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I just heard about Norm Darwish passing on to that great, eternal art show in the sky.

He was Connie's husband.  They were notables on the art circuit during the "Golden Age of Art Festivals."

I thought I would raise a great glass to him and write some kind remembrances.

I know a lot of you are relatively new to our game.  I can't blame you because you don't know about some of the "notables" on the circuit back in the late 70's, thru the glorious 80's and even into the ending 90's.

So I thought I would give ya a little history lesson with some fond memories thrown in about them.

And Norm, and Connie, were solidly in that mix.

In 1978, I was just a brash new face on the circuit.  Fresh back from Hawaii, where I was in the Army and also started doing my first art shows there.

So, from my naive perspective, I thought if you could smoke good Hawaiian pakalolo all day (Mary Jane), suck down Olympia beers and make $300 a day at a show--you were a hot shit.

So I came back to Florida and started doing my 36-shows-a-year thing.  Basically, I was grinding it out, barely making a paycheck, and trying to get something cohesive going in my body of work.

In 1983, I got into my first big art show--Winter Park.  It was a whole other world I had never been a part of.

I remember walking down the sidewalk and going by the fried dough booth.  At 11 AM they already had dollar bills stacked sky-high in their booth.

A little further down I ran into this booth filled with hand-tinted black and white photos.  Some were comical, some were almost obscene, some were very romantic.  They were all entrancing.

There was this cohesive vision of soft, luminous light permeating through every figure in every image.  It was a world I had never seen before.

And sitting on a chair was this enigmatic person with piercing silver eyes and he was wearing a headband, not like a hippie, but more like some mystical creature from the far east.

It was Norm Darwish.

Beside him was this bab-a-licious, comely blonde, his wife, Connie Mettler.

Right away I thought, "Lucky guy.  Some day I want to grow up just like him and have a beauty like that beside me."

Norm did not suffer fools well.  Maybe a better way of putting it, is that if he wasn't really interested in talking to you, he would ignore you.  He would be almost pretending that he was deaf.

And that is how he reacted to me the first time I met him.

Hell, maybe it was because I was wearing hot pink Converse sneakers and wearing an Aloha shirt filled with pink flamingos. Maybe my eyes looked a little too happy, maybe stoned, and I had this big shit-eating grin on my face.

I was smitten--with his work.

I said to myself, "Now that is a cohesive body of work--and so is his wife."

I walked on and saw some of the other biggies of that era at this show.  There were the Brunos, whose son Chris is now a biggie on the circuit.  There were Jim and Robin Wallace, there was Bill Coleman and trusty sidekick, Carl.  There was Emerson with his radiant smile.  There was Alan Klug.

These guys all got into the big shows on a regular basis.  They made mucho moola.  It was the Golden Age of Art Shows and if you had a cohesive body of work and got into the big shows--you made serious money.

Back then, the Florida shows dominated the scene for top ten shows.  You had the Grove, you had Las Olas Museum show, you had Winter Park, even Gasparilla.

You could catch a good buzz off the residue from hundred dollar bills back the.  It was the Miami Vice era, and the vice was everywhere.

So, I first saw Norm there.

As years progressed, I would run into him three to fours times a year.  Sometimes we were both grinding it out, trying to make a paycheck at the second tier shows.

I never was able to have long conversation with him.  He would look right through me with those intense Lebanese eyes and say a few words and then be gone.  He never smiled at me.

But I loved his work.  he had a great command of symmetry and light with just the right colors thrown in.  He was a maverick, like me, he went his own way and found a way to make it successful.

One of the funniest things I ever got to do to Norm happened at the Crosby Gardens show in Toledo.

At that time I was doing a  humorous body of work that include penguins and flamingos.

I had bought four life-sized plastic penguins at Fast Buck Freddies in Key West.  I even gave them names.  Glen, Ben, Swen and Ed.  I also had my flock of plastic flamingos.

So at the show, while Norm was off somewhere from his booth, I set up the penguins and flamingos all around the front of his booth, and took and old "Best of Show" ribbon I had  and put it on the front of his booth.

When he came back to his booth and saw all this, he did not even crack a smile.  He clearly was not amused by it.  I loved it of course and laughed my ass off.

After that, he talked even less to me.  If I got five words out of him, instead of ten, I was doing good.

I kept admiring him through the rest of years and got to be good friends with Connie.

So I am raising a toast to him now.  There are not many more left on the circuit from that Golden era, but they should be remembered.  They paved the way for a lot of the success that this  business has provided.

Aloha, Norm.

June 19-21
Alpine, Wyoming
Presented by Alpine Solstice Events
Nordic Inn Park Grounds
50 Artists
Deadline: May 20

Application Fee:  $25

Booth Fee:  $250 for 10'x10'

The Alpine Solstice is a juried art event to showcase fine handmade original artwork in the categories of:  Drawing & Painting, Ceramics, Sculpture, Jewelry, Photography and Fiber.  The categories are general and subject to juror approval.  This event is located on the park grounds of the Nordic Inn, a 5-star restaurant with exquisite indoor and outdoor seating residing at the base of majestic Fairy Peak and overlooking the scenic Snake River.  The event is held in a grass area near the main road measuring 300'x200' and will contain up to 50 booth spaces.  

Alpine Junction is located 35 miles southwest of Jackson Hole on US Hwy 26. It is a mountain town with approximately 800 residents.  There are 3 rivers that converge at this point and flow into Palisades Reservoir adjacent to the town.  The river valleys are surrounded by majestic snow capped peaks covered with spruce, pine and aspen stands.  Alpine is a visitor-friendly destination with ample restaurants, hotels, motels, and camping, fishing, hiking, rafting, horseback riding amenities.

Testimonial:

"Although the Alpine show was in it's first year, we decided to take a chance on it.  The low numbers of attendees was discouraging, until we noticed the very high percentage of those that did attend purchased.  Mark took VERY Good care of us artists.  Easiest set up of our summer circuit!  Lunches provided, and quickest tear down!  We will certainly be returning.  Thanks again. TJ and Lori Thompson

Apply:  www.Zapplication.org/event-info_php?ID=4040 

Website:  www.alpinesolstice.com

Contact:  Mark Marino, alpinesolsticeart@gmail.com

Phone:  (307)413-9911

Just off the phone with Connie. Norm Darwish passed away last night from his third occurrence of prostate cancer. He was first diagnosed 20 years ago and twice over that time it had gone into remission.

Connie's address if you want to send a card:

Connie Mettler
298 West Chicago St.
Coldwater, MI 49036

Norm was one of the top photographers on the art show circuit, specializing in hand painted black and white photography. You can see his work on the web site: http://normdarwish.com

I've also attached a few pictures of Norm that I've taken. The first is Norm and Connie with fellow photographer Chris Maher in Chris' booth and the second is Norm working on his original hand colored photos behind his booth at the Cain Park Art Festival.

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

This is not a revue as we did not do the show, but a request for a revue. We actually were in St. Louis to do the show, arrived on Thursday night and checked into the Hotel. We then went down the street to get haircuts for both of us and then back to the hotel. We got up early on Friday to go to the show when we got a call about problems a home which caused us to leave after calling the show to cancel.

We were on the way home when it started pouring rain before we made it out of the parking lot. with all the bad weather we keep hearing on our way home it made us curious as to the outcome of the show.

I hope someone will give a review of the show.

It was a long way to go for a haircut. 

This year's Palmer Park Art Fair was held on two glorious Spring days, May 2nd and 3rd.  With a beautiful setting surrounding Lake Frances and temperatures in the mid 70's with abundant sunshine, the Gods were definitely smiling on helping this festival get back to where it once was in the late 70's.  This was the second year of its comeback and the promoters seem to be doing everything right.

I spoke to several artists and they were mostly positive about their sales and location.  I was there early on Sunday, so they told me they  were happy with Saturday's sales but weren't sure how Sunday would shake out yet.  The turn-out was favorable with many urbanites and their children and/or dogs out for a day of relaxing and shopping for art. 

I was introduced to some new artists and also some that I recognized from AFI and art fairs that I attended last year.  I didn't see much, if any, buy/sell and overall I thought the art represented was of excellent quality.

Palmer Park was named for U.S. Senator Thomas Witherell Palmer who donated 140 acres (initially - later donating even more) in 1893 for a city park on the condition that the virgin forest be preserved.  The park includes a historic log cabin, public golf course, hiking and biking trails and a large man-made pond known as Lake Frances.

There was also live music, food trucks and a real sense of community coming together to preserve something special about Detroit.

My hope is that The Palmer Park Art Fair will continue to thrive, attract more artists every year and someday become the huge event I remember it being back in 1979.

Lisa Galperin - Collage Artist

Scott Pakulski - Photography

Annette Poitau - Abstract Oil Painting

Kate Morgan - Image Design

Robert Hasenfratz - Photography

Judy Sledge - ArtRages - Felter/Owner

I know this is coming late but, better late then never! I've done the downtown Bayou show several times, with essentially rain conditions on all occasions thus having the effect of cutting down on the crowds and subsequently the sales. Many booths were located in the "swamps" were nary a fair goer would go. I've been fortunate enough not to be located there. That being said, I thought I'd give the spring Memorial Park show a try. I haven't been invited pre-150 additions to the show but did get invited this time, did adding 150 more booths help my chances or was my work just that good? Who knows!

Show Hours and Dates: Bayou City Art Festival, Memorial Park, Houston, TX. Fri March 27, 12-6, . Sat, Sun 28th & 29 10- 6.

Logistics:

The show is set up in Memorial Park along two major loops. They are referred to as "inner loop" or "outer loop" whatever that means! I walked the park and got confused as to where I was a few times so I could imagine that it would be a daunting task to art patrons as well. There were supposed to be two artist hospitality sites, I only found one. The children's creative zone was placed in the furthest reaches of the park so I'm sure it was a schlep for the hartiest of parents with the best behaved young'ns (not onions). Food trucks were located in the middle zone. I tired to bush wack through the forest to take a short cut to artist hospitality but, as it had rained a lot before the show, the short cut turned into a slog through the mire of mud and undergrowth, better take the long way next time!

Amenities:

Lots of water,  snacks and volunteer booth sitters for the occasional break. I thought I read something about an artist breakfast once upon a time, no such thing here. I did manage to snag a snack or two.

Parking, oh boy! There was parking to the west of the event which was no less than a 1/4 mile hike out. If you got there later I'm sure it was considerably more. Their answer to the parking situation: "Take your hotel shuttle if you can" my hotel did not have a shuttle nor would I have taken it anyway. That was a big no-no, they were not prepared for that additional 150 vehicles that needed to park somewhere!

Storage, Booth Space, Load-In/Out:

Booths are a standard 10 x 10. Space behind tents for storage varied as to your location. In some places there was a precipitous drop off behind the tents, in others there was ample storage and still in others there was a drop with some storage space. Tip: Good idea to keep your boxes, etc. in back of the tent, if you can, for quicker pack-up!

Load out, that's another story. They were only allowing artists to come in through the main gate, stupid! There was another gate on the north side of the park that could have been utilized to get people out faster! My booth was nearby so I snuck in, some artists were dolling out from there as well. As things would have it, someone on that loop drove their van off the steep edge of the road so they blocked others from getting by. I'm sure they received a lot of flack for that! I just turned around and went out the way I came in. Necessity is the Mothers of Invention!

Demographics/Buying Trends:

This was a slow show for me and others. I was hoping to do at least as-well-as or better then the downtown shows I had participated in. Not so. Although the show opened at 10 on Sat and Sun and, although I was relatively close to the opening gates, I didn't see a single patron till well after 10:30, remember the schlep? Other artists had posted photos at 2 pm and there was nary a patron to be seen by their booth! They must have been on that "outer loop" thing.

Not everyone did poorly, the artist/painter next to me made several big scores with her unusually large pieces at $6900 and $4500 each. The metal forger (as in fabrication not imitation) next to me also did relatively well with his pieces.

Quality/Range of Art:

This was a very tight show in terms of quality. Maybe a few booths were not up to the same level as the rest but those were the exceptions. The quality of art at this show was pretty consistent. I hope it stays that way!

Food:

Lots of high priced variety; the usual "fair" food and some nicer food trucks. It seems to be a newer thing that these gourmet food trucks are at the shows now. They offer a much nicer selection then the usual gyro or foot long corn dog. Drinks were overpriced as well for the captive audience.

Reflections:

This was a first time show for me and although it didn't go so well this year I'd still consider doing it again just to see if it may have been an off year or something. It is a nice validation of ones work to be selected for this show as the quality is so good.

I heard that there was a long line waiting to get in and pay their overpriced gate fee which discouraged some to leave. About that overpriced gate fee. I remember being near the gates to the downtown show on one of those rain soaked days. A group of patrons came up and asked what the admission was. They were told it was $15 per person, their response, "forget it" and they walked off. This was the year after the gate was $12. Wanna kill a show? They are doing their best to make sure of it. Let's see, they were undermanned at the gate so their were long lines, patrons had to pay for the shuttle and parking? C'mon really!

Given that this show was in a LARGE park, there were drink concessions strategically placed all around as-well-as porta potties (that, by the way, were NOT cleaned out each night, yuk!) I had to call artist relations and let them know of the situation, they "logged" it and did come by later to replenish supplies. Back to that BIG park, they should have had more shaded places with chairs for patrons to rest. No kidding, I saw people come in first thing in the morning and not be leaving till well into the afternoon, it was a BIG park. There was also a large section (on the back 40?) that had no booths so people had to traverse a large section just to get back to the rest of the show, couldn't they have spread out some of the booths to make for more ease of walking around the show? I hope they don't decide that another 150 artists could fill that space! Isn't that how illogic seems to work!

Okay, now for the Dave Piper star rating! Caveat Emptor! I'd give this show ✩✩✩ out of 5 and that is because of the quality of the art and not the quality of the management (although the artist "hotline" did work). If I'm not mistaken there was a new group of managers for this show, did they not talk to  the old management as far as running this show is concerned? They have a lot to learn logistically for running a show this large! My dealings with one of the people suggested she knew what was going on but she wasn't in charge! As far as the buying goes, I'd give it half ✩. This was the fourth show I had done this year, the first three were stinkers and Bayou was not so great either!

Now that Cottonwood is done and on the books and I'm semi-recumbant I'll put in the details.

This was not a first time show for me as I've done it a few times now and generally, it's been trending upwards. So, it was with some thoughts of hope and trying I returned to the DFW metroplex and after all Nels had such a glowing report about FW last week I was feeling pretty positive! The weather the weekend prior to this show was pretty bad in the Dallas area and I figured people would want to get out and see the art. They did get out in big numbers but maybe they were only there to see the art and not buy so much. So, first the facts:

Show Hours and Dates: Cottonwood Arts Festival, Richardson, TX. May 2 - 3. 10-7 Sat, 10-5 Sun,

Logistics:

The show is set up in Cottonwood Park in Richardson, TX, a NE suburban area of Dallas. They started allowing artists to come in and set-up on Thursdays which is a big help as the one road into the park gets exceedingly congested if you wait till Friday. They let "big rigs" in around 11 or 12 and others at 3. I showed up too early at 3 and waited in line till 5. I usually show up at 5 on Thursday and get in with very little wait time. I also noted that on Friday they now have parking on BeltLine road which is something new. This is not a show for type "A's" as far as load-in and load-out is concerned. You need to be patient and play well with others!

Amenities:

Lots of water,  snacks and volunteer booth sitters for the occasional break. Additionally, the show hosted a great dinner on Friday night. The snacks seem to be something they didn't have before and it is growing! The local Boy Scouts 1001 come out to help by donation with loading and they are well supervised.

Storage, Booth Space, Load-In/Out:

Booths are a generous 13 x 13 so there is plenty of space on the sides if you cooperate with your neighbor for a side opening and plenty of space behind for storage. Tip: Good idea to keep your boxes, etc. in back of the tent for quicker pack-up!

Demographics/Buying Trends:

This was a slow show. I had noticed that the show was trending upwards for me over the last several years but did not continue that trend this year. Not to say there weren't lots of people. This show has, in my experience, always had a good turn out, except for the first year I did it when a large cold front moved in and the weather hovered around 50! People seemed to be buying my low end ($25) and mid range ($85-95) but not enough to make this even an "average" show.

Quality/Range of Art:

This was a very tight show in terms of quality. Maybe a few booths were not up to the same level as the rest but those were the exceptions. The quality of art at this show has always been pretty consistent. I hope it stays that way!

Food:

Lots of variety; the usual "fair" food and some nicer food trucks. It seems to be a newer thing that these gourmet food trucks are at the shows now. They offer a much nicer selection then the usual gyro or foot long corn dog.

Reflections:

This was not a  first time show for me and although it didn't go so well this year I'd still consider doing it as the quality is good and they take good care of the artists. It is a nice validation of ones work to be selected for this show as the quality is so good.

Okay, now for the Dave Piper star rating! I'd give this show ✩✩✩✩ out of 5 and that is because of the nice job of logistics by the volunteers, great amenities, booth sitting, etc. As far as the buying goes, I'd give it half ✩. This was the fifth show I have done this year, the first three were stinkers and Bayou was not so great either!

September 19 & 20

Presented by Durham Arts Council

Historic City Center Downtown Durham

150 Artists  

Deadline: May 15

 

CenterFest is a competitive, juried festival attracting high-quality fine art and fine crafts.  In its 41st year, CenterFest is the longest running outdoor juried arts festival in North Carolina. Located in Durham's lively downtown district, the event is a favorite amount visual artists, performing artists and visitors.

What is new:
Durham's recent Creative Vitality Index score indicates Durham has grown to be a top creative community in the U.S.

CenterFest leverages the extraordinary assets of the downtown district, including culinary arts components, exciting entertainment and historic districts, and a cutting edge creative community, to highlight the high quality of the visual artists and the sophistication of the creative class demographic.

Artists amenities:

• Easy load in/load out, free parking, 24 hour security
• Discounted rates at sponsor hotel
• 1 complimentary breakfast and lunch per booth per day
• Merit awards totaling $2,500
• Artists and images listed and linked on CenterFest website for 11 months
• Friendly and supportive staff, booth sitting
• Limited to 150 Artists

Website:  www.centerfest.durhamarts.org 

If you missed the Daily Tip a few days ago you may not know that we broke a record here at AFI.  We broke our record for the number of art show reviews submitted during a one month period.  In April we had 56 reviews submitted!  That was simply amazing. 

Everyone realizes that it is a real help to have a place where you can check a show out before you apply.  Nobody likes to go into a show blind.  Artists also hate to waste the jury fee if you find out later that the show just isn't a good fit with your art work or that there is something just not right about a certain show.  It is always good to be able to do some research before you apply to a show. 

We also try very hard (and it is quite an undertaking) to keep www.Artshowreviews.com up to date and ready to use.  Not only do I add the reviews people write to our site but I also try very hard to make sure all the other show vitals are current.  It is nice to find jury fees, booth fees, application dates and show venues all right there to help you with making your decisions. 

We have over 200 shows on our site now.  Plus, we keep adding new shows every week.  We also try to make sure that we have a good variety of shows on our website from all parts of the country.  There are so many art shows up and down the eastern half of the country that our website would be full even if we only included shows from that side of the country.  But, we don't want that.  We want our website to have a great variety of shows from one side of the country to the other to help artists everywhere.  However, to be able to provide that service to artists that requires your help.  That is why Connie put out a post asking for reviews.  Artists make our site what it is today.  That is why we often times will ask people to review a show they were just in. 

So, getting back to our record, you might like to know just how big this record break was.  Our previous record was set about 2 years earlier.  Our high point had been 40 reviews in a month.  That, in it self, is a lot of reviews, too.  I am the person that gets the reviews added into the site and I was so busy this  past April that I decided I needed to check out how many reviews I had been working on.  I counted up over forty reviews.  That was around April 20th.  So, I set out asking a few more people to submit  a couple more reviews.  Many people responded and the reviews kept coming in.  I didn't tell Connie I was working hard to get a few more reviews.  I wanted it to be a surprise when she saw our new record posted as the tip of the day. 

We all know that records are made to be broken.  We can break that record again with your help.  Quite often we hear artists say how thankful they are that they can have the use of a site like Art Show Reviews.com.  If you use our website and you like it, please take a few minutes to write up a review.  It really only takes a few minutes and the information is so useful and helpful to so many people.  How about this, if our website was useful to you could you add one show review as a way to say thank you.  This plea is for those who have never written a show review before.  Of course, we also won't turn down any reviews that are submitted by those who help us out regularly.

We really appreciate the many artists who have helped us over the last few years to make Art Show Reviews such a helpful site.  We could not have done it without you.

Let's go for another record!

Hi Everyone,

I signed up through Zapp for a Howard Alan show that takes place this coming December at St. Pete. It's an American Craft Endeavor show. A friend told me I shouldn't do it because it has a lot of buy sells. Has anyone done it or know anyone who has? I would really appreciate your input.

Thanks a bunch in advance.

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.