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Well, drove home from Texas in raging rains for two days last week, then cranked like hell for two other days to be ready for Mainsail Art Fest in St.  Petersburg.  So there was no time for blogging.

Here it comes. I realize there has been an excellent piece written by an emerging artist.  I just wanted to give a more finished perspective--and a few, Nels' insights.

It is a long journey from Tampa, FL. to anywhere in Texas, especially Ft. Worth. Most times it is two days with a stop-over in Baton Rouge or Lafayette,LA.

This year, I cranked til late Monday afternoon and made it to Tallahasee that night.

Next day it was a mellow ride thru Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana to Shreveport. Then I was in FW before noon for setup on Weds.

Most of the show, booths are setup in big covered tents, high enough for you to set up your natural booth with roof.

The tents usually have a corner booth, a middle booth and then another corner.  Then the pattern is repeated behind.  So there are six booths to a tent, crammed in tight, back to back.  There is maybe a two-foot common area behind to share.  Storing inventory is always a challenge.

People love the corners--when the weather is good-because of the extra exposure and room for some browse bins.

Trouble is--the weather is Rarely ever good at FW.  This year personified it.

There is one area of the show where tents are out in the  open, called the Artist Square.

It replaces what used to be a parking lot where artists set up.  There was generous storage areas here--but the winds could be extra fierce here too.  The new Square is beautiful.  All on concrete with nearby restaurants and a specialty pavilion.  Storage here, is alas, tight now. But artists there seem to love it.

So, if you do this show, you bring your booth, you bring great weights and you bring electricity (lights, they supply the current).

This is a tough show to get into.

Many are called, few are chosen.  Only a couple hundred exhibitors.

Your customers have ample disposable income.  Lots of gas, oil and tech money.  You even see young people with money,  which is sadly missing at most shows in Florida.

The show runs four days, Thurs-Sunday.  Starts at 10 AM and runs to at least 8 PM and then artists can choose to stay open as late as they wish--and many do, especially on the weekend.

SO WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR.

Weatherwise we were challenged two out of three days we were open.  We never got to open and sell on Sunday.

Thursday we had strong 20-30 mph gusts all day that shook booths all day and send inventory every which way.

Friday, we had perfect weather.  Clear, not too humid with gentle winds.

Saturday was okay with growing gusts, the front was expected to hit us that night, and there was an almost 100 per cent chance of bad storms forecast for Sunday.

Sunday morning, I got an ominous call from the show around 7:30 AM.

"Mr. Johnson you better hurry over to your booth in the 800 block.  There has been several booths over-turned and art damaged."

Well jeez, you never want to start your morning hearing that.

No Starbucks coffee, no NY Times for me.  I galloped as fast as I could from my hotel which was two blocks from the show.

I rounded the corner of ninth and Main Street (where the booths are) and saw up-turned booths everywhere.  Even those long v-shaped food booths were lying feet-up on the pavement.

I approached my tent area with great trepidation--yeah, I was worried too.

Both the corner booths by me had been hit.  Some damage to the art, but not major.  My middle booth stood intact, my canvas covers were still zippered, my walls were straight up and no photos were on the ground fast becoming watercolors.  I instantly threw trepidation out the window.

I saw  a van about four booths south of me in there loading up.  I thought, shazam!, I am gonna get my van and do the same.  Ten minutes later, I had my van in there and started the load-out.

The lovely Rhonda, our block captain, came over and told me the show was not cancelled at that time.  I understood, and kept packing.  I figured at worst, I would get all the framed work in the van and leave one table with print bins in my space--to make a showing.

About 30 minutes later, Rhonda came over and told me the whole show as cancelled, and to continue packing.  I did, and was out of there an hour later.

SO, HOW GOOD WAS THE SHOW THIS YEAR?

Put it this way.

On Saturday, I made more sales there than I did in three days at the recent Winter Park show.

My work was appreciated, and so did my bank account.

I think most artists did their usual very good at this show.  I did not hear anybody complaining.

I would go back in a heartbeat.

St. Petersburg, FL - April 19 & 20

Lots and lots of prizes at Mainsail this weekend:

Best of Mainsail Gold Award, $10,000: Charles Parkhill, sculpture.

Mainsail Silver Award, $5,000: Duncan McClellan, glass.

Mainsail Bronze Awards, $2,500: Stephen Ray, oil/acrylic, and John Mascoll, wood.

Awards of Excellence, $1,500 each: Oren Estell, Scott Hartley, Cheryl Mackey Smith, Rocky Bridges, Amy Carstensen, Susan Gott, Richard Auger, Lawrence Packard, Sandy Lent, David Fernandez.

Awards of Distinction, $1,000: Andy Smith, Chuck Boux, Mel Fleck, Nancy Cervenka, Michael Nemnich, Vince Pompei, Frank Strunk III, Larry Brown, John Bayalis, Scott Gamble, Erica Hall, Michael Thiele, Sandra Brewster, Scott Causey, William Kidd.

Awards of Merit, $500: Charles Hazelaar, Marlow Gates, Jason Brueck, Kathleen Hunt, John Kellum, John Furches, William Kwamena-Poh, Princy & John Fears, Lorri Honeycutt, Ernest Simmons, Janet O'Rourke, Larry & Sherry Paulsen, Renee Dinauer, Dave Bruner, Karyn Adamek, Z.L. Feng, Jon Smith, David McKirdy, Charles Gatewood, Ana Varela.

Purchase Awards, $200 (plus the purchase of artwork): ARTicles Gallery by Leslie Curran — Robert Lawarre; Anthony L. LaSpada, P.A. — Paul Montecalvo; Madeline McCarthy — Charles Rowe; Monika and Fred MacFawn — Kimberly Willcox; Terry and Ginny McCarthy — Paul LaMontagne; The Mahaffey Apartment Company — Russ Erickson; The Princess Martha — Andy Smith; Shapiro's Gallery – Scott Gamble; Sally and William Snyder — Robert Myrvall; Wells, House, Schatzel, P.A. — Gary Curtis.

More info about the show: http://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/visualarts/tampa-sculptor-takes-best-in-show-award-at-39th-mainsail-arts-festival/2175964

When I started the blog saw the need to divide in four parts.  Some people believe I just expressing my opinion and did not ask questions. Other people believe that I not offering anything new and believing that I did not know what other people in the business had done behind the scenes and how some got black listed. Someone told me I was to preachy.

My intent was to write down my perception from the artists and directors or promoters. I understand that to solve a problem we need be unit of one. Is not about us vs. them, It is about us in the industry. That include food vendor, musicians, artists, city and everybody that gets involve in creating the event. You need to be blind and def for not to figure out there is a problem in terms of income.

I never been part of NAIA but older artist had told me stay away because the lost sight of what it really matter. Do you think that is true? Do you think is time to create a second association. If you google NAIA it shows up at the bottom of the page and you really need to look for it. I always wonder why they do not have small chapters in different cities! Do they have different chapter in other cities where artists can meet and discuss issues?

The main thing is how us handle the down spiral that we are facing. I understand, that I should not depend of the promoter or director but is weird to me that paid  x amount of dollars for just a 10X10.

I figure out that I need to do 36 shows a year. Starting with a low goal in sales or basically under estimating my potential sales, which is impossible to predict in this days. Then search different sources to verify if a show is worth the risk. I see if my choices will fit in my budget for art fair fees for the year. Take a look what shows my odds of getting in a better and see if just by doing those I can my reach my net income goal because the jury fees are a income killer. I always apply to top historic shows but sometimes they are just big let down. I always wonder if they should consider when they jury the marketability of your work.

I wait for an answer from the show and paid the booth fee if I got in. These booth fees are paid away ahead of time and you only hope for the best. Now that I know what shows I am doing  I need to figure out how much advertising need to do (Facebook, Instagram,  flyers, email and mailing) and figure the budget for traveling if is need it. I wonder how other artist approach the show scheduling, personal advertising and accounting? Do share images and promotions of other artists in Facebook or any social media? How much stock in put in the promoter bring buyers? Another thing I always wonder if artists consider: when you received your artist package do you hope to get a month ahead with the booth number or confirmation date, parking offer (it should be free not add on cost) and decent hotels rates?

Now show date arrive. I check the weather.  When I get to the show, I drop and park. Come back praying nothing got stolen. I set my Trim-line and Pro panels. Secure the tent the best I can. Set up my bins and hang my pictures. I created my own mobile gallery. In these days I add lights because I need people to see my with me not handling. Introduce myself to my fellow artists next to me and after I set up sometimes I need to ask if possible for me sit between our booths. I also check: my ego, do I believe in what are you doing, my education, social awareness, acknowledge and discard respond to my work the from public, where art education stand in these days and more important I know that my art does not make a difference in our society and just something that some people want to have but do not need.  I always wonder if other fellow artist do the same. Do bring a salesperson with you? Can you even afford to bring a salesperson? I saw this at the last Coconut Grove and it work great.  After all is set up and check in is just a waiting game. I wonder how people deal with the waiting game? More important how do you deal when you are not moving the merchandise but everybody else around you is doing well? How deal with feeling of joy or frustration when you heading back home?

When you get back home or studio do you appreciate the joy gave to some people and I how do you help the economy where the show was located. Yes we help because you fill up the tank of gas, you purchase food, you paid for a hotel (if you travel) and yes you was part of a event that draw people to event. Do you take time to evaluate what the promoter or director did? Do you blame others for the show not going well or you sit and think what was wrong with this event?
I also wonder if You ever take a look to see what when correct or what this make show be so great. I look at that because it may be the formula I need to advance in the shows business.

Do you take time to fill the card for the source book, post a review in the AFI, Facebook AFR, Facebook TCB, or other forums? Do you think that you doing way to much to fail or gain? Do you count how many sales or you only care the $ amount?  Are you scare that you did well because two people spend over 1000.00?

Sometimes I think I do everything I can possible do and always looking for ideas to improve because I fail in some aspects I could never be perfect. I still expect to promoter to bring buyers no crowds. I seek for promoters with track record that care about me (the artist). I deeply respect  the promoters or show directors because it can not be easy  to put a great art fair in these days but is very easy to put a festival which I think is what we see more often now. There are so many questions and things to think! I also know that people do not share ideas and by nature we put people down all the time.

Closer to season start I got more questions. Can we work together? Can we respect each other? What else can we do because this is how we support ourselves and something is wrong? I always want to ask what is bare bone number of artists to put a great art fair? Does promoters think about how many artists can a show support? Do you care about the image that you showcase (promoters and artists)? When I think about Memorial Park show (Bayou) I saw a promoter acting in panic and remind me how I react sometimes. Good or bad we need be understanding and see the BIG PICTURE. Do you wish that shows will a commission and central cashiers so we do not need to paid booth fees in advance? Do you think that the promoters should ask us for mailing and/or email  list and send it for you, One of A Kind Chicago sale and show does this for us. Do you need a feed back from the jury entry? You need a feed back from the site jury? Do you want know sales by category? Do you want know total of buyers? I do not care of attendance, I can see 1,000, 000 people walk but if they look cattle going to the ….. how does that help me. I prefer you not give awards and reduce the booth fees. I rather you not give me food because you do not know if I can eat that food. I was at the dinner at Coconut Grove and I can only have beer because I can not shell sea food. Do ever stop and think about others?  

Well I guess I just kill myself for nothing and know I not wont change anything but I hope to figure out how to deal with on hands problem.

June 21
Shipshewana, Indiana
9 am - 4 pm
50 Artists
Deadline: until full

Join our first ever Shipshewana Art Festival on June 21 from 9 AM - 4 PM, only $50.00.

Two opportunities:

• a 3 day trade show (June 19-21) If you are a full time artist and would like to do make it take-its or even sell brushes or overstocks. Please list all supplies or artwork as this is a juried event. There is still room for 45 vendors in the trade show.The cost for the trade floor is $150.00. Deadline till full. 
• a one day Art Festival (June 21) in the Red Pavilion. Fee is only $50.00.

This art festival is being held during the Walldog event which will bring around 200 Mural Artists from around the world who will be painting 15 murals throughout town with one mural on the building where the Art show is.

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

September 20 & 21

Birmingham, Michigan

Sat. 10am-6pm; Sun. 10am-5pm

160+ artists

Common Ground's Birmingham Street Art Fair celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2014.  The fair returns to South Old Woodward, the celebrated gateway to downtown Birmingham.  Unique shopping and fabulous restaurants line the street, drawing residents from throughout Oakland County and beyond.  

More than 160 juried artists will be featured in this elegant setting; more than 80,000 fairgoers attend annually.

A word of warning to anyone who has applied -- the deadline is/was April 18 -- to The Dayton Art Institute Oktoberfest in Dayton Ohio the weekend of September 26: chalk up the $30 you spent for the jury fee as a minor loss compared to what you could have lost by actually doing the show.  If you are accepted, run in the other direction.

I did this show the last two (or three?) years and had come to the conclusion that it was quite overpriced at $400 per 10 x 10 for an event that draws a huge crowd, but the crowd is interested in eating, drinking beer and listening to the live bands.  Each year they attendees seem to get less and less interested in the art.  Now we are something to walk past on the way to the beer.

What prompted this message is the notice on Zapp about the imminent deadline, and my innocent peak at the application to see if the booth fee was still too high for the return.  I noticed that they had posted photos from last year's event so, oh what the hell, I'll take a look and see if I notice any artist friends.

Out of 1180 photos -- that's one thousand, one hundred and eighty -- guess how many had anything at all to do with the art?  This includes showing an artist, showing some work, catching the corner of a tent, anything.  The grand total is zero.  No kidding.  And this from an art institute.

That pretty much says it all, don't you think?  They should be ashamed.

I was excited that I got accepted at late notice to the Coral Springs Art Festival, partly because I used to live there and know the area, but also because I expected a good show.  The ACE section was full, so I got into the art section.  I was lucky to get a hotel at a somewhat reasonable price within walking distance, even on the same side of the street.  I had a good booth location, too.  Yes, we had to set up in the dark on Saturday morning (a Howard Allen show) and I thought a lost a crucial tent part and I never got to change out of my sweaty "set up clothes", but the weather was perfect and there were crowds of people.  It was very well organized and set up and break down were easy and quick.  Sales should have been good, and they would have been acceptable if I didn't have travel and hotel expenses.  As it was, I did better than some shows, but not quite enough to cover expenses and make a profit.  Would I apply next year?  Maybe.

I have a new favorite show!  I did the Rotary Club Sanibel-Captiva Art Festival (Sanibel Island, FL) in February and it was beyond my expectations!  It was easy to set up and break down due to excellent management.  Attendance was brisk the whole weekend, and people were buying.  I am one of those people who always bring more than I need, but I nearly ran out of inventory, and I did run out of business cards and receipts.  My sales more than made up for the travel and hotel expenses.  The weather was perfect and the setting for the show was charming.  Yes, there is a toll of $6 on the bridge, but I got a very reasonable hotel only 6 miles from the bridge in Ft Myers.  I plan to apply for next year's show and hope that (1) I get accepted and (2) it is a good as this year.

What a weekend! I've been a patron for the Main St Fort Worth Arts Festival for years...and I mean all the way...taking a long weekend off from work so I could attend on the less crowded Thursday and Friday and spending all day, just taking a break for my Schmidt's bratwurst and cream puff...I'd check in with all of my favorite artists and look for treasures to bring home to add to our collection.

So when I felt like I was ready to apply for my first art festival, I picked Main St. It's a personal favorite, it's close to home (about an hour away), and it has an Emerging Artist program, so I could give it a try without investing in a tent. The downside? I'm a felter and I heard from a lot of friends that the DFW area is a tough market for fiber artists, especially in April when the weather can be in the 80s or 90s.

But I screwed up my courage and applied. A quick word for other newbies. If you're thinking about this, check to see if a local festival has an emerging artist program. It's amazing to have training wheels like this. I was able to apply without submitting a booth shot, I received plenty of communication from the festival organizers, they supplied the tent, and I was able to participate at a lower emerging artist rate. It's an amazing opportunity. I also made sure I attended the open jury day, allowing me to see what my jury photos looked like on the big screens (yikes!). 

When I was accepted, I vacillated between being incredibly excited and terribly nauseous. I wasn't sure if I could pull together enough work for the show, but decided that it would be worth the experience...could I survive a four day show and would people be interested in my work? Plus, it would give me a chance to take a booth shot in order to apply for other shows. 

So what did I learn? 

1. Bring twice as much work and business cards than you'll think you'll need. I was running low on pieces by Saturday and could tell my sales slowed down when my pickings looked too slim. I was prepared to talk to people about doing custom pieces, but when I ran out of business cards I was in trouble there too. 

2. Have two versions of your explanation of what you do or what motivates you. A lot of people visiting with me weren't familiar with hand made felt and some were interested in the longer explanation and some got the "glazed over, I have somewhere else to be" look about 20 seconds in. I had to pull together a graceful fallback short form explanation.

3. Be ready to smile all weekend. Mostly it was easy. People were friendly and interested and even the people who looked at the price and noted that they were more than they were prepared to pay were gracious about it. 

4. Know what your answer is when people ask you if you're willing to discount. I think everyone determines their own answer, you just need to know what it is so you don't fumble. I had one person ask if I discounted for cash, but my pieces just weren't expensive enough to make that worth while so I declined, but I hesitated. Would have been better if I knew my answer before she asked. She still bought the piece, just decided to use her card instead.

5. Make your hotel reservation the second you get into the show. I thought I had a few weeks to book at the artist rate before it expired and when I called, I found out the hotel had sold out at that rate very quickly. Even if you're not sure, make your reservation. You can always cancel it later, but you can't get the good rate if you miss out.

We wound up getting rained out on the last day so I have to guess that I would have made it the full four. It was exciting and fun and I'd definitely do it again. It was a real honor to be included in a show with so many artists whose work I respect and admire. 

Oh, and I'll need to rent a tent to take that jury shot. I found that some of my display ideas didn't work out quite as well as I'd like and my booth was cast in shade the first morning so I couldn't really exert any control over my jury shot. I'll need to rent a tent and put it up in a more controlled environment to give this a shot again.

Ok, that's all I have time for now, but I'll add to this thread if I remember more things. Final thoughts? I had a blast!

I was fortunate to be invited to exhibit at the Woodlands Waterways show this last weekend in truly beautiful Woodlands, Texas. Never having driven to a show in Texas, it was a long trek but the Bayou was something beautiful to see. Arrived on Thursday after a two day drive and took advantage of their home stay program which was delightful. The person that hosted me and my assistant made us dinner and breakfast and it was so much nicer than staying at a hotel. It was totally non-obtrusive, as we were in a wing of her house that was not connected to the rest and it was lovely. If anyone is afraid that their schedule and freedom will be diminished by using these perks, think again...this is a wonderful and cost effective alternative when doing a show. Thank you WWAF for making it possible...I wish more would.

Set up was so well organized that is was a dream, not that setting up ever is, but as close as possible. Loaded with lots of water and snacks from the committee, we drove to our spot and were able to unload right in front.  I was a newbie this year so I didn't expect the best spot but really, there were no bad spots that I could see. The show is one long trail that follows the river and everyone gets exposure to the crowds. Friday night was a reception for the VIP artists that donated work for the art education fundraiser. Not much different than any other patron's affair, except that the food was fabulous and the drinks were flowing.

Breakfast was provided on both mornings and volunteers came around constantly with snacks and water. In fact, when we got there first thing in the morning there was about 12 bottles of water already in our booths.

 Saturday was sunny and when the gates opened at 10 am the crowds poured in. There is a hefty 12 dollar entry fee but that didn't seem to keep the crowds away. It was pretty steady but as most shows go the first half of the day was everyone pursuing the whole show before buying. They did buy, big items walked by, lots of them. I did ok, it wasn't fabulous but it wasn't bad either. The crowd seemed open to all types of work, I thought it might be a bit of a conservative crowd but it wasn't. It was busy all day.

Sunday was overcast and looked like rain and it sprinkled in the the morning a bit, but by afternoon it was clear and a bit cooler, so the crowds came out in full force. Many people came back on Sunday after looking on Saturday to buy, which is always good. At 5 break down started and it went pretty smooth since it was a long line of cars that had to come in and it could have been a big mess. It wasn't- they had their act together and it was fine. You had to break down completely before you could get a ticket to drive in but it was no problem.

I would definitely do this show again, even though it's the farthest show I have ever driven to. It was worth it. It is a classy show- billed as #3 in the nation on Sourcebook and it lived up to it's hype. Was it the best show I have done this year? No, but I think it could be, if i am able to go back and build up a clientele. It seemed to me that this group really likes to know their artist's before they invest. Hope to do it again. 

allowing artists to pull up to their site to load /unload a real deal breaker for me if this is not the case

May 17

Manhattan, New York

Located in the heart of Greenwich Village (West Village)

on the Bedford, Barrow, Commerce Streets
100 Artists 

Deadline: May 16

The BBC is pleased to invite fine artists and fine crafts people to apply to their 2014 Spring Fine Art and Fine Craft Show.  This annual event is eagerly looked forward to by the whole tri-state area. 

What to expect:

• 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.

I'm going to write a VERY brief review of this show, for reasons that will be revealed in a paragraph or two.  This was my first visit to beautiful St. Simons Island, GA.  Although the state has less than 200 miles of coastline, it boasts beautiful wide barrier islands teeming with birdlife.  I've driven past their exits countless times on I-95 but never had time to stop.  So after Connie posted a call to artists a few months back, I jumped at the chance to apply and was accepted.

Glynn Art hosts two shows yearly in Postell Park, which is in the downtown of St. Simons.  This time of year, anyway, this is a tiny hamlet with relatively light traffic, lots of small eateries and retail shops, and the art association HQ, which occupies a pretty space right across from Postell Park. 

The spring show featured about 60 artists, in facing rows along the brick pavers (bring a rug!).  By admission of the director, it is "lightly juried" and  heavily skewed toward country craft, low-end craft, and a smattering of manufactured products.  There was lots of jewelry (some quite nice, some cheaply made).  A few of the Art Association members exhibited paintings and watercolors, but generally speaking, 2-D was hard to find. 

The overall ambience is laid-back, relaxed, and friendly. The show was laid out in maybe five sections of artists, scattered throughout the small park.  When I first arrived I wondered aloud about the discontinuity, and whether attendees would miss a section, but one of my neighbors, a show veteran, said it wouldn't matter...and it didn't.  Although booths were tightly pole to pole, the facing rows are quite short (maybe a dozen booths long) and you have lots of storage space behind.  Setup was Friday, from noon until 5 (you could stay later to set up if you wanted); security (local police) was provided from 6 PM to 8 AM each night).  It was an easy, beautiful three-block walk along the two-lane street, lined by live oaks, to the artist parking lot...though I noticed many artists with oversized vehicles used a commercial parking lot on one end of the show and were not bothered by anyone. 

Weather was beautiful, the booths were comfortable even in mid-day, and yet attendance was light.  However, for most of the show it was comprised of the affluent residents of this laid-back island.  They were casually but neatly dressed, knowledgeable, and friendly. (Sunday afternoon was dominated by day-tripping familes from inland Georgia, who were mostly browsing, and more interested in spending a day with the kiddos.)

I made only two sales on Saturday, but they were my largest, most expensive canvases.  Sunday brought smaller but still respectable sales through mid-afternoon. I wound up, surprisingly, with my second- or third-highest sales total of the year...plus an invitation to have a month-long at the art gallery on nearby Jekyll Island sometime in 2016. 

Demographics:  As noted, the demographics here skew to the very high end.  Housing is expensive, surroundings are beautiful, and many of the homes are quite large.  It was sort of a interesting mix between Sanibel Island and a small New England town. Seemed to be an equal split between vacationers coming from other parts of Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas) and residents (many of whom were year-round).  I talked with only a few Midwesterners. 

Everyone I spoke with, including the director, said that the fall show (Oct. 11-12) is even smaller (about 50 artists, tops), much more tightly juried, and better represented by 2-D art. I don't know if I could recommend it to an artist from far out of state, but if you are in central or panhandle Florida, Georgia, or South Carolina this might be worth trying. 

I have seen a few blog posts where folks have commented that college towns Art Fairs are good ones to attend because they are young and good buyers.  This is counter to my intuition, the reasoning is that college students don't have the disposable income for artwork.  What has everyone else found?  Are there enough well-paid professors to provide adequate buyers?  Are college towns a good target-market?  Thoughts?

Hi Friends.....

     Call me crazy, but I am in the very early stages of conceptualizing starting a fine art and craft show in my local area.  We have a very good response to art here, as many know from the Belleville, IL Art on The Square.  Anyway, as I am planning, researching and gathering data, I have some ideas that I would like to put forth and am open to feedback from fellow artists.  Here are some early thoughts...

1.  Autumn show, held in September or October, preferably indoors.

2.  Totally non-profit show.  I am doing it for the art and the artists only! (more on that later)

3.  $20.00 jury fee.

4.  Booth fee not to exceed $200-250.

5.  Saturday/Sunday or Friday/Saturday (2 days max)

6.  Set up the day before the show or morning of, artist's choice.

7.  Heavily promoted through social media, print, radio and local businesses (will depend on costs).

8.  Some kind of artists' dinner or food delivered to booths once each day (complimentary, even if I have to prepare it myself).

9.  No distraction factor.  Focus solely on the art and the artists

10.  No busy sell

11.  No auctions, no pony rides, no talent shows, no psychic readings (yes, I was at a show last year that had a tarot card reader).

12.  Awards in each category (ribbons, $$)

13.  Food vendors that are appropriate (no kettle korn, cotton candy or carnival type fare).

14.  Sponsors that are appropriate to art

15.  Working artists as jurors and judges

     The list will, I am sure, get much longer.  My reason for attempting this is with all of the challenges artists have faced economically over the last several years, and all of the gouging that we have encountered with shows raising prices and trying to squeeze as much money out of us as possible, is it remotely possible to produce a show that is not overly expensive, with the amenities that so many of us want?  Can this be done in today's economic climate?  Is it possible to produce a good, artist friendly "dream show?"   If you believe it is, please comment on what you would like to see in this still conceptual "dream show" and it may happen in the O'Fallon/Belleville, IL area in 2016.  Or, if you think that a show like this is not possible today, please share why you feel that way!  Thanks much!! 

I am curious what people think of this. We all talk as though we are so pure to our art. I only sell originals and have more than once lost out on a sale to a big less expensive print. So I thought about it and the fact is many artists are ordering prints from big print houses. Some of them are overseas. I know some artists who do greeting cards and small items with their work on it. Made in China. So isn't this buy sell? I see artists with mostly prints in the booth. Giclee all over the walls but few if any originals. Then I hear the same artist cry Target sells giclees for less. My opinion is Target just gets a better discount because of volume. I am sure I will have a bunch of so called fine artists panties in a bunch over this post. But we have trained the art fair buyers to buy prints. Now that is what they buy. And now they are buying them cheaper at other places. This is just an observation about what hypocrites most of us are.

August 16 & 17

Perrysburg, Ohio
Produced by The Guild of Artists & Artisans
Sat. 10am-8pm
Sun. 11am-5pm
130 Artists

The town Center at Levis Commons hosts the 10th Annual Levis Commons Fine Art Fair produced and created by The Guild of Artists & Artisans.  The Town Center is a unique "open-air lifestyle experience," featuring sophisticated shopping, superb dining and entertainment and is located in the welcoming community of Perrysburg, Ohio, just south of Toledo.

It's the perfect setting for an exceptional art fair.  Parking and admission are free.  The show features 130 artists; fairgoers will find the same excellence and variety as in the Guild's award-winning Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair.  Featured work will include jewelry, ceramics, painting, glass, photography, fiber and more.  More than 35,000 fairgoers attend annually. 

The Guild is a non-profit, membership association of independent artists best known for its award winning Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair.  Guild events have a reputation for excellent advertising, fair attendance and artist amenities.

Apply: www.JuriedArtServices.com

For more information:
Karen Delhey, Senior Director, Marketing & Partnerships
The Guild of Artists & Artisans: (734)662-3382 ext. 107  
Fax: (734)662-0339
118 N. Fourth Avenue  Ann Arbor, Michigan  48104-1402