I've done the two Bayou City shows in Houston for the past 6 years and it seems to me that the decisions the committee members (Art Colony Association Board of Directors) have been making concerning the size, layout & management of both shows are slowly (or quickly this year) eroding the overall experience for both artist and patron.
I understand that shows need to evolve and update and stay fresh but the committee for these two has made some questionable decisions over the past several years; decisions with consequences from which they have not learned...or possibly are turning a purposely blind eye.
For example, several years ago the Downtown fall show decided to put a group of artists booths in a little park which is enclosed by a tall permanent fence with only 2 small entry points. I was assigned a spot there the very first year they did it and when I questioned the location was assured it was a prime spot and even more desirable because I could now leisurely set up during the day instead of during the normal semi-chaotic nighttime crush. I had my doubts but decided to give it a chance. That show ended up being my lowest profit show ever. Myself and the other artists in the park were virtually a separate show. A show that nobody knew about. We sat and watched the crowd through the fence. It was a classic example of a dead spot and I made certain to explain the situation on my artist survey.
Unfortunately they are still putting artists in there...and the last 2 years the rain has turned that area into a low-chance-for-success, muddy nightmare. I have made sure my booth location was never in the park again and my show success there has returned to normal. For me, the rest of the Downtown show has been as well run and profitable as ever (despite the nasty weather the past 2 years) so I tend to view their decision to keep putting artists in the park as strictly money-motivated. It's definitely NOT a decision based on concern for the artists.
The Memorial Park spring show has always been a well-run beast in my past experience. There are a few small issues like some buy/sell sneaking in, loud stage acts and having street performers walk around but nothing terribly egregious. Until now.
To me the decision to add 150 artists stinks of financial desperation or art show-ignorant new board members...or both. Sadly, Ms. Kindred and her staff are left to deal with the fall-out of such unwise and short-sighted board decisions. I am a firm believer in decreasing the number of artists in a show when you want to raise the quality and experience for everyone involved. The Winter Park show in Florida is a good example of this strategy.
Of course, the Art Colony Board has every right to enlarge their show (no matter how poor a decision that might be) but the method in which they chose to do it in this particular case may just be the death of a formerly good show...and the taint of this seriously bad decision-making is going to inevitably have consequences for the Downtown show.
Once you betray the trust of your high-quality artist pool the end isn't far away.
I have been bemused by the way the Art Colony Board has chosen to manage their spring show and after some thought it seems to me that they must believe we artists are simply a limitless & interchangeable factor in their financial calculations. In the acceptance email back in December it stated that over 1500 applications had been received for 300 openings. I suppose that to a non-artist board member that must seem like an almost bottomless (and lucrative) artist pool and, therefore, no matter what conditions they mandate the artists and their fee money will always come begging for a spot.
If art quality didn't matter to the art show patrons that would be a true enough situation.
But art quality does matter. In truth, to be a top tier art show it's about the only factor that does. Everything else is just window dressing.
Were I a board member I would be very worried about alienating a large chunk of the best artists in the “bottomless artist pool” because once they stop coming to the show(s) the fine-art patrons will stop coming too. Sure, for awhile there will be more artists ready to pay the high booth fees and show up to gamble on the crowd but the people that comes to the show will not be there to buy art and without buyers, well...enough said.
So if the Art Colony Board is aiming for a low end, buy/sell infested, mediocre show I'd say that by behaving in such an unprofessional, erratic and downright sneaky manner they've taken a big step toward that goal. This could have been handled so differently. It's hard to imagine a professional group of people purposely making the sorts of decisions that have been made.
I wonder what the 6 people (2 of whom are on the Art Colony Board) who originally spent so much time and effort to jury this show think of the changes. It would feel like a slap in the face to me.
