?

I'm a little scared about making this leap and could really use any input anyone would be kind enough to share.

Thank you in advance, Susan

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