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I told myself that will keep this year my post low and keep a low profile. I like to meet the people that are part of the group but at the same time I created problems for myself.

Last October was my worst month as income goes. As eternal hopeful I am I was hoping the One of A Kind Show and Chicago will save me has it has done in the past but it was not the case. I got some orders for the Holidays and that help but my moral was low.

To make things worst, I also only got into only three shows for the winter. The choice was simple: gamble my savings for the winter or stay put and using my savings to hold on until the shows start again, I am assuming I will get into shows. I find myself wondering what I will do for the next four or five months. I realize, I wont be able to work in new images until the month of March. My lady friend asking what you would for the next months.

I find myself in a cage. I decide to ask if my old job need help for the holidays and winter. I manage to get 20 hours in there. I am surely found myself doubting my choice of living the company but surely enough I found out that I did the correct choice for myself.

I Also found myself doing a recommendation of my lady friend I sign up for Postmates (an app for people with a money or no time to get stuff for themselves). Postmates turn to be a great choice since as time when I start bring in at least 500 a week per 20 to 25 hours of work. The best part I sign when I want and keep busy enough that make my time away from lady friend pass faster. At this point I will doing it with the shows.

Artists may think that I could support of myself with my art or was not good enough to get into shows but there is no really reason why some have great success and other don’t. Even worst how thing in art show change from day to day and weekend to weekend. The weekend before Cottonwood, I was part of Amdur productions boot camp. It was great experience since I basically confirm base what she was talking I already doing everything she recommends to do.

I head early to Dallas to spend some days with lady friend before the show. My first show of the year (2015) was Cottonwood. While I find myself meeting people, I was concern of people knowing about my post specially when promoters I told me that I do not speak highly of some the shows, I had been black listed.

I think the best part of the show was spending time with James Parker, Karen, Anita, Stephen, Mark and Wendy. I think they all have a great show. I have a bad Saturday and good solid Sunday but not enough to make up for the bad Saturday. I should walk out of there sad but I walk feeling very relax and happy. I really can not tell you why but I just saw the show as work time and nothing else. The dinner time with my friends and the days before with my lady friend make me appreciated my life.

During the show I was looking how the new people react to the my first two 30X45 frame to 36X51 and introducing the 18X24. Both was successful and the only thing was I could not sale one of the large pieces. I also figure out what speed I need to drive with the trailer attach to match ratio of fill up the gas tank when I was not using the trailer. So overall you may not see reviews about the shows from me anymore but more about the experience of doing the show because lets face it when I am at the show I going to the mobil show to work. Plus there are thing that people tell you that I am doing because it is good advice and for that I am grateful.

July 25 & 26
Bay Harbor, Michigan

Presented by Bay Harbor

Lake Michigan Waterfront

100 Artists

Deadline:  May 15

Application fee: $35; Booth fee: $325

The festival is held annually the last weekend in July at Bay Harbor's breathtaking Lake Michigan waterfront. It is punctuated with pageantry, music and food while the quality of work exhibited attracts knowledgeable art lovers and buyers.  

Residents of the upscale community Bay Harbor, boaters docking at Bay Harbor Lake Marina, resorters, locals and visitors from across the country converge in our quaint Village for a spectacular weekend festival.

New this year:

We encourage artists after set up on Friday, July 24, to open their booths for a "pre-sale" of their art from 6pm - 9pm. This is not a requirement, and totally up to each individual artists if they would like to participate.

We are proud of our marketing:

• Sotheby's International Realty's RESIDE Magazine, Petoskey Art in the Park Directory, Concierge, All local newspapers 
• Bay Harbor Community & Visitors Guides distributed across M-DOT Welcome Centers throughout the entire state of Michigan
• Event postcards at area hotels, Conventions and Visitors Bureau
• e-blasts several times during June & July to Bay Harbor Property Owners and large newsletter database
• Television advertising, social media and websites
• Festival website promoting exhibiting Artists throughout the year.

Learn more & apply:  www.bayharborartsfestival.com

Contact:  Tracy Bacigalupi

Email:  artsfestival@bayharbor.com

Phone: (231)439-2650

Two things stand out as good about this trip; I had a good time seeing the town and I didn't have a park bench located inside my booth space like some of the artists. Everything else went downhill and went to Hell in a hand basket. The old adage about not attending any art festival with either a food or fruit in its name applies to this misbegotten show.

Set up allowed plenty of time and it was needed to fight with the wind off the river. Chicago has less problems with the wind. I tied the back two legs of the booth to the metal rail at the edge of the plaza and that took care of it. The city inspectors or the show organizers never showed to do a weight inspection for safety, and the tax people never showed to check  for permits either. Several artists said they would take the chance and not pay the $85 license fee. They were the smart ones. About half the artists had a park bench anchored to the plaza inside their booth space. You had to deal with it as best as you could. For the most part, they would be either on the left or right corner rear of the booth space.

I'll skip the usual set up details and issues as this was a show that I would whole-heartedly recommend no one in their right mind go to. The crowd was cheap as hell, although a $3,200 table was sold and that one has a warning attached. I overheard someone talking in my booth that $195 for a 20x30 canvas print was entirely too much money. I guess they were used to decorating with Velvet Elvis paintings. Another day a couple of guys were disparaging one print that I have, an old one about 12 years old taken with a 3MP Kodak, that shows technical deficiencies if you get your face into it from about 8 inches away. The self-styled experts were sneering that it showed pixelation. I didn't bother to correct the chumps and point out that it was jpeg artifacts from an overly ambitious compression routine from the camera manufacturer. Don't you just love pixel-peepers? Whatever the issues were, it hasn't stopped it from selling in the past and the roughness along a straightline part of the image disappears from about a foot and a half away.

The real issues with this show is that it's for the tourists, not the locals. A water color artist across from me spelled it out very succinctly; the crowds buy cheap, $20 and under, and it has to be local images. Several other photographers were there, about half local, and they were spottable as the ones with incredibly low prices and inexpensive framing. The photographer next to me was appalled at the low prices and accompanying low quality of the work. Of the 7 photographers there, three were local with snap-shot quality work. They must know their market, as they were selling. By Sunday, I had pulled some back-up 5x7 prints I had done a while back, and stuck them on a piece of matt board and in a bag for $15. Those were the only sellers I had.

Buy/Sell was evident. A vendor about 4 booths from me was making money hand over fist with stuffed teddy bears that were imports, and she had little pinafores for them that were also imports. She had a computerized sewing machine in the back of her booth, and would type in someone's name and stitch their name on the pinafore. She had lines of people in her booth on Friday and Saturday. Sunday was so slow, even her booth was empty most of the time. The infamous Hudson River Inlay people were down at the other end, and a $3,200 table was observed leaving on Sunday. One local artist who does the shows commented that numerous complaints about the Teddy bear vendor and the inlay people had been lodged in years past, but nothing is ever done.

I had done research on this show and had expected to see 90-120 artists at this show. I wasn't the only one, as a  couple other artist expressed the same view point. I walked the show and counted 32 artists total. Maybe the other seafood festival in the fall up by Hilton Head, Bluffton Seafood Festival, is getting confused with this one. As it is, this piece of work is not a seafood fest except in name only, and it damn sure isn't much of an arts festival either. There were a bunch of food vendors there, all fried goop, burgers, elephants ears, hot dogs, and some fried cat fish. Why someone would eat from there when there were dozens of restaurants and bars with quality food is beyond me.

I saw the organizer once, and that was early before official load in time when she was pre-occupied with supervising the food vendor load-in (where the real money was) and she sent me back to the parking lot where her 20-year old assistant was. I got the packet from her, and then saw her once when the only time water bottle were passed out, and on Saturday when they snafued the pre-ordering of box lunches for the artists.

I was pretty much underwhelmed with this show. To succeed you will need local scenes that are under $20, anything else under $20, and don't sweat the quality. You can safely ignore the license fee for temporary vending as no one came around checking and the artists who hedged that bet were the winners. The size and quality of the show is misrepresented, and the organizer is drawing a nice paycheck out of this. I feel like I stepped back in time to 25 years ago when I signed up for some shows that were total misrepresentations of what they were.

Just got back from my first time at Artsfest on Walnut Street in Springfield, MO.  Walnut Street is a residential area near the college so several rentals but also some homes being renovated as well as a couple of restaurants.  Nice wide street with booths set up on sidewalks.  Set up begins Friday at 500 but I got there about 3 and there were people already setting up.  Fairly easy in and out.  The hotel for artists is at the end of the street and had plenty of parking.

Booth set ups-  The back half of your booth will be sidewalk and the front will be grass.  Bring some bricks for the front as there is about a 2-3 inch drop.  I paid for a corner booth which put me at a driveway.   (All of the houses through here have access from the rear so there wasn't any car traffic during the show.  Because of the driveways...several people had corners even though they didn't pay the extra for them...luck of the draw.  I would request a corner again as the interior booths were 12 inches apart so no room to get behind tent if you store there.   Also, in some areas...there may only be a couple of feet behind you.

Staff-  Staff was easy to deal with.  They serve lunch but finding a volunteer to watch booth was a little difficult.  I have only done a few different shows and the ones I have done had tons of volunteers and they were constantly by seeing if you needed water, Gatorade, etc.  If you do this show solo...bring your ice chest as the volunteers are scarce.

Patrons-  great weather and great crowds.  Was steady and busy both days.  Did not see a lot of big art go by but did see lots of smaller stuff.  I sold more prints than I have sold at a show but total dollars was down because I didn't sell a single big piece despite having lowered my prices for this show to move some inventory out to make room for new pieces.  Lots of dogs and than even more dogs.  I like the dogs but now reflecting...I didn't see a single person walking a dog that had art in their hands nor did I sell to anyone with a dog.  Demographic was fairly diverse from the transgendered to college kids to senior citizens and young families.

Food vendors- Didn't eat at any but they were higher end vendors versus carnival food.  Wood fired pizza and empandas along with corndogs for kids

Artist Mixture-  Seemed like a good mix without any one medium being overly represented.  In the mediums....there was diversity so really didn't se a lot of booths selling similar art as others in the same medium.  Actually saw some art that I had not seen before.

Load out- Fairly decent control with getting load out cards and having everyone go same direction.  However, the rules didn't seem to apply to the festival contracted labor putting up chairs and tents from the coke stands and music areas as they were going wrong direction and would also block the main streets.  Would be nice to have them wait for the artists to clear out.

All in all....decent show but if I do again...I will bring more stuff in the 20-100 dollar range.

Seeing what juries select for exhibitions and the works that judges select for awards is interesting to me. It seems that pure realism had been overlooked often in favor of more "expressive" representations but that trend might be loosing ground; not dramatically so but somewhat. Often though the results can be telling of the preferences of the decision maker(s).  Personally, I enjoy being part of the American Artists Professional League because they emphasize realism (even though my work is nearer the back of the pack than the front). That of course is my personal taste. That said, what would you think of categories that were less medium specific and more style specific.  Say something like: 3D Abstract versus 3D realism and the same with 2D? (excluding the obvious like photography for jewelry) 

Still recovering from 8 days in Oklahoma City.  This has always been a good show for me, and this year I was the poster artist.  I had a good spot in the show, and it always gets good crowds.

A couple things were different this year, mostly because of construction beginning on Hudson Street, where the show has been held  for years.  The print tent was no longer, and we were able to sell prints in our own booths.  While I always found the print tent an oddity, I actually sold more prints there than in my own booth.  Go figure.

I did well.  Not as well as other years, but the weather was strange.  It wasn't really bad, but the weather people made it sound as if it was. 

We had a great opening day, and it was my best day for sales.  It is a long day - 14 hours, but it was a good one.  The next day it rained all day.  The following day it didn't, but it looked like it was going to rain all day.  Friday, historically a great sales day, the weather prognosticators delivered doom and destruction forecasts, so people stayed away.  Saturday was crazy busy, and Sunday pretty respectable. 

This show isn't like any others.  The festival has its own tents and you get a quarter slice of one.  It includes hanging walls, so you only have to bring your work if you want.  Most of us bring more.  You need lights.  They provide 2.  I have a light system now and used all of it.  The show is open until 9 every night except Sunday.

You do not need a Square or anything else: the show handles all sales and takes 20%.

Even so, most of us do quite well here.  My buddy Jill Grau Tortorella and I have been neighbors for 3 years.  We weren't jumping up and down, but we also didn't wish we'd skipped it. 

Load in and load out is fairly straightforward, because there are only 144 people and no one is setting up tents.  Also, you have two full days to choose from for set up and if you can, choose Sunday.

The quality of the artists is quite good.  There is a system for requalifying which seems to involve how many years you have been there, so there are some issues with that, except for the local artists.  Most people with a wide range of prices did fine.  Some with only high priced original work, not so much.

Again, the biggest issue for most people is the duration of the show.  They get out the people, and many of them have money. 

Next year the event is moving because of the aforementioned construction, and no one really knows how that will affect attendance.

October 10 & 11  

Sedona, Arizona
Campus of Sedona Red Rock High School
126 artists

Deadline:  May 15

Jury Fee: $30; Booth Fee:  $390 or $450

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Sedona Arts Festival is a favorite in the Southwest.  It has become a premiere destination arts festival, known for the quality of art and first class treatment of both its artists and its guests.

 

With Sedona's spectacular red rocks as a backdrop and glorious fall weather to compliment the event, the festival attracts approximately 40000 seasonal and year round residents and tourists.  The festival showcases fine artists from around the country, as well as a Gourmet Gallery which features locally produced and packaged food items. KidZone offers art activities for children. Raffle prizes, live music, and a variety of food and beverages are available as well.

 

Our 25th anniversary event will have a strong community component.  A variety of non-profit partners will join us to promote Sedona organizations and events.  We have continuous live music all weekend which is all "background" music (no lyrics).

 

Testimonials:

• Thank you for a great show, well organized and very friendly staff...and we didn't do too bad either!  Thanks for all your help! 
   
• Thanks so much for an expertly run event.  The Sedona Arts Festival is the best run, most artist friendly event I have ever done.  I first began doing art fairs in 1967. In 1985 I took a 25 year hiatus and restarted a couple years ago.
  
  I have done ACE shows, big events like Old Town in Chicago and the original Ann Arbor street fair, 4th Ave in Tucson, Tubac and both indoor and outdoor venues. The level of communication with the artists by you and obviously the background workday the staff and volunteers, is second to none. 
   
• I wanted to thank you for another wonderful show!  I love your show,  I love the artist treatment.  I love the new tent layout, and I love Sedona...can you tell I had a very good time????  Thank you for all you did...it was much appreciated.!!"

I got this note a short time ago and was wondering if anyone else may have gotten the same note from this outfit

Merchant Name: PHOTO SARGE 

Merchant Number (last six digits): 601737

Dear Merchant, 

We are sending you this email because our records indicate that your questionnaire status was changed to "In Progress" due to selecting the re-assess option as of 04/30/2015. In order to maintain your PCI Compliance you MUST complete the process to validate your compliance.

Please log on to https://mcps.pciapply.com/ and continue to finalize the PCI Compliance process. You may print/save your PCI Compliance documents at that time.

Should you require further assistance please contact us at (800) 327-0093 or use the live chat option. Thank you for your continued assistance in contributing to a more secured payment card acceptance environment for all industry members.

Regards,

PCI Compliance Department

Merchants' Choice Payment Solutions 
Office: (800) 327-0093

     When I replied by email asking what service they were providing I got a return message saying this website was not a responsive one or something like that.  

     I called that 800 number to ask just what services they were providing and the lady on the phone was somewhat elusive.  She put me on hold and that was about ten minutes ago.  I'm now listening to a series of recorded messages to tell me why I should stay on hold until someone responds.  

      OK.  She just got back to me to advise that department was closed for the day and transferred me to the voicemail for that department.  

  I have been through this before with a couple of different outfits over the years that charged PCI fees.  None of them were able to provide a scenario in which an art show merchant was protected by their services that they were not already protected from by the credit credit card companies from fraudulent charges.   

      You have that phone number.  If you can get through to them and get a response I'd really like to hear their response.  

This was my first Howard Alan event. I had previously juried into at least two previous HA events which were cancelled by the organizers - Baltimore Inner Harbor and Georgetown... One killed by the Gran Prix and the other by apparent inability to reach agreements with the local govt...

Location, Location, Location: I think location had a great deal to do with whether your sales that weekend were successful. I was located way out on the end of the event and positioned across from event sponsor vendors. Not an optimal location-since we were not on a popular ingress/egress route... Only people determined to walk the entire show were the most likely to see our booths. Thankfully, on day 2 of the event, we saw more foot traffic  

We did have a small amount of back storage b/c there were two lanes of traffic directly behind our booths which were open all weekend. Noisy? Well, yes.

I think the event vendor/sponsors should also have had the opportunity for prime central locations, given they were paying for the opportunity to offer their goods and services.

This would have also allowed some sharing of the pain of being located next to or adjacent to a vendor as a fine art exhibitor. Surely the event organizers and promoters might have considered this when laying out the event. That would at least have made being stuck out on the lonesome end of the event a bit more palatable. I have to think that the organizers surely understand that fine art shoppers are less likely to linger near replacement window vendors... regardless of whether they are giving away a fine art print...

Advance Booth Location Requests: The event paperwork indicated that one could request a space location preference over a week in advance. However, since there was no event map showing booth locations, how could one request a location? It is my understanding, however, that some/many exhibitors were able to request a location. I cannot confirm this information. There was no set-up map. This is a new one on me. It was the first time I have ever encountered an upscale fine art event with no booth layout map with numbers.

The booth location information I downloaded from the event site the day before the event was a spreadsheet which, despite some sort of set of landmark references with geographic map references, was incomprehensible unless you were it's author.

When I called the central office for some clarification, the office was unable to provide any information which helped. They tried their best, but said not all events got maps made before the event.

So, how were advance booth requests made and granted? The only maps I saw charted parking locations for exhibitors on a tiny thumbnail map which was not optimal for exhibitors trying to figure out where to park or how to get there.

Set-up: The event staff onsite at 4+A.M., when I arrived, had their act together and were very cheerful/helpful in getting folks to their locations. But it was disappointing to note as it became light, just where I was located - which was far, far, away from the center of the event and adjacent to the vendor event sponsors. I have to imagine the vendors were just as excited at being strung out on the end of the event as those exhibitors were who also ended up on the tail end of the event. The hand-turned writing exhibitor was able to arrive just before wait-list calls were made and get set up in timely fashion. But if you had a sophisticated display, with lighting and a one person set-up, you were glad that they allowed for an early-bird arrival

Big Plus: Event staff were very supportive throughout the entire event.

Big question mark: were there booth sitters available? Out on the frontier where we were at, we spotted each other on the booth sitting so that those who were on meters could feed them or run for the potty. Having a booth assistant would have been very helpful, but wasn't an option for me on this weekend.

Parking: I paid for parking in a nearby bank lot. $35 covered parking for both days and was worth the price, as I had no one to booth sit, and was not close to any of the meters you could credit/debit card pay for the whole day. Unfortunately, I was unable to collect a receipt for the parking charge. This allowed for me to dolly my work out on Saturday and back in on Sunday.

Sales:  I had no sales on Day 1. Zip, Zero, Nada. A talented blown glass artist sold one piece on day 1 (to my knowledge) and an encaustic painter also sold one nice piece (maybe more). An abstract painter appeared to sell a few pieces, while a photographer who sold prints on canvas seemed to do OK. A nearby moderately-priced jeweler didn't seem very busy. And she indicated that location and the number of jewelers in the event made for a very competitive sales environment. But, that seems to be the constant in most of the better shows. I wonder what these events would look like without the usual 20-40% women's wearable population...

The hand-turned pen guys were a cipher and I couldn't get a feel if they did OK or not on Day 1, but later conversation seemed to indicate they did OK

In conversation with a passing vendor, he suggested that if you weren't netting weekend total sales in the range of 3-5k$, you were losing money in such an expensive venue to travel to and exhibit.

On day 2, there seemed to be a different customer population at the event and I managed three modest original painting sales, each under $200.00. But I sell no prints. Many painters and photographers say that without print sales, they would have difficulty making expenses or a profit. So despite the upscale market and blank walls, many a customer didn't know that there was a difference between a print and an original.

I also noticed that parents with children in tow, who would likely willingly buy their children a 400$ playstation or x-box, had difficulty in seeing the value in purchasing their child a work of art at a fraction of the price-despite watching their children light up when they saw a brightly colored or textured work which obviously intrigued them. Perhaps it's because they didn't come with spare games or internet connections.......

Perhaps that is a failing of the gen x,y and millennials to understand the value of art in a child's education - because they were without art in their educations during the 80's, 90's and 00's.. It certainly wasn't because I failed to mention the advantages of instilling an appreciation of art to the parents of the children who wanted to rush in and touch my work or try to pull mom and dad into my booth. The parents just don't get spending money on art for kids despite easily being able to afford it in such an affluent location

Sales - Long and Short of It: I covered booth costs and application fee and most of my mileage. I had no hotel or food costs to speak of. No hotel, because of friends in the area and no food expenses b/c I was able to help an exhibitor out of a dead vehicle battery jam (in the dark) during set-up. They offered to buy me lunch on both days as a way of saying thanks. I was very grateful for their kindness.

Teardown: The weather threatened for the latter half of Day 2 and rain had been forecast.

There were a couple of blatant early packdowns and escapes that likely impacted the traffic out on our lonely end of the event empire. It wasn't obvious that they were family emergency issues or anything else. I couldn't tell if management made note of this unprofessional behavior or not. There was plenty of typical sneaky tear-down that only exhibitors would spot.

Event staff were trying to communicate to the exhibitors what the weather window would be after close. Many of those without smart phones found this very useful.

Sadly, an hour after close, it started to rain and if your weren't packed and gone, you got wet. I managed to get my panels, lighting and art packed and loaded without getting wet. But my carpet took a minor hit and my tent and sand-bags got wet. Out on our end, there was no imperative to be packed down in an hour to re-open streets.

Event staff were great. Logistics like maps and shared vendor pain - not so much. The police and emergency personnel did a fine professional job and mostly had a decent sense of humor for the antics associated with an art show. I did not hear of anyone losing work or having their set-up vandalized during or after the event..

Would I do another HA event?: HA events have a good reputation and perhaps my positioning was luck of the draw or show balancing - this being despite a very early entry and early acceptance. But you'd think that those who made the effort to get their entries in early and pay in a timely fashion might have some preference in their location.

But you cannot allow folks to request a location prior to an event unless you offer a map of the lay-out. Otherwise, it might seem to some that preferential treatment was being provided to some over others. Again, I have no way of knowing how location requests were handled.

I had no way to ask for a location, because there was no map of the event available.

I would give their events a few more tries if accepted... just as I would most other promoter's events... to see if results changed based on chance and location. I usually don't say never again unless something heinous goes down or there is obvious malfeasance on the part of the promoter.. So, I'll gladly post another review of their events if I get the opportunity. The event itself was well run and staffed by seasoned professionals who obviously did not see this as their first rodeo...

October 24 & 25 - new dates for 2015!*

outdoor festival with an emphasis on the visual arts. Set in historic Piedmont Park, this autumn festival of excellence in the arts is an event dedicated to bringing together outstanding artists from throughout the country with the large and enthusiastic art buying community of the Atlanta area.

August 14 & 15  

From the Chamber of Commerce:

• two days
• beautiful time of year for weather & tourism
• spacious booth spaces:  12x12
• great booth fee: $125 for both days!
• application fee: $25

There is also fun for the whole family with all the downtown businesses as well as a collector car show 3 blocks away, among many other activities that day and great local food.  You might even want to fit in some salmon fishing! 

LATE APPLICATION FEE: Due to the numerous late applications in years past - we are applying a $50 late application fee for ALL applications received after May 1, 2015.

Website & application:  www.frankfort-elberta.com/index

 Contact:  Joanne Bartley, fcofc@frankfort-elberta.com 

Phone: (231)352-7251

For more information about this tourism mecca: www.frankfort-elberta.com

Just got back from Birmingham AL and Magic City Art Connection show.  Many of you know there were challenges this year for the show.  About a month before the show the city told the show that they now, after years of never having too, pay for the use of the park, security for the show and other things that the show had not had to budget for in the past.  So......

First the show.  A three day show with set up on Thursday.  It is set up in a very pretty park right in the middle of downtown.  Everyone has to dolly in.  The lay out of the booths is very confusing.  After two years at the show with the same booth space I  still get lost when walking the show.  Luckily I set up near the library and just need to look up to see the library and head towards that.  The promoters of the show are the best.  They bend over backwards for the artist.  Anytime you call they pick up the phone and do their best to work with you.  There is a wonderful artist party on Friday night and there are a lot of awards, about 20 I believe.  The board members walk the show and meet the artists and they buy from the artists.  At the show you have people on site to help and answer questions.  They make you feel special and really want us there.  This is a big show with a lot of amazing artists.  There is also some questionable work, but over all some great art.  

Now what to do about this $$$$ hit for the show.  They decided to add for the first time a $5 entrance fee.  Noone really lives downtown.  This is a destination show, not a neighborhood show.  I did the show last year and the attendance was just ok.  I believe it is fair to say that many of us were very concerned about the new entrance fee.  Friday attendance was low.  Saturday called for bad weather. On Saturday the weather held and it was a nice day. Around 4 pm it started to rain and they closed the show 2 hours early.  It rained for 20 minutes then the skies cleared.  The locals told us since the tornadoes two years ago everyone get a bit over cautious.  Attendance was very low any way so most of us were glad to go.  Sunday beautiful day.  It was a ghost town until 1 pm and even at that point the crowds never arrived.  

Sales... So many people reported a good show but one persons good show is crap to another especially those of us who do this as a living.  I am sorry but $1500 for a travel show and even a local show just doesn't cut it.  Most people made about this.  For me, originals only, the patrons had major sticker shock.  The few times I had interest folks would want to walk the rest of the show and I knew they would have a hard time finding me.  The other problem the few patrons who were willing to pay over $2k for a piece were few and far between and like I said there were a lot of amazing artist.  Lots of competition for sales and just not enough patrons to go around.  If your price points are low, under $1k you might have done ok.  Folks that sold $5 prints were busyish.  (I know that is not a word:)  Even the locals that had a following with work from Birmingham at $20 were not that busy IMO.  

At the end of the show, dolly out obviously, I was about to have my first zero art show.  Last minute from pure luck I sold 2 of my smallest pieces as I was loading out.  Again sad to say I probably did better than many of the folks who felt they had a good show.  

I just hate to give this show a bad review.  It is a fun place to show at.  You can stay right at the show at a nice hotel for around $100 or just a few blocks away for $80.  If you want to stay cheaper than they offer good artist parking and you can drive in.  Birmingham has excellent resteraunts and it is a fun place to do a show.  I am sure there will be changes for next year and I really hope the show can get back on track.  I do know of artists that  pulled it out in the end.  Not a total lose for most.  Good Luck Magic City.

I recently returned from doing The Arlington Festival of The Arts in Arlington VA.  It was the third time for this show and the second time for me.  It is a small show, around 100 artists in a wonderful area on the streets of Arlington VA.  

Set up is Saturday morning but it isn't a bad one.  The streets are wide and I am able to show up around 7 am, drive to my booth and set up easy peasy.  There are plenty of parking options.  My booth is right infront of a Trader Joes (awesome) and I park the tall truck in their garage parking lot just under my booth.  Booths are set up across from eachother and everyone has room in the back.  

The weather on Saturday was perfect.  The people were ready to enjoy a day outside.  The people that live in this area are young professionals with money.   Everyone is qualified.  Everyone is looking for art.  The patrons mainly live within walking distance of the show or with in a couple miles.  Almost everyone I spoke with had plenty of empty walls and often more than just one home with empty walls.  The crowds started early and it was so busy my partner and I had to agree that neither of us could leave the booth for more than 3 minutes.  Quick potty breaks:)  No one had sticker shock.  By lunch time on Saturday our three biggest pieces were gone.  We could have left happy at that point.  Most of the work we sold that day we were able to walk it to the homes but we had some deliveries.  Since the traffic is crazy in the DC area we opted to deliver the pieces that were not in Arlington on Sunday morning.

Sunday morning I was dropped off at the booth and my partner ran around DC to deliver.  In my area we got a wind tunnel that morning.  By the time I arrived there were a few booths that had to break down because the wind was too much for their fragile work.  Even with the wind people were out shopping at 10 am.  It was hairy trying to baton down the booth with patrons trying to shop but a girl has to do what a girl has to do.  I was not as busy as Saturday but since I was by myself until 1 pm I rarely had a moment when I wasn't talking to someone.  Sunday I saw lots of big pieces walked out.  two three at a time.  Price points not an issue.  Actually the higher the better.  Not one of the smaller pieces sold but almost all the big did.   

Now not everyone had a good show.  It seemed that either you killed it or you didnt make booth.  If this crowd was your market than you killed.  The first year this show was in Spring.  The next year it was in the fall.  Now it was scheduled back in Spring.  Many patrons asked me if their would be a fall show.  They hoped there would be since they told me the weather was more predictable in the fall.  I dont know if that is true or not I don't live there.  

Break down was easy.  We opted to break down and dolley using the elevator to the truck.  On the road less than an hour after close.  They opened the streets for vehicles exactly one hour after close.  So if you can break down fast you can get out fast.

I dont have many pics, too busy, but these may give you an idea of layout.

Easter messed up the springs show line up. It is no secret that my favorite small show is the spring time Festival on Ponce in my home town Atlanta. There are around 100 artists, a few kid things that are away from the artists, a handful of food trucks, no funnel cake and a small acoustical music stage. Oh and it is in a VERY wealthy area of Atlanta. I have done numerous reports on this show and I am sure everyone is tired of reading the basics for this show (if you aren't you can check out past reviews all the basics are the same).


What was different about the show this year is the date. It is usually the first spring art festival in Atlanta. Usually the weekend before Dogwood. People are ready to come out and enjoy a show. This year the Ponce show fell on the same weekend as Dogwood and many other of the bigger shows in the south. I was not happy and struggled with what shows to chose. I decided to turn down travel shows since it would be crazy to travel for a show when I have two decent ones to choose from in my home town. Now which show to choose. The crazy circus show or the intimate art show. Obviously I went with the small intimate show. I sell originals only and I find that my price points are just too high for the huge festival shows that are really more about music and kid rides and funnel cake, etc, than about the art. This is just me, I know many artists need the big crowds and do excellent at the larger shows. I just don't. Yes I can count on making a "pay check" at these type shows, but rarely more than that.

So how did the little guy do this year when it went up against the big one? It was wonderful. I suspected that the patrons who would attend Ponce were not the same type Patron that attends the bigger events and I was right. One of the best parts about this show is that the Patrons are qualified. Even the college kids are qualified because their parents buy them art as gifts or start their childrens art collections. Couples jogging buy stop mid jog look at a 48"x60" piece, drink some water, buy the piece than jog home to get their car to pick it up. You don't need signs like this at Ponce

When I would see past clients of mine I would ask them why they choose to come to Ponce over Dogwood and their response over and over again was that it is too much of a zoo and not enjoyable for them. Again I am not saying that Dogwood is bad, I have many friends who killed it at Dogwood this weekend. I am trying to give a different perspective on the type of buyers I attract and what type venues are more conducive for my work. It was wonderful to not have to constantly tell people to stop tapping my work with their mini flags. I didn't get one person who had sticker shock. No one told me their kid does work like mine. It was a lovely weekend. I wish I had more shows like this one. Oh and President Carter returned with his daughter Amy and his granddaughter:) Very civilized show.

This was the music venue behind my booth.  The music was always at the appropriate level and the patrons loved the setting as did I

We are getting started in this art fair world.  This is our first year, and we have been hitting anything we can large and small.  This was the first larger fair of the year for us.  We have to stay somewhat local since we have small kids.  We figured we would do a broad survey this year and then narrow down as we learned more.

The booth fees were really affordable - $100 for a single space if you are not from Cary, NC.  No additional commission or donation requested.  $15 extra for a corner space.  $10 for delivered lunch.  $10 for a t-shirt. 

There were a couple choices as far as load in.  The encouraged option was to load in the night before.  If you were in a parking space, you could go ahead and set up.  If you were in the street, you had to stage and leave it for the morning.  The second option was to load in the morning of the show.  They had scheduled hours per zone starting at 4:30 am.  If you did not arrive during your allotted time, then you had to walk your stuff in.  

We loaded in the night before.  We had no issues getting into the park, finding our slot, and off loading.  There were volunteers there that helped unload, helped us put up our tent, and wanted to do more!  We only set up the display stands and tent and planned on bringing paintings the next day.  We arrived 10 minutes after our allotted load in time the next morning, and while we were prepared to walk everything in, the majority of people had loaded in the night before, so they were lenient and let us drive to our booth.  We didn't ask to, but got directed straight to our tent and considered it a score!

The show is held in Bond park, which is very large, gated, with paved streets, gazebos, restroom facilities, playgrounds, and good signage.  The marketing was well done.  We saw large banners on every corner as soon as we entered Cary.  There were locals ads up on tv, print, and radio.  They have a large volunteer staff for directing traffic, giving help to vendors and artists, and just general help.  There were also shuttles available to bring people from parking.  

The show opened at 9 am, but we had people showing up at 8:30.   This park is used by a lot of early morning joggers and they just hung around.  We had hourly check ins with volunteers to make sure we didn't need anything.  They do a quick scan of each booth to make sure it complies with what was submitted and juried, so there is quality control.  

We were on target to have the best show yet, but then the rain started and never stopped.  After the rain started the attendance slowed to a trickle.  The organizers decided to call it at 2 pm, which was disappointing since it is a 1 day event.  (The next day turned out just as nasty, so it wouldn't have helped anyways.)  There were volunteers there to help us take everything down, to direct traffic to release everyone by zone, they helped us load, and were just friendly.

All in all, we would do this show again.  The people (staff, volunteers, and fair attendees) were nice, welcoming, and very helpful.  Like I said, we were on chart to have a great show and even with getting cut short, we made booth fees, cost of merchandise, misc fees, meals, travel all covered and made some money to boot!

This is not a “break the bank” type of show and I only do it for two reasons: 1. To support my church which produces it, 2. Get myself out into the local community which my other art shows do not do. I don’t go into this with high financial expectations; however sales of $700 and $500 the first two years were nice. The art show is held indoors and outdoors at UCC Parker Hilltop Church and at the historic Hilltop School across the road. A tractor and hay wagon provides a commute between the two. The school houses an exhibit of art by students from surrounding schools. It is a one-day show on Saturday in late April or early May. This was the third year after a hiatus of several years. Each year the quality of exhibited work and attendance has improved. Performances by student choirs, dance ensembles, and adults bring out the attendance. I especially enjoyed a teenage boy who looked more like he should be showing a 4-H steer playing the cello.

Set up was easy Friday evening even thought it had to be set back several hours because of a memorial service. Take down Saturday was equally easy. Jean and I were eager to set up our new elevated tables with the new grey skirts that were created for my “museum booth” photo shoot last fall (there is another blog about that). Sales were nothing to write home about because I have pretty much saturated the church congregation with belts, suspenders, gun leathers and personal leather goods at prior shows and throughout the years. I sold two belts and bartered for 5 yoga lessons so our gross was $150 with $90 net. Oh well, its beer and wine money LOL. On the upside, I talked with six locals about holsters, two about custom belts for heirloom buckle sets, and I met a Facebook horsewoman friend. About half of these contacts will pan out in the next year. I don’t think anyone broke the bank on sales but everyone seemed to have had some sales and were happy. I know Jean was spending money LOL. This included wearable art, country crafts, quilter, glass, metal, photography, 2D and jewelry. It was neat to see some little girls selling their art with their moms – the next generation.

     The other interesting note is a conversation Jean and I had on the ten-minute drive to the show. We were participating in a very old, medieval tradition of an art fair at a “cathedral”.  In some of my readings, the leather people were glovers, saddlers, harness makers and cordwainers.

I'm going to raise the Pinterest question again, just because I'm still not sure about what I'm supposed to be doing with it.  I admit that when I have some free time, I like to look at my "boards" and those of others for inspiration but I'm really curious as to what you, my fellow artists, are doing there...are you promoting your own work?  Does it help?

I understand that it's possible to lure browsers to your own web and Etsy sites, is that correct?  Has this proven beneficial to anyone?  Although I like the concept, I find it's been very difficult to explain it to my husband who doesn't seem to grasp that it's really like a digital scrapbook / bulletin board / idea file.  He's just not there yet...

So, while we're waiting for acceptance and/or rejection, how about some reflection on the pros and cons of Pinterest?  I'd love to hear what you think...