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Has anyone done Stuart Craft fair in October?  I have hear from some people that Howard Alan craft fairs are essentially the same as the fine art fairs but I've heard from others to stay as far away from anything "craft" as possible.  I'd love to hear some feedback from anyone who has done this show.
THanks

I just did the first year of Mile High art and Jazz and was pleasantly surprised.  I have not been doing well in Colorado (if you've read my other reviews you'll see) I didnt have high expectations for the show but it was by far my best Colorado show and all of the other artists seemed to be happy. I didnt talk to anyone who said it was a blowout show for them, but everyone seemed generally happy. So especially since it was a first year show I totally recommend it.  It is in conjunction with Taste of colorado which is 10 blocks away, and I guess brings hundreds of thousands of people.  The traffic at the show which is in Skyline park, a fenced in park (atleast during the show for security purposes i suppose) was steady all day both days and people seemed to be buying.  I almost sold my biggest piece, and I'm a little upset with myself for not selling either of the two times I had serious interest, but although I didnt sell anything over $1000 individually, the two people who loved my big piece didnt flinch at the $5000 price tag. So I think there is money walking around for sure. 
The promoter is named Liz Gore, her mom is Ruth gore who does Balloon fiesta in New mexico so although i think it was liz's first show, it seemed well planned, she has a good role model. 
So anyways, I'd love to hear anyone else's feedback that did the show and see if its in alignment with mine and the other artists I spoke with's idea of the show

ESTES PARK ARTS AND CRAFTS SHOW

August 30 – September 1, 2014

Estes Park is the gateway to the east side of Rocky Mountain Park. There are many summer homes in the area and it is a destination for a broad spectrum of nationalities, income levels, and interests.  I started doing this show in 2010 after, and I have done it every year since then. I also do the Memorial Day show in Estes park. Gross sales at the September Labor Day show since 2010 have been in the $3-$5K range, and I have considered it a good solid show.  The show is produced by the Estes Valley Sunrise Rotary, Inc. and they do an all-around EXCELLENT job!!!!  The town is packed for the weekend, and leading up to the show there was a lot of promotion on Facebook.  The show is setup with 103 booths set up around the perimeter of Bond Park and in the parking lot for the town hall.  Clean indoor restrooms are in the town hall.

SETUP AND TAKE DOWN.  Set up officially begins at 9:00am on Friday but Rotarians are present to check you in as early as 8:00am. If you are early you can park at your site to unload. Street parking is available within a block of the show, but oversize vehicle and trailers have to park at the fairgrounds. Free shuttle service is available from there, and in town. Volunteers are available to assist with set up.

     Takedown begins at 3:00pm on Monday and volunteers were there to help.  The Rotarians who helped me with carrying merchandise tubs to my truck cut 15 minutes off standard knock down time.  Like set up, traffic was controlled and vehicles were not allowed in until you were ready to load. After paying your sales tax, you get a yellow ticket. When your booth is knocked down and you are ready to load you get a blue pass to b ring your vehicle in. We loaded around 6:45pm and Rotarians were still there to help.

WEATHER.  Temperatures were in the low 70s to mid-60’s. There were brief afternoon shows Friday and Saturday. Sunday morning was on the chilly side with rain showers off and on all morning. Fresh snow fell on Longs Peak down to about 12’000’.  Four unweighted booths went over in a gust of wind Friday afternoon.  There was a breeze most days with a few gusts.    The fleece jacket felt good when the showers were over. The rain Sunday thinned out the crowds somewhat, but they were back when the sun came out.

THE SHOW.  The town was packed with people and thousands went through the art show. There was seldom a time when people were not in my booth, and I had several repeat clients. Belts were my top seller, with holsters, suspenders, spur straps, and several custom orders thrown in. My sales were in the $4-5K range.  There was a good balance of all art mediums including edibles like jellies and salsas.  No buy/sell at this show.  Nuts and bolts for the show are in www.artsdhowreviews.com.

ANALYSIS.  I have come close to hitting the “home run” of $5K gross sales at this show a couple times. To make that happen, I will have to adjust my inventory to products people asked for which I currently don’t stock. This includes various little soft leather cases that can be made from “scrap” leather.  Another are small handbags with internal holsters for gals carrying concealed handguns. My inventory of billfolds and wallets was pretty lean by this, the last shown of the season.

THE OTHER FUN STUFF.  We were able to rent our favorite cabin that is just up the hill from Bond Park.  It was built in 1898 but it is modern and cozy. The hot tub is great after a day on the street. Our son and his family came up for a cook out Saturday and we got to visit with our college and high school age grandsons. Tuesday after the show we headed for Brainard Lake on the advice of a wildlife photographer as a good place to spot moose. We didn’t see any moose and the parking lots at the trail heads for the alpine lakes were full. For plan B, we just took off on some trails thought the woods at 10,000 feet for some exercise. The trip home was in a longer roundabout way but we saw some new country, even though we have been living in Colorado for 33 years.

PHOTOS: Brainard Lake and 13,000’ peaks in Indian Peaks  Wilderness area
Other show photos posted under "what are you doing this weekend" and " how scenic is your set up.

February 7 & 8, 2015 

I was looking forward to this show. Coming in from MA, I'd planned to take a brief vacation taking in a few of Chicago's museums and this show was on the right weekend to do so. The event was held Friday, August 22nd (evening hours, art show only open from 4-8 pm with performances to 10), Saturday, 8/23 (10-10, with the art show going to 6) and Sunday, 8/24 (10-5). About half of the 200 or so exhibitors are able to participate on Friday (for a small increase in booth fee). I only exhibited on the weekend.

I hadn't been to Green Bay in years but Artstreet had always been a strong show for me; unfortunately, my expectations weren't met this year. The show is located in downtown Green Bay-small, Midwestern appearance-over a several block area. Saturday morning's set-up begins at 6 am but I'd gotten there about a half-hour earlier to get the lay of the land, as the map of the show looked different from years ago. It is a very casual show to do, as I was able to locate my booth number to unload and check-in later. The street I was located on (Jefferson) was wide and the booth spaces were extremely generous with several feet on either side to play with. With parking lots all over the place (free), set-up could not be any easier (on Jefferson-one of the quieter locations). A few of the other streets looked tighter.

All roads led to the "art raffle" where donated works by participating artists were placed in a large tent with small boxes for the raffle tickets, in front of them...a free T-shirt for a donation. This seemed to be the center hub of the show. The artists booths lined nearly two full city blocks plus a community/non-profit row of booths, a guild/demonstrating artists row of booths, a parking lot filled with kid's activities and a super large parking lot with "edible arts" (food trucks and a few local restaurants' stalls) and a music stage to complete the show's offerings.

During Saturday's set-up, a generous supply of Texas-sized, yummy donuts and coffee were offered. (I needed the sugar buzz.) The day was humid and overcast...not too bad. The crowds started to build before 10 am and I promptly made my first sale at my booth's opening. This is what I'd remembered from year's back...busy the day through, only this time, the next sale was a half-hour later. Not great. It was a slow trickle into the booth, despite a lot of walkers passing by. Still, not what I'd remembered which was so many people that the streets were packed. By 1 pm, the rain came and cleared about 80% of the street. In no way was it a storm but enough to send 'em home. Another group came in around 3:30 or so for the evening's festivities. Few sales were made after the 1 pm rain. At the end of the day, I was down 50-60% of what I'd normally have done and my neighbors seemed less optimistic about Sunday. I told them "Sunday's going to be great....I'd done one of my best days ever on a Sunday here, after a washout of a Saturday".

Sunday's weather was lovely, albeit windy. Some booths suffered damage but they weren't well weighted. Sadly, I saw a repeat of Saturday with few passersby holding anything. I talked with my neighbors (a lovely WI couple) who said it had been nothing like this last year and even the attendance looked "off". Apparently it had been packed the year before (80,000 estimated) and sales-wise, it had been very good. So, maybe it was just an "OFF" year. At the end of the day, I did have a better Sunday but still 50% down from my last participation there. About 85% of my sales were for jewelry (porcelain) and 15% were in ceramics, though the ceramics sales were of higher value than the jewelry. I'd overheard at the bathrooms that "no-one was touching anything near $100"...and I would concur. My highest single item sale was only $60, so overwhelmingly, a price-conscious crowd from my point-of-view and more conservative than other parts of WI. Most of my sales were only single item sales.

We did notice that other things were different, too. The quality of the art was all over the place. Some fine work and some horrible. Some booths within the artists' rows looked more like they were part of a merchant's sidewalk sale and several of the artists took note of that. Jurying needs some tightening! However, the awarding judge's selections seemed appropriate, IMHO. There was an artists' award reception at 7 pm on Saturday evening, which I did not attend, as it takes me a long time to break down for the night. Other than the one judge, no one else from the show management ever came by my booth, as far as I know. 

I'd give it a try if you are in the region, have a range of prices and your work appeals to a wide audience...and hope for the best.

Just read this article on Art Biz Coach which is the website of Alyson Stanfield regarding her experience at the Portland Arts Festival Conference sponsored by Zapp. I am posting it with her permission.

The full text of her article can be seen at:

http://www.artbizblog.com/2014/09/improve-slide-submissions.html?inf_contact_key=7808bf4cc1bfc020f05ddd5ead424260e1baa3e59e8f2e2e69b4fc5cbb5f6878http://

It is a good basic primer on what juries see and what they shouldn't see as well. I know there has been a lot of discussion on this topic...I'm just pass'n it on!

By the way, the first image in the article features a double wide display at an indoor venue. I've read on many a show prospectus that most shows/juries, especially for outdoor shows, only want to see a single size booth displayed in an outdoor setting.

Alyson Stanfield is an artist advocate and business mentor at ArtBizCoach.com. This article was originally published in her Art Biz Insider, which is sent weekly to thousands of artists who are elevating their businesses.

Several years ago, I wrote a tutorial for Step by Step Wire Magazine on how to make a cat out of wire that can be worn as a pendant, earrings, or what have you. I was told by Denice Peck, the editor, that I would still own the rights and I have no problem with her at all. I did, however, find where someone was directly copying my pattern, selling the cat online with out so much as a mention of me, the author.

I sent this person two e-mails. I told her I was glad she could use my pattern, but I was not happy that she didn't give me credit for the original idea. And, I wrote her saying she should have asked me before selling it and  that she should have only used it for her personal use, not monetary as it was my intellectual property. (She's making a direct copy--no variations at all to my original design).

What do you all think?

Thanks in advance.

So earlier this summer, I was looking to fill a hole or two in my schedule. In checking on eventlister.com/craftlister.com and a couple other sites, I saw an opportunity for an event slightly northwest of Philadelphia.

It was an event billed as a medium sized one day arts and craft event put on by the Borough of Lansdale, called the Lansdale Festival of the Arts. It was very inexpensive for a booth (Under 100$).

The event is held in a small park which also has sports fields. Parking was available onsite for exhibitors. Staff were very well organized and cheerful...

The exhibit is billed as rain or shine, with a rain location indoors at a nearby school.. But it would appear that it has to raining pretty good night before/day of in order for event staff to move the event inside. Setup started at 7 AM. I was looking at the radar before we left as the weather had been pretty iffy the night before - and .... yes, just as we left, rain was starting to move into the event area. However, it seemed limited in size/duration and looked like it would pass through by the time the show started.

We drove into the rain and got to the event site from Wilmington in about an hour.. It was still raining when we got there and the event staff were signing people in as we arrived. You could drive onto the site and you were assigned a spot partially by the order of arrival and partially as they balanced the show exhibitor positioning by discipline on the fly.. ie no assigned booth positions as far as I could tell. The check in person was under a pop-up canopy and remarked that when she left to get to the event, the rain was not on her radar, but sure was now. There was no move however to re-locate to the indoor school location..

We were directed to our spot and my wife and I proceeded to get rolling on the set-up. The event staff were very flexible in allowing us to keep vehicles at our spots while doing the wet set-up; rather than doing the traditional dump/park and then set up.. There was a pottery exhibitor who had assumed that since it was raining, that the event was going to move indoors. She stood in the rain with no canopy while her husband ran for her pop-up tent. Tents ranged from the very expensive to the splayed leg type with non-white canopies..  

Since the show was to be judged and prizes awarded, we had two entry cards in out welcome packet that we were to fill out for pieces we wished judged for the event. Got everything set-up in time and parked.. The rain let up just as the event was starting.. Surprisingly, there were early-birds who ignored the rain. I noted Steve Oliver, the event director for the Rittenhouse Square Art Festival was exhibiting. He didn't remember who I was... which is probably good given the disagreement we have had over giving artists jury scores....

For being a wet day, the event was pretty well attended by a fairly eclectic and international crowd. It spit rain off and on during the course of the entire event. but while the sun peeked out a couple times, it remained mostly overcast and dreary. I was very glad I had my lighting set-up with me as this helped a lot...

What I didn't have during the day were sales.... There was buying energy for the typical wearables categories... But I only saw a moderate amount of fine art being hauled away and a lot of prints. The judges came saw and recorded; then left without much in the way of conversation. I sold one small piece during the day for net sales under 100$. It covered show costs and mileage.

An hour or two before show close staff came wandering through to hand out ribbons. They passed us by and we thought that was that.... But then they came back asking if we knew where booth 38 was... Why yes, you are standing in it.... Well, that was when they asked about my painting "Gaffer at the Bench" - a painting depicting master glass artist Mark Rosenbaum of Rosetree Glass in Algiers Point, Louisiana.. I pointed it out to them with the entry card.. They then said congrats and handed me my second blue ribbon in two weeks.  It comes with a check, which I have not seen yet, but they said would be in the mail. The prize money was gracefully donated by National Penn Bank.

As the show closed, it began to rain again....this time more steadily and we had to do a wet teardown.. Thankfully, we were able to get vehicles onto the wet site and nobody got stuck. Teardown was uneventful

All in all, I think I would do the event again.

First let me say, I have never done a Chicago show, so I have nothing to compare it to and beyond that Saturday was a rain out......but it certainly was not what I expected. After having a good solid show at Lexington the week before I headed to Chicago to hit the big leagues. Port Clinton is a huge show, over three hundred artists and spread out all over Highland Park in a- great for some, not so great for others, configuration.

I was by the train station at the dead end of the show where I listened to "If I could save time in a bottle" right next to my booth for two days strait (that could have had something to do with my mood). Set up was pretty good I have to say-  but the temps were high and the humidity was off the charts.

The next morning started off strong, the crowds were coming in and it looked to be a good day. Unfortunately, by 11am the torrential rains came and I swear I have never seen so many people just disappear in a matter of seconds. It was on and off for the remainder of the day and and like the day sales were dismal.

But hey, I'm a trooper, I know that can happen at shows and take it in stride. So I, and my other fellow comrades stuck it out all day and couldn't wait to leave at 6pm. Yes, we did have to stay there- there was no closing up and leaving. Sunday morning was a wonderful breakfast and awards, quite elegant I heard. I didn't go, that extra hour meant more to me. That isn't usual for me but I had driven a long way and was still pretty tired.

When I came to my booth I asked the guy next to me (glass) if he had gotten an award. I was really asking him- his work was beautiful. He said, "Yea, I got an award, worst booth in the show, and you got runner up" That kind of sums it up. Sunday was one of the worst days I have ever had at a show. I don't know if it was the layout or me or my lack of energy dwindling though out the day....I know others did well.

An artist I met last week at the Lexington show who had done this show many times, said I would kill it up in Chicago...maybe he did, but I sure didn't. Amy came by and introduced herself on her rounds. People were carrying things out but in my area it was a lot less crowded than up the street. Break down was organized and pretty easy. I headed home...pretty defeated.

Who knows what makes a show good....I'm still trying to figure it out. Sometimes I kill it and sometimes I go home almost empty handed, like this show. I have the same stuff at each show. I can't figure it out for the life of me. Does anyone else feel like this sometimes? This business leaves you scratching your head more times than not.... But you just have to pick yourself up and do it again. But Chicago again? That, I'm not quite sure of.

I guess this is a little belated since I've already signed up for these shows, but has anyone done

Zona Rosa in Missouri,
Art in the park, garden city, Kansas

Georgetown Art and Wine, Georgetown, TX

Art in the Park, Dallas

Any info would be great.
Thanks!

Odd question, but something we have been pondering more and more recently.  Do you feel that shows that use services like zapplication offer a higher end experience, higher proportion of buyers, larger crowds?  We have done three shows that are zapplication, and initially i believed the statement that the show was higher end, brought large amounts of buyers, but the last one or two were not so much so. While they were lovely events, well organized, and drew nice crowds, the ratio of crowd to buyer was less than expected.  I would love to hear your feedback, and value any thoughts you have to offer.

This was a first time show for me. I had heard of it for the last several years and thought incorrectly it was a continuation of the Chautauqua of the Arts shows held in Columbus for several years. No connection as I found out later, this is a fifth year show started by a local photographer. The previous 4 years this has been a one day show, and this was the first year for it to go two days.

Set up is a little rough on this one, starting on Saturday morning at 6:00 AM. Things started off with a bit of a hiccup with about a half hour delay when the spaces weren't marked off yet as we arrived. The booths were arranged down the middle of the street arranged in clusters of four so everyone had a corner booth, and the clusters were about 18-20 feet apart. The spaces were 12x12, so adequate storage space was behind your booth. Some of the artists set their tents up on the back edge of the space instead of the front which cramped the storage space somewhat but the extra two feet was adequate for the most part.

The weather was warm and sticky with fog hanging in low areas on the way in to the show. Even setting up in the dark it was hot sweaty work, and it got worse as the sun came up. We've had cool pleasant weather for virtually the entire summer and Murphy's Law decided this would be the first weekend that a typical Midwest August would return. It returned with a vengeance. Traffic picked up and there was a decent rush of people early on, but by early afternoon the heat was oppressive and the crowds thinned out. Sales were low for me, and the jeweler behind me said that she had sold enough to pay for one night's stay at her motel and part of her gas, The other jeweler next to me was doing better and was happy with her sales. For the most part it seemed the heat and humidity was taking a toll on sales. A few artists had either paid for power or brought battery systems, but even those with fans still had uncomfortable tents to be in and those without fans suffered.

The weather was supposed to rain overnight, but nothing was supposed to be inclement. We met our daughter and her family at a restaurant about 15 miles north of Columbus, and we could see heavy lightning off in the west, and someone mentioned driving through high winds on the way to the restaurant. I realized I had not fastened one of my weights to the tent leg, and decided to go back and anchor it properly. By the time I got back to the show site it was starting to rain, and three tents were already collapsed and damaged. The show organizers were out in the rain covering art work with tarps trying to protect what they could. One artist had NO weights on their tent and another had gallon jugs of water tied to the top corners of their EZ-Up.

Sunday started off slowly, picked up a little around noon time, and just sort of fizzled out after that. I eked out a couple sales of small inexpensive work, but not enough to make booth fee. I sold enough to pay for the gas for the two trips back and forth to the show. The drive time was not quite an hour for me so we went home on Saturday night. The weather was even worse on Sunday with temps in the 90's and the heat index pushing 100 according to the weather reports, but the show was on asphalt with little shade on the booths. Most artists moved their chairs underneath the trees along the street or under store overhangs. Jewelers were the ones who stayed in their booths and probably lost 10 pounds from sweating. It was bad enough just sitting there in the heat, moving around was worse.

I didn't see any large packages being carried around, just little things. I decided to try a gamble and focused on doing some lowball $20 letter sized prints in inexpensive Format frames just a few days earlier. Heaven forbid, that was the only things that moved. Had I not done that, I would have zeroed out. Between now and the next show I'll do a few more of those and have them in a table top flip rack.

The show organizers were everywhere during the show, bringing cold bottles of water to the artists, checking if you needed a break, and in particular securing the damaged tents and art work during the Saturday evening storm that came through. Tear down started at 5:00 PM on Sunday and we were almost the last ones to leave at 7:20. Some of the show staff stayed on site keeping an eye on everyone, and bringing us cold water before we were done.

Despite taking a loss on this show,  I'll give it another chance. It's "local" and I sleep in my own bed, and the booth fee is reasonable. Had I been a resident in Columbus, I wouldn't have ventured out in that heat to see an art show. Some of the artists around me said they wouldn't return, but there are some times that despite having good show organization, and good artists in the show, the weather is going to sap all the energy out of the fair-goers and artists alike.

This past weekend Lu and I did the Hottest show that we have done in years. The show had setup on Friday morning with a Preview that night. The people came out and that was a surprize to most of the artist. And again on Saturday they came out again. And on Sunday there were even more people out and about.

The show I am talking about was the Midwest Salute to the Arts in Fairview Heights, IL.

The tempeture was 97 on Friday, 98 on Saturday and 99 on Sunday with the heat index over 105 and 115 on Sunday so you can see what I mean about one HOT show.

Sales reports that we heard were way down with several we know with zero sales. This is usally a good show but the heat put a real damper on the show. We had a hard time believing that people would even come out for the show. the local TV (St. Louis) was advising people to stay in there house or in any air conditioning they could find.

October 11 & 12

Ocean View Beach Park
100+ Artists
Deadline:  September 11

Kick off "Visual Arts Week in Norfolk" with the Ocean View Art Show. 

The City of Norfolk has recognized the importance of art, and of local art events.  They have proclaimed October 11-19 as "Visual Arts Week in Norfolk":

• The 52nd Annual Ocean View Art Show kicks off the week  
• joined by the Colonial Place/Riverview Art Walk on October 12
• and the Stockley Gardens Fall Art show October 18 & 19.   
• Mid-week events will take place throughout the city celebrating the Visual Arts.

The Chesapeake Bay Art Association (CBAA) is celebrating its 52nd year of hosting the Art Show.  Enjoy the friendly, relaxed nature of the show, along the beautiful Chesapeake Bay beach.  Our show features a high quality of art with a wide variety of styles and tastes in oil, watercolor, jewelry, pastel, charcoal, pencil, pen and ink, photography, glass, wood, sculpture and more.  Cash and other awards for the artists will total over $2,000.

The show features a Student Tent where 2013 saw over 60 local students displaying and selling their work. The show is free for middle and high school students, the work is judged, and awards are given to the students.  In addition an excellent cast of local music acts will fill the stage, and delicious smells from our local food vendors will fill the air.

The Ocean View Art show is one of the oldest art shows in Virginia and is put on by the member artists of the Chesapeake Bay Art Association.  The Art Association was formed in the Ocean View Area in 1961 and has been actively promoting and helping artists since its inception. Each year the Ocean View Art Show directs its proceeds to the John B. Tenney Memorial Scholarship Fund.  The Fund awards scholarships to area high school art students. 

Join us in the nice grassy park, with roomy spaces for each artist. 

Learn more & apply: www.oceanviewartshow.com
 

Feel free to contact us for more information.

Show Director:  Dave Hinde
(757)461-7222 or email: ov2014@oceanviewartshow.com

This was my first time showing in Pittsburgh, or anywhere in Pennsylvania.  Coming from Atlanta I must say the drive was beautiful.  This is a Saturday and Sunday show along a high end shopping street in a wealthy neighborhood.  The homes I delivered to were some of the most amazing homes I have ever been in and that is saying a lot.  IMO the weather was perfect.  Mid 80s and no rain with some sun mixed with clouds.  Pittsburgh claimed it was a heat wave:)

Set up was a dreaded early Saturday morning kind.  This is a narrow street.  Try very hard to go the night before and scope your space out.  The show runs along Walnut St and it is closed to traffic so you need to find the nearest cross street or alley and dolley in.  I am not a fan of the dolley but you can get pretty close to your spot and it really wasn't as bad as I expected.  I stayed a couple blocks away so was able to go back to my hotel to clean up and rest before the show opened.  Worth every extra penny so I can be fresh to show all day Saturday and make some money. 

Most booths are back to back with a couple blocks the booths are across from each other.  Mine was a back to back.  There isn't any space behind but it seemed most of us had room on the sides for storage. 

Advertising was excellent for this show.  There was even a spot on The Today Show on Sunday morning for The Shadyside Art Festival in Pittsburgh!!! The crowds came out on Saturday and started buying.  It wasn't a huge crowd but they were ready to spend and higher price points were not a problem.   Since this is a narrow street and it can be tight it was nice that the crowds weren't too crazy big.  The show goes until 7pm and lights were suggested but it didn't get dark so even if you didn't have them it wasn't a problem.   Sunday the crowds were even better.  Saw lots of art work big and small walking by.  The demographics for this show was amazing, all age groups.  All my sales were from people who could walk to the show.   Even the older age group were buying original large art work.  The kids that came to the show with their parents were really into it and excited about the art.  I was very impressed with the sophistication of the crowd for art.   I only had a few husbands walk into my booth on Saturday night who didn't "get" abstract art.  Those who bought on Saturday came back on Sunday to give hugs and gush again about their new art work.  The patrons here love their art.  Sales for me were great as were for other 2D artists around me.  Of course some did not do well and some did OK.  Just like any show, but I can't wait to go back to Pittsburgh. 

Breakdown went extremely smooth for a tight city street breakdown where a dolly is needed.  The show ended at 5 pm and I was loaded and driving to my first delivery by 5:45pm.

I wanted to write reviews of the shows that I've done to help other artists potentially make decisions of whether they want to apply or not but its kind of a pain to get the shows onto to the reviews page so I thought i would just share my information on here.

Key Biscayne, Florida

Hyde Park, Tampa, Florida

Altamonte Springs, Orlando, Florida

Marco Island, Florida

Old town Art Fair, Saint Augustine, Florida

St Armands Key, Sarasota, Florida

Lawton Arts Festival, Oklahoma

Blue Dome Arts Festival, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Deerfield, Illinois

Hinsdale, Illinois

Wells Street Arts Festival, Chicago

Northville Arts festival, Michigan

Fountain Square, Evanston, Illinois

Salida Arts Festival, Salida, Colorado

Salida Riverside Arts Festival, Colorado

Downtown Aspen, Colorado

Beaver Creek, Colorado

Sloan's Lake Arts Festival, Denver, Colorado

Evergreen arts festival, Colorado

March -

Key Biscayne (Howard alan)

    I personally will never do this show again, I did terrible.  it was my first show so i was working out some kinks for sure and I cant completely discredit this show. The artists I spoke to who seemed to do well were glass or 3-d artists and miami artists.  A cuban/miami local who does pretty much only pop art style of cuban coffee pots and american coffee pots that say "cuban" and "american" I would have to assume did awesome because I saw those paintings walking all over. 

Its a very hispanic population so those who are fluent speakers also have an advantage, I speak spanish at a conversational level, but I'm not as confident "telling my story" or selling in spanish so I certainly had a disadvantage.  Anyways, there were a fair amount of people walking around, the show wasnt dead, it wasnt hugely busy though. Easy Friday set up but I will absolutely never ever do it again.  Overnight parking is in a park a mile or two away and there is a sparsely running shuttle to bring people from A to B. 

Hyde park (Howard alan)
     This show is in an awesome location in Tampa.  My target clientele is younger with money and this is who populates this show.  Its a Saturday morning set up so that's kind of a pain in the ass, but I did luck out on being able to pull right up to my booth to drop stuff off and set up.  I would entertain the idea of doing this show again, I think  a lot of people do well here. 

Altamonte springs

      This is in an interesting location north of orlando in an expensive town home development with a similar demographic as Hyde park.  A majority of Saturday got shut down because of a tornado warning but i think it would have been a pretty good show for me had that not been the case.  I would probably do this show again.  

April -

Marco Island (howard alan)

     This was the first show that I felt I did well at. now after having done months of shows my idea of "well" is certainly different than it was then but Marco Island was good for me.  I think it was a first year show of HA promoting it. I think some seasoned artists said there used to be a show run there but there have been a few years sans show making it essentially a first year so, So i would have higher expectations for this show in the future. 

Set up/Break down was cake.  you can drive onto the grassy area to set up. unfortunately parking is miles from the show, there is a trolly to shuttle people back and forth.  There are no bathrooms or any amenties near the parking, I walked over to the beach and poached showers at the hotels on the beach in the evening. 

St Augustine (Old town I think its called, its run by Lynne something)

      Same set up as Marco Island, in a big open field, you drive up to it, super easy.  Parking is right next to the show which is really nice and my family lives in St augustine so i was able to get a shower there.  The location isnt great, not a ton of traffic. I did okay because my grandma passed out the little art show promo cards provided free by the show to everyone in her neighborhood and told everyone if they didnt atleast come to the show and see me they would be off of her christmas card list. I'm not joking. haha. So that was a big help.  I dont think its a great show.  its a mediocre show at best but I will do it again because of my family. 

St Armands (paragon)

     This show also has a fairly easy set up, you drive into the middle of the circle and drop off your stuff then parking is maybe a quarter mile away on the beach which is pretty nice. there are nice bathrooms there (they're locked at night) and beach showers so that's good. 

I didnt have a very good show there, one of my neighbors was a painter and he didnt do well either, but a jeweler that was near us did awesome.  Ohh and a guy who made crazy huge outdoor bronze sculptures killed it. He must have sold 3 pieces at 5-7 grand each. 

Bill Kinney, the promoter, comes by at the end of the show asks what your sales were and comes out with series of graphs by media etc and shows what the average sales of each were so that's really nice (assuming that they're accurate) according to the file that he sent the average sales were just under 4K per artist.  I did below that but I had not yet gotten my Trimline, so i was rocking an EZup and I think with the fancy vacationers of St armands. 

Also, Howard alan had a show close by that weekend and sent Helaine over to this show to try and get the vendor list, when paragon refused to give it to her she walked around and wrote everyones name down. I guess to discriminate against us? art show politics....

May- off to oklahoma!

Lawton -

    Wow, that's an interesting demographic there.  Fairly easy set up if you have a spot next to the road, less so if you're deeper in the park.  There are lots of food vendors here and the show certainly attracts a lot of people, a large portion of them are toothless, inbred looking carnival going turkey leg eaters. and the other side of that are Army people stationed at Ft Sill. 

I do hawaiian style art so many of them had been to hawaii and really connected with my work so I sold a lot of pieces in the 100-250 range. I dont think I had any sales from a higher price range, but i did sell quite a bit of pieces there.  A neighbor of mine that made wall sculptures out of square nails was NOT happy at all, but he has higher expectations than I do, he's been at it for like 30 years, and I probably did better there than him. 

its a 3 day show, set up friday am/midday and show is open friday like 4-7 or something then normal weekend hours.  The promoter was super accomodating and even set up for host families to stay with in town.  They also arranged for all of us to be able to use the YMCA gym, pool, sauna, and showers which is right next to the show. I was really stoked about that, and parking is a few blocks away at a library ergo free wifi.

The weather can be really unpredictable, there were tornado warnings on thursday, not terrible throughout the weekend until breakdown and shit got crazy windy. I didnt get any damage though. 

Blue dome in Tulsa

       So this show started as a boycott of local artists to Mayfest's policy of only accepting 10% local artists.  I was only able to do this show because my buddy is from there and we split a triple booth, which was probably the best location in the entire show right in front of the oldest bar in Tulsa. Most of blue dome is crafty or buy/sell low end stuff, which can go both ways, but i'd say it worked in our favor.

there are a lot of serious buyers in Tulsa who boycott mayfest because of the aformentioned reason and they had very little choices of fine art in this show, us being one.  So we totally killed it and were pretty drunk the whole time.  Also, the booth fee is like $100 for 3 days, so thats awesome. If its geographically convenient at all I will absolutely be doing this show again. It was a blast. I imagine Mayfest is lucrative for artists as well.

June-

Deerfield, IL

     I will absolutely not be doing this show again.  Its in a heavily jewish area so saturday was completely dead and sunday was not a whole hell of a lot better.  A few people did okay, but its not my crowd, nor was there a crowd at all. It was a fairly easy show to do, I met a couple who became my closest "art tour" friends who i subsequently did shows with for the next 2 months.

I also by crazy chance got my top collector there. He is a young guy and avid art collector but had no clue of the show. he had gotten off the train and saw the show so walked down in the last few minutes before closing sunday. He bought a small original and said he would be getting my biggest piece at Wells street show in 2 weeks which he did.  He has since bought a few more originals for me.  That made Deerfield worth it, but I wont do that show again. No one was really happy. I do not recommend it.  It is next to whole foods though which made me happy

Hinsdale, IL

    Not my cup of tea either.  I didnt really speak to anyone who had a good show.  Its in a hugely upscale area, but I did not see anyone buying expensive pieces.  Thats about all I have to say. ohh the breakfast they had was the best muffins I'd had yet at a show-they were from a local bakery

Wells Street - downtown chicago

     That show is a big drinking party. I was right across from Benchmark bar, which seemed to be one of the swankiest busiest bars.  I heard that some serious buyers dont walk to that area because there are too many drunk people, but I did really well there, partially because of my deerfield collector buying my biggest piece.  It was a good time, I will apply to Old town next year and if I get in I will certainly do that, but I would do wells street again. Set up/ breakdown has potential to be a complete nightmare. 

Northville, Michigan

    This is a 3 day show, which it probably shouldn't be, but its in a small downtown in an upscale suburb.  Friday am we set up then the afternoon was open for business. The weather sucked friday and I didnt sell a single thing, but I didnt really care, I was hungover and didnt want to talk to anyone anyways. So i just stood in my booth and painted all day as it rained outside. 

Saturday was a different story, weather was great and I killed it. It was another show that had a lot of lower end stuff so i think that helped me stand out.  That was a $100-300 price point show for me atleast, but I sold enough to definitely be willing to do it again. especially if i can do ann arbor which is only 2 weeks away i think. 

The promoter is new to running the show but she's so awesome. I asked her if there were any showers we could use near by and she offered her house which is only a block away so I showered there and then hung out with her and her husband for hours. 

I will definitely put this show on the list for next year if its geographically convenient.  Its a good filler show at best, but it was worlds better than other filler shows that I had done.

Fountain Square, Evanston IL

     I heard from artists who had done this show for a number of years that they keep changing it around and thats definitely affecting the show in a negative way.  I expected more from this show than I got. I had a last minute sale that took me to the number I wanted to make for the show just before breakdown, but... ehh.... I think this show is going down hill for sure.  I would do it as a filler show maybe.  I made money, but it just seemed like kind of a buzzkill. 

Lunch was catered by wholefoods though which was nice.  Parking is free, but is sort of far away and they said they had a shuttle, but that company is a shit show and no one knew they were supposed to even have a shuttle. an employee gave me a ride so it was all okay, but still, unorganized. and parking is miles away so its not really walkable before/after a show.

July

Salida Arts Festival

    This was a first year show so I had low expectations.  I didnt do well by any means but as it turns out, I did worse at a number of colorado shows. Jerry, the promoter, I think, worked really hard to promote this first year show which isnt in a great location.  Load in is harder than it should be for being in a park, in my opinion. 

I will not be doing any shows in colorado again probably, and the only person I spoke to who was stoked was this really amazing older Korean man who makes Cajon drums who sold on saturday alone 14 drums that are priced between $400 -$700. He did awesome. Salida is a lower income artist community, and also a place where other Coloradans come on mini Stay-cations So if your art sells well here, maybe entertain this show.

Salida Riverside

    This show is run by Danna Tullis and I will NEVER do another show run by this woman. this seasoned show was in a far better location than the prior and I did way worse, as did everyone.  The owner of an art gallery less than 1 block from the show came by and told me he had no clue the show was happening.  Danna does no promotion for shows, she just takes the booth fees I guess.  She also does Sloans lake in denver which was terrible and I will mention later.  DO NOT DO THIS SHOW.

Downtown Aspen (Howard Alan)

     I did not do as well as expected at this show, which is an understatement,  but I think many people did do really well. They put a few artists on this weird little off shoot of the show, I was not one of them, I had a decent location, but I felt terrible for them, they got no traffic. I also heard other artists tell me that the art galleries had united and had gotten an article in the paper discouraging people from patronizing the show, and instead, going to art galleries who pay taxes etc all year, rather than these foreign artists who just come in for one weekend. 

I was next to a knife maker who did awesome. His stuff was really cool and he and his wife were great and made a super unique product, so I can see why they did awesome, also a glass artist who I heard of and didnt meet until the following weekend did like 20K from one collector at the show.  Most of the people buying art here are on vacation. 

Also Mountain fair was going on the same weekend in carbondale, less than an hour away and I think that detracted from the people at this show somewhat.  This show can be good for some, it wasnt for me.  I think also that booth appearance is extremely important at these shows, as these people are accustomed to buying at high end stores.  So the fact that I still had an EZup probably hurt meas well.

August

Beaver Creek (Howard Alan)

    Set up can be a complete nightmare, although it wasn't really for me.  Same as Aspen where I think i probably would have done better with a nicer booth set up, So its on the agenda.

A neighbor of mine who did big abstract paintings and had a large tall trimline tent sold 2 pieces at 7k each and got a huge commission.  Across from me a fiber artist did pretty well selling womens sweater things.  the glass artist I mentioned from Aspen straight killed it here too. He has some really awesome stuff and larger pieces are in the 6K-7K range and he must have sold 5 of those alone among lots of smaller stuff. 

You also run the risk (probably 50%) of being stuck in an area thats a huge pain in the ass to set up as well so far of the beaten trail that it has little to no foot traffic. This can be a fantastic show for some though, that's for sure

Denver Sloan's Lake

     Also run by Danna Tullis.  Last year was supposed to be the first year show, but that was when Denver was having crazy floods so this was the first year.  Very little foot traffic, also more of a pain in the ass to set up than it should be.  I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS SHOW TO ANYONE. no one I spoke to did well.

Evergreen

    This was one of the most accomodating shows I have done, although Beth, the current promoter, did announce she was resigning this year.  They have a pretty awesome artist dinner on saturday a few miles away.  Some people did well at this show, not me though, nor one of my neighbors. Its in a park so they had to design the map around trees and such so I was in a weird offshoot which was a lower foot traffic area for sure.

This was the worst show I had in a long time, but people out here, especially these retired, upper middle-upper class just weren't into my stuff.  I think its worth doing for others, but i will not be doing it again. 

To be continued .....