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We were juried in, and are getting ready for the festival, but wonder who else will be there?  If you have done the show before are there any great tips to share?  Value your feedback!  And if you have done the show, any recommendations for places to lodge for the weekend?  

The Great Lakes Art fair is held April 10-11-12 INSIDE of a big clean convention hall called the Suburban Collection Showplace in this Detroit suburb. I've always felt that the "idea" of this art fair is a good one. It is held in a big open indoors space in the early spring when weather is a BIG factor, and at a time when all those pesky summer booth fees come due. Us Midwest artists can use a little cash after a long cold winter.

The art fair is run by the convention center itself, so to be a viable event, it must turn a profit for the convention center. Application and booth fees help finance the show, as well as a $7 per head admission charge. Since the Convention Center started organizing this show 7 or 8 years ago, it is rumored that the show has not turned a profit. I may be wrong about that, but, if its true, I appreciate the persistence of the convention center to keep pushing this event. There used to be both a Spring and Fall version but last year the Fall version was dropped and all their efforts go into the Spring version. Connie Mettler has been a fan of this show, seeing its potential for us midwest artists. And I think she has acted as a consultant to help get it off the ground.

I hadn't done this show in the past three years. I gave up on it after participating 3 or 4 times, seeing my sales drop every time I did the show. Of course, that was during the big recession when all our sales were dropping. The last time I did the show (3 years ago) I grossed around $900 for the weekend and I just had to strike it from my schedule. This year, with the economy improving and with a new stable of artwork, I decided to try it again. I'm glad I did.

Crowds were never very big, but they seemed to be responsive to my work. I was able to coax many attendees from my Michigan mailing list and made a few sales to past customers. The show ran from 2-8pm on Friday, and, not being a big fan of Friday night shows, I was happy with sales around $1000. Saturday (from 10-6) was only a little better bringing in $1150. I had a modest target of $2500 for the show, so I thought it would be a cinch to make or exceed my goal. But it was not to be. Sunday was bleak for everyone. The buyers just didn't show up and were virtually non-existent after 3pm. I had only two sales totaling $160 for the day. Bummer. But at $2400 for the weekend, I had almost made my goal.

I wouldn't consider this a great art fair by any means, but I so like the timing of it when I really need some extra cash. My thinking is that if I can get my sales up to $3K or more, this show can find a place in my schedule. Like all shows, some artists did well and others didn't. My impression was that everyone was hoping for better sales than they got. 

But, here's the thing... the show can use a lot more fine artists. There is a lot of crafty stuff. It can use some good artists to bring in the fine art buyers. It's an easy show to do. You can drive right into the convention center and take your time setting up. The weather is not a factor. There is no rain, no wind. Its easy. Tear down is just as easy. You drive your van right in and load it up.

I encourage other fine artists from the Midwest to try this one out if they offer it next year. It may not be a huge money-maker, but it can pay a few booth fees for the coming season. And the more good artist who embrace this show, the more art buyers will come. Its already considerably better than it was 3 years ago, the last time I did it. Hopefully it will keep improving and it will become profitable for the convention center to keep holding this event.

I'm going to post 3 or four of these in my booth from now on. I don't know. This might be too subtle. I think they may need to illuminated and flashing on and off. maybe I could add sound ...

aka Ye Olde Village Art Fair

May 16

Manhattan, New York

Located in the heart of Greenwich Village (West Village) 
on the Bedford, Barrow and Commerce Streets

100 Artists 

Deadline: May 15

• This show draws over 15,000 attendees.  
• We have wonderful, professional fine artist and fine crafters, plus a gourmet food section.  
• In addition we have live music.  The food and music sections are separate from the exhibitors so that people can have a wonderful meal and dance, and is far enough away to only enhance the shopping experience and adds a wonderful background ambiance.  
• This is the first year we are listing the show nationally to encourage exhibitors from outside the tri-state area to participate.

5 minutes & 53 seconds

The keynote speaker at the Arts Festival Conference (sponsored by Zapp) in Portland, OR, August 28, 2014, was Russell Taylor Willis, President and CEO of National Arts Strategies. She spoke of the impact of technology on the arts and how knowledge workers can use it to expand the role of the arts in society.

Please vote today for the Best Posts on AFI in March and choose a member to receive the Red Dot on their photo.

1. John Leben - 3/4/2015 "Lake Wales: 3rd of 5 Florida Art Fairs for this Midwest Artist"
2. S. Brian Berken - 3/11/2015 "The Way It Were"
3. Sandy Walker 3/18/2015 "What's This Jury Panel all About?"
4. Barrie Lynn Bryant - 3/30/2015 "Review: Fairhope Arts & Crafts...& Pussy Willow!"

And then give a big thanks to one of these people who have also been generous with their help this month:

1. Camryn Forrest
2. Cindy Welch
3. Tina Towell
4. Roxanne Coffelt
5. Barbara Bloom

Deadline: March 15 6 pm ET

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

November 20-22
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Benton Convention Center
Patron's Preview: Fri. 5:30pm-9pm
Sat. 10am-6pm; Sun. 12pm-5pm

Presented by Piedmont Craftsmen
125 exhibiting artists
Deadline: April 16   

Application Fee: $35; Booth Fee: starting $600

Piedmont Craftsmen is a Juried FineCraft Guild that has represented and supported Fine Craft Artists since 1963.  Artists jurying for Piedmont Craftsmen's Fair are applying for lifetime membership in a Guild with a year-round gallery in downtown Winston-Salem, and strong Exhibition and Education programs. 

Artists accepted to the show are evaluated by a standards committee for invitation as Exhibiting Members.

• Piedmont Craftsmen's Fair accepts exhibitors in all the major fine craft media, including clay, fiber, jewelry, metals, glass, mixed media (2-D and 3-D), fine printmaking, photography, and wood.
• The event is promoted to and attended by an audience that includes Charlotte and Raleigh as well as North Carolina's Piedmont Triad. Fair visitors also come from South Carolina and southern Virginia.
• Promotions include print advertising (newspaper and glossy monthlies), radio, direct mail, billboards, social media; television, national, statewide and regional news releases to print and broadcast media; valued at roughly $80,000.
• Artist Amenities: booth sitting, Saturday night craftsmen's social event, artist rates at several hotels, loading dock managers, 2 Preview Party guest passes.
  
  

Booth fee:  starts at $600 for a 10x10 booth, includes pipe and drape and electricity.  50% due with contract, balance by September 19. 

• Reported Exhibitor sales at the Fair over the past several years have averaged over $3,200.
• Piedmont Craftsmen has a large and loyal customer base for our annual Fair and our Year-Round Gallery in the heart of Winston-Salem's Downtown Arts District.
• The Gallery/Shop, which only sells work by juried exhibiting members, welcomed more than 17,000 visitors in 2013, and has averaged more than $200,000 in sales over the past four years.
• Piedmont Craftsmen has an active community education program, including long and short term artist residencies in the public schools, and partnerships with Habitat for Humanity and the Sawtooth School for Visual Art. 
  
  

Our Fair Exhibitors and members say:

• Good treatment of the artists...helpful set up and breakdown...You all do a fantastic job...
• The annual Fair is outstanding and could be in any large city anywhere in the world...
• They will do whatever they can to help you as an artist because they are there to help artists...one of the top galleries in the southeast...
• they get my "Good Housekeeping seal of approval for craft artists...
• a history of attracting top craftsmen who continue evolving...
  
  

More information at www.piedmontcraftsmen.org 

Application at zapplication.org 

Email: members@piedmontcraftsmen.org 

Phone: (336)725-1516 

Fair and membership Manager: Deb Britton 

Photo from the Sedona Arts Festival. 

Just had to share this photo with you. Do you think she should use Pro Panels instead?

This was a first time show for me as it was suggested by an artist friend. I thought I'd try it out as the drive was only a day away and nothing else was scheduled during that interval. So, first the facts:

Show Hours and Dates: Las Cruces Arts Fair, Las Cruces, NM. March 13 - 15. 5-8 Fri, 10-5 Sat & Sun

Logistics:

The show is set up inside the the Las Cruces Convention Center which is not far off of the I-10 corridor and many hotels. As I drove up to the overhead doors I was greeted by several enthusiastic volunteers who were there to help me unload. When I say "help" I mean they jumped right up into my vehicle and started to unload it onto push carts and were ready to get my stuff out as quickly as possible. I have never had such an experience before! This was above and beyond. You can unload either the Thursday evening prior to the show or early Friday. I opted for Friday morning and had plenty of time to get ready before opening hours of 5-8 PM.

Amenities:

LOTS of water,  snacks and volunteer booth sitters for the occasional break. Additionally, the show hosted a great dinner on Friday night as part of the awards ceremony.

Storage, Booth Space, Load-In/Out:

As this is a relatively small convention center booths pretty well filled the place so there was no space for storage, additionally, some booths were in the entry corridor outside the main hall. Somewhere along the line I thought I had heard not to get a booth in the entry corridor as you might get lost out there. I don't think that was the case as the artists in the entry were the first and last ones seen as people entered the event. As this was an indoor show lights were a must electricity was included in the booth fee.

Demographics/Buying Trends:

This was a slow show. People that had done the show the previous year said it was pretty good. It occured to me that this was one of the "You should'a been here last year!" experiences. The wood artist across from me was selling some reasonably priced pieces otherwise around me nothing much was moving. Even the smalls that I had were not moving very quickly. One sculpture from Cuba (NM) almost sold out his entire booth. I think he had one or two pieces left. He said that he wasn't terribly prepared for the show, had left stuff at home, etc. Maybe that should be his practice going forward!

Quality/Range of Art:

This was a very tight show in terms of quality. Maybe one or two booths were not up to the same level as the rest but those were the exceptions.

Food:

I was told by the director that they learned it was a good idea to keep the patrons there with food, drinks and places to sit. Good thing. The convention complex had a nice food bar set up with reasonably priced items that were really very good, some drinks, and a cash bar. It seemed to help as people stayed around for a long time during the day. Friday night they had entertainers from El Paso, TX that played some lively music, I don't know what the booths next to them thought but they sounded good.

Reflections:

This was a first time show for me and although it didn't go so well this year, based on the ease of doing the show, the fact that it was indoor, great volunteers, good quality art, I think I'd give it another go.

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 third show I had done this year and all three were stinkers! Next up will be Bayou City Arts in Memorial Park.

June 6 & 7

Community Center on Pacific Coast Highway
 presented by the non-profit Arts Group of Hermosa Beach

10 am to 5 pm 

up to 100 Artists  

Deadline: April 12

 

Application Fee:  $5

Booth Fee:          $175, $225 for corner space

 

We are proud to announce the Hermosa Beach Fine Arts Festival (formerly the HB Artwalk) is entering its 12th year and we are putting the final touches on what is now a two day art festival.  

 

Featuring the work of nearly 100 top local artists, the festival has come a long way since our first event in 2003. To accommodate the growth, we moved our location in 2008 from the sidewalks of upper Pier Avenue to the beautiful lawn of the Community Center at Pacific Coast Highway and Pier Avenue. 

 

This move has been a big success and allows for not only much larger booth spaces for our artists, but ample room for more food, music, and mingling, with plenty of parking, plus unparalleled exposure to the traffic on PCH.

Hermosa Beach, one of California's most beautiful beach communities, is a hot spot for tourists and locals during the summer months. Hermosa Beach is the ideal art festival venue for visual art exhibitions and musical performances.

We hope you will join us on the lawn at the Community Center in June.

 

Apply:  http://www.hbartwalk.com/images/2015/Artist%20signup15.pdf

Website:  www.hbartwalk.com 

Contact:  Ken Klade, kenklade@aol.com

Phone:  (310)379-4229

Has anyone ever applied to be a featured artist by Artsy Shark?  Couldn't find any bad press about them, but wondering if it's safe to use a credit card for the jury fee and refer them to our web site.  Can't be too careful these days!!

MANDARIN ART FESTIVAL is a small show located in an affluent Jacksonville, Florida neighborhood, and it may be one of Florida's best kept secrets. This year 90 artists will exhibit on the grounds of MANDARIN COMMUNITY CLUB, which is the historical Freedom School site built by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1872. The St. Johns River can be seen behind the homes across the street, Mandarin Rd., in front of the school. 

Five years ago the all volunteer committee of Mandarin Art Festival decided to seek outside help to run their event. The show had been held every Easter weekend since 1968 and it had always been independently run by a local group. But the committee needed a break and thus decided if they were going to keep their show running, they'd need to contract their show with someone who knows how to run an art show. Welcome aboard, Howard Alan.

We'd been dong the Mandarin show for several years when the committee informed everyone of the change. We'd never done a Howard Alan event and decided that the new Mandarin show would not be the time to start doing them. The reasons we haven't done a Howard Alan show is that his shows don't have awards, they cost a little more, and setup is very early morning the first day of the show. Seems a number of the regular artists doing Mandarin decided also that they would quit the show despite there not being any other event held in the area on Easter weekend to fill the void. For folks like us who road trip for six to eight weeks, we'd just have an empty weekend. We'd just lay low.

I have no idea what happened with the show during the Howard Alan years so I cannot report about that. But last year the Mandarin Art Festival committee reclaimed their show for themselves. Good day, Howard Alan.

Thank you, Susie Scott, Mandarin Art Festival Show Director.

A quick call to Mandarin last year revealed that although the volunteer committee was once again running the show, they had not yet brought back the awards. All that's changed for 2015. Their awards aren't quite what they were before the Howard Alan years, but they are significant enough.

Set up today was a breeze. It was fun seeing some friends I hadn't seen since we last did the show. One of them told me he had been doing it through the Howard Alan years, too. The committee had lunch for us, plenty of deli sandwiches to go around with chips and pickles and cookies and tea. Sweet tea for me, or course. I had a delicious veggie wrap and my wife had egg salad on croissant. Delightful, really. We were set up in about two hours. Things just moved along nicely. It got a little warm today, but a cold front is moving through tomorrow afternoon and I'm looking forward to that. Easter sunday will be mid-70's and dry.

I'll post a review of the show later next week once we get to Chattanooga. WOOHOO!