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Hello everyone, I'm new to AFI, but not to the arts community. I live in Chicago and have been housing arts for over 10 years. During show season, I have accommodated up to 6 guests in a 3bdrm condo. I'm going to list in the AFI classifieds. I'd like some input on what YOU would be looking for in terms of temporary housing during a show. Type of accommodations? Price? Ammenities that are important? Thanks for your help. I hope to meet some of you soon.

Hi

I just added the store to the website. Everything I do is limited by homestead.com who is my web provider and do not plan to change. I running a test that will last until Jan 2015. If you guys can take a look and see if anything jumps at you like totally wrong please let me know. I plan to run next a email marketing so any input is appreciated.

The website is: www.lpstudios.net

Thanks

August 9 & 10
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Downtown Milwaukee
10am-5pm
135 Artists
Deadline: March 17

The Wisconsin Designer Crafts Council proudly presents the 40^th annual Morning Glory Fine Crafts Fair on August 9-10, 2014. Join this group of talented craftspeople dedicated to the art of fine craft. The Fair has been popular with artists and patrons for 39 years and features 135 fine crafts artists exhibiting in ceramics, digital, enamel, fiber, glass, jewelry-metal, jewelry-non-metal, leather, metal, handmade paper, photography, printmaking, sculpture, wood and 3-D mixed media.

Morning Glory is held in downtown Milwaukee on the grounds of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, alongside the Milwaukee River, and the adjoining Red Arrow Park. Morning Glory includes many amenities for artists:

• Friday afternoon set-up
• Overnight booth security
• Parking in a covered lot available
• Booth sitters
• Over $3,000 in prizes
• On-site caterer/food service with an indoor hospitality area
• Saturday and Sunday continental breakfasts, including complimentary Starbucks coffee both mornings
• Saturday evening reception and awards presentation
• World's greatest volunteers!

What last year's artists said about us:

Morning Glory also includes many amenities for our patrons:

• Sally Bright at Morning Glory

  Outstanding exhibition and sale of jury-selected fine crafts from throughout the country, sure to please the most discriminating patrons
• Opportunity to meet the artists and learn firsthand the personal story of what's behind the artwork
• Ample, nearby parking
• Free admission to Morning Glory
• Delicious food available on site
• All while enjoying a relaxing setting in the shadow of the Marcus Center, designed by noted Chicago architect Harry Weese 

Application deadline is Monday, March 17.
Visit www.zapplication.org to apply.

Morning Glory Fine Craft Fair - you know you've always wanted to try this one! Make 2014 the year you join us, in this our 40^th year.

Questions? Need further info? Contact bethhoffman@wi.rr.com, 262-894-0038

Today I am putting forward my ideas on marketing and what the options are in the Art world.  I have worked in a retail environment for most of my life.  It is seldom pretty, always competitive, and will spit the ignorant out in a second.  Whether artists realize it (and some do not) this is the place they will be when they choose to sell their artwork.  Creating your paintings, photos, macramé (do they do that anymore?), and whatever else we create is usually fun, or at least should be.  Aunt Molly comes over and see’s what you are doing and says: “Golly Bubba you should sell those Possum socks, they are beautiful”.  The light goes on and Bubba is doomed, UNLESS he is savvy to what he will be getting into.

First Bubba obviously needs more critique and I do not mean a Jury that may or may not actually look at his work before they send him that happy acceptance message that asks for the $10000.00 booth fee up front.  Rain…too bad ‘no refunds’.

Bubba needs to find people 1. He does not know, people who may not like him, and some one of knowledge that will jury his stuff knowing that the fee they are getting does not get bigger for BS.

So now Bubba finally somewhat understands if Aunt Molly was almost right.  Let’s say that Bubba gets great reviews and is surrounded by happy bubbles that are blurring his vision.

NOW the work begins.  Bubba being goes to the local ‘Flea Market’ (it wasn’t his fault, they called it an Art Festival and served beer) only to find out that the only thing selling was watermelons.  Well we have all been there one Way or another and that didn’t stop us so Bubba will persevere.  Starring eyes will do that to us all.

Bubba now decides that he needs a higher class clientele and settle on a $10.00/square foot booth at the local ‘Art Festival’ *seems as if I am repeating myself) and settles in for 2 days in which he almost broke even. Not bad.  Of course if he doesn’t count his time, food, and backache from sleeping under the truck ($10.99 for Ibuprofen at Walmart) for 3 nights. 

So…Now the local Auto body shop sees Bubba stuff and offers to display them next to the coffee machine in the lobby for a 60 percent.  Bubba is ecstatic, he goes there all the time and knows they are busy and they luckily did not ask for some kind of contract (Bubba can’t write).  Bubba of course never hears from them again except and being slightly ‘memory deficient’ just forgets the whole thing.

Now, the panacea of all who would sell retail….THE INTERNET.   I will now get somewhat serious.  Somewhat that is.  Unfortunately the very things that make the internet great also make it a nightmare for those who choose to sell un-necessary goods there.  Artwork is mostly beautiful, inspiring, and desired, but seldom considered a necessity. 

You have access to Zillions but those Zillions must sort through Zillions to find just you.  The search engines make it and even harder task now because of the prevalence of Spam and other nasty things.  Though I used to be very well versed in HTML and inner workings of website with just a couple of years away from it I was amazed at how behind I am.  Web crawlers, Markup, sitemaps, bots, OMG when does it end.   So if you have not the slightest idea of what I just said leave it to the obvious that making your own site is probably an exercise in futility.

Of course there are the great people who for a few bucks will set you up with a site of your own.  The few bucks can become morer (yes there is no such word I made it up because it fit) rather quickly when you add shopping carts, etc.  Now you have a site that looks more like the local grocery than an “artist’s site”.

The ugly fact is that marketing your artwork is exceedingly difficult and often disappointing. Ask JC Penny, Kmart, and others going down the pipe.   But that is why you should Enjoy what you are doing.  Art for art’s sake.   I do online sales but do not get excited about it and I am versed in web management, the price I pay is thus reasonable. Even so; I use it more as a way to organize myself and my sticks than any real hope to sell out.

 I hear you all out there yelling PORTFOLIO, PORTFOLIO,   yes I hear you but then we get back to the zillions thing.  But by all means post a Portfolio so those who care can see your work can without coming over and drinking your beer..

 WE then get back to shows.  Shows can be fun and rewarding, you get to meet fellow artists, and hopefully sell a few things.  But you must find the ones who are truly interested in you and promoting art and not making and easy 250000.00 on a weekend.  They are there, you just have to be patient and look. Never go to shows that allow anything other than artist made goods and for the shows that add 100.00 a day for electricity; Boycott their butts and next year we will not have to deal with them. 

Got long winded there.  Sorry

Mark M

ArtFest Fort Myers - February 1 & 2

May 17 & 18
Riverside, Illinois
Saturday, 10 - 5; Sunday, 10 - 4
100 exhibitors max
Deadline: March 15

Jury Fee: $35
Booth Fee (10x10): $300

RAW - Riverside Arts Weekend is pleased to present our 7th year of fine art in the heart of our National Historic Landmark community in Riverside, IL. The festival compliments this beautiful Frederick Law Olmsted designed historic community by bringing fine art patrons, music, children's art activities and performing arts to a crescendo for an amazing weekend.

This juried fine art festival is held between the river and beautiful Guthrie Park in the historic village of Riverside.  All artists are juried and emphasis is placed on accommodating ARTISTS!

RAW is a not for profit organization committed to the arts. Riverside Arts Weekend is sponsored and supported by the Village of Riverside, the Riverside Chamber of Commerce, community businesses and art patrons.

At D & W Events we recognize the Chicago area is inundated with art festivals.  Most are NOT fine art/craft, artists present with original work.  Our goal is to present high quality festivals with artists' original work ONLY and an equalized quantity of media.

Apply: https://www.zapplication.org/event-info-public.php?fair
Learn more: www.dwevents.org/raw

September 5-7
Clayton, Missouri
Fine Art & Craft Festival
Business district of Clayton in Saint Louis, MO
Friday 5 pm-10 pm
Saturday 11 am-10 pm; Sunday 11 am-5 pm
181 Artists
Deadline: March 20

Fact Sheet:

• Website: culturalfestivals.com 
  
• Avg. Sales: $7500 (based on 2013 post event survey)
  
  
• Jury Images:  4 Images of work plus one booth image
  
  
• Viewed:  simultaneously with images horizontally across the screen (booth image is last image in the row)
  
  
• Jurors:  The jury panel is made up of arts professionals, peer jurors, and local buyer/collector (all paid) for a total of 5 jurors.
  
  
• Scoring:  yes, no, maybe
• Jury/Application Fee:  $40 non refundable
• Booth Space Fee: $625 and $725
• Cash Awards:  Up to $21,000
• Booth Space:  10'x10' with 2' buffer all around
• Electric:  500 watts provided free, no generators
• Produced by:  Cultural Festivals 501(c) 3 Non-profit corp.
• Artist Presence: Required
• Reproductions:  Not allowed
• No. of Applicants in 2013:  1305
• No. of Exhibitors from Jury Pool:  150
• No. of Exhibitors Exempt from Jury:  31
• Security:  24-Hour
• Parking:  Free/Reserved

In addition to the amazing visual art exhibition, the festival will feature live performing arts ensembles on three stages, the Creative Castle featuring educational art projects for children, street performers and fifteen of St. Louis' most delectable restaurants.

Matthew Hatala's booth. Too full at St. Louis?

For more information contact:

Cindy Lerick

President & Executive Director

Cultural Festivals

phone: 314-863-4485
Learn more:  CulturalFestivals.com 

Apply: www.Zapplication.org

June 28 & 29

Duluth, Minnesota 

Park Point Recreation Area

Presented by:  

The Park Point Community Club

and The City of Duluth Parks and Recreation

10am-5pm

120 Exhibitors

Deadline:  March 15

For 44 years the Park Point Community Club has hosted The Park Point Art Fair at the Park Point Recreation Area on the last full weekend in June.  Park Point is a premiere and unique setting.  It has the distinction of being the largest freshwater badmouth bar in the world.   

The Art Fair has grown to capacity to include 120 artists from across the region and nation who exhibit their award-winning work in a premiere and festive setting.  The community shows its commitment to the event by hosting a free appreciation dinner for the artists and volunteers.

Volunteers greet attendees and provide booth sitting services and set-up assistance to artists.  Artists are awarded for excellence based on a review on site by art professionals.  The Club awards a total of $1,300 to artists in seven categories as well as a Best of Show.

Achievements:  The Park Point Art Fair is a 2013 recipient of the Minnesota State Arts Board's Festival Support Grant.

Attendance: 10,000 annually

Mission: 

The Park Point Art Fair exists to showcase professionally juried artists in a  stunning natural environment, while attendees will find a focus on the visual artists their experience is enhanced with music, demonstrations and interactive art making opportunities.  We serve the local and regional community-culturally, economically and socially.

Apply:  www.zapplication.org/event-info-public.php?fair_id=3098 

More information: www.parkpointartfair.org 

E-mail:  coordinator@parkpointartfair.org  

Yes, I agree as I was there too, in front of the river in a beautiful spot(#2).  I did have to level my display cabinets, as there was a rain drain behind my booth.   I could not have asked for a nicer location.  I can see if there were a bad rainstorm or high winds, it could be difficult on the river front, but our weather was absolutly perfect both days.  We were scheduled in on Friday at 10:30 and for 7 PM load out and we were  exactly on schedule.  They were very organized in our area.

The only negative comment is that the judge came running by with someone punching holes in our booth signs for him.  He did not slow down, stop, or look in mine or either of my neighbors tents.  I spoke with others who had the same comments.  When we pay about $500 to be there it does seem only fair to expect a 30 second glance.

My sales were great, the best ever!  Unlike the east coast of Florida, no one was arguing prices with me.  I was also approached by show chairs from some of the other shows on the west side of the state.  I hope to be able to do more in that area. 

All in all it was a great experience and I would love to participate again.

How about some comments from others who were there?

Although I've done a few indoor shows near where I live -- Nashville -- I just now took the leap, bought a tent, and applied to a bunch of the bigger outdoor art shows around the country.  I read all the reviews on here before applying to the fairs, and they were very helpful.  

I just have a few questions, though, if you don't mind helping me out:

What are your particular favorite shows?  

Where have you sold the most?  

My art is on the pop/contemporary end of the spectrum.  My website is BrianNash.net.  I noticed that a lot of the art fairs skew towards abstract and traditional paintings; are there any shows that attract people more interested in pop art? or at least where they don't shun pop art?  (I fear, for instance, that fairs in the more conservative states like Texas would be a bad fit for me.  True?!?)

Any feedback and comments would be most appreciative.

I've only been painting for three years, and am looking forward to the art fair adventure!!

Thank you!

Brian

Artists had no clue that the survey they received from Nancy Vince and Wholesalecrafts.com in January would lead to the rug being pulled out from under them. In what appears to be a continuing arms race between the mainstay and the upstart, Wholesalecrafts.com recently announced the addition of ACRE Philadelphia next February. What they didn't announce at the close of their 4th show in Orlando in January is that the deal included closing the Orlando show, despite having a number of artists sign up and pay fees for 2015.

It is understood that there are no guarantees in this world, but this abrupt course change tells me that Wholesalecrafts cannot be counted on to help build a solid relationship between artists and buyers. 

http://www.acreorlando.com/

Let's give these people a round of applause. They keep the discussion flowing on the site, keep you coming back for more, teach you a lot, give you some good laughs, etc. It's a COMMUNITY! Woo hoo!

Which one did you like the best?

• Kathy Oda's Show Review: St. Petersburg Fine Art Festival 2/4
• Barry Bernstein's tour de force 3 Part Series: Barry Goes Back to College-Life in the Twilight Zone 2/10
• Nels Johnson's nostalgia trip across Florida: Artigras: Some New & Old Thoughts for 2014  2/20
• Mary Johnston's Florida vacation that included 2 shows: Boca Raton Museum Show & Sanibel 2/24 

Click here to take survey

Deadline: March 11 - 6 pm

When Staci and I decided to try a Naples show this year I first talked to Florida West Coaster Geoff Coe.  

We’ve run into Geoff at a number of shows and he has seen the bright colors that permeate Staci’s work.  While cautioning that of course there were no guarantees, he suggested that Mercato might be the best fit.  The crowd is just as moneyed as the other Naples venues but it is younger (relatively speaking) and probably more interested in bright contemporary and abstract work that at the other Naples locations.

Geoff was absolutely right.  Unfortunately, the attendance at the show was way, way down (according to a number of repeat exhibitors that I spoke to.  Of those who did attend on Saturday (the best day), there was real buying interest but sadly even with some enthusiastic buyers, there weren’t enough to go around.

If the crowd had been of normal size, I think most would have had a great show.  As it was, while the painter on one side of us probably did $4K, the painter on the other side had to rely on a previous customer’s repeat purchase to make expenses.   Most of the bags we saw were from the high-end retailers that make-up the Mercato shopping plaza.

What went wrong?  At least 10 locals we spoke to said they had no idea there was a show this weekend.  They had seen no signs, billboards, or TV ads.  When the crowd is small and what I would call “coincidental”, there is not enough to go around even if they are the “right” people.  Where did our booth fee go???

Repeat exhibitors described wistfully the elbow-to-elbow throngs that have characterized Mercato in the recent past.  We could have had a great show if they were there.  As it was, we didn’t make mediocre.  Geoff had it right – this was our crowd; sadly, “crowd” is a misnomer.

Details

Weather - Perfect!

Venue – upscale shopping plaza with many restaurants, movie theaters, shops

Easy set-up starting at 3AM.  We showed up at 5AM and parked in our space to unload.

Teardown was easy too.  We parked fairly near the booth and rolled it out over flat terrain.

Good storage behind the tent. 

Artist parking was in a big field behind the venue and a fairly short walk.

Artist amenities were okay. – Coffee/muffins in the morning and access to the volunteer center bathroom.  (There were also clean public restrooms throughout the venue.)

Booth sitters aplenty and very friendly volunteer group.

Quality of the art was excellent – a lot of work that we would love to have on our walls (if we had walls that is).  Very contemporary with just a touch of the traditional Florida beachy stuff

Looking West - Midday Sunday

Looking East - Midday Sunday

Our Space

We're sorry to announce that Marc Duke won't be able to attend our Best of Missouri Hands conference, but we're extremely pleased that Marc made arrangements with Cindy Lerick to fill his role as keynote speaker after he found he was unable to attend.

The Best of Missouri Hands welcomes one of the top people in the industry to the annual ArtSmart conference, this year entitled “Art Springs in Springfield”. Cindy Lerick, Executive Director of Cultural Festivals which produces the award-winning Saint Louis Art Fair, will give a keynote address dealing with how independent artists have been affected by the recession and strategies that artists can use to help their careers.

The Saint Louis Art Fair, consistently ranked in the Top Ten of the Art Fair SourceBook’s Top Fine Art Events, is a nationally juried fine art and fine craft show. Over 100,000 people attend the free event each September and total sales for the event typical exceed 1.5 million dollars. Lerick has been executive director for two years. Prior to that, she was the Executive Director of the Uptown Art Fair in Minneapolis and co-directed the Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival.

Although Lerick has primarily been involved with art fairs throughout her career, she also keeps close tabs on artists who do not regularly do art fairs and market instead through galleries and other means. She is known for her personal touch, putting herself in the artists’ shoes to help insure their success while keeping an eye on the bottom line.

The ArtSmart Conference is an annual event for The Best of Missouri Hands which is an artisan group devoted to the promotion and education of Missouri artists. Education, inspiration, networking, and workshops will be offered along with Friday Night Frolics and a silent auction. The Artisan Showcase will be open to the public and offer participating artists a chance to exhibit and sell their work. Additional breakout sessions are planned on topics ranging from developing a portfolio, utilizing social media to promote your work, how to sell wholesale, getting juried into gallery exhibits and more.

Registration includes Friday evening reception, Saturday lunch and the Saturday evening banquet. The University Plaza Hotel in downtown Springfield provides breakfast on Saturday and Sunday for guests who stay at the hotel. Registrants are invited to bring guests to the Friday evening reception. Additional activities require that guests purchase and present tickets to participate. For full details and pricing, please visit www.bestofmissourihands.org

We hope that you will join us for a very creative, fun-filled weekend as Art Springs in Springfield.

For further information:
www.bestofmissourihands.org
Phone: (636) 293-6864

Bayou City Art Festival (March 28-30)  seems to be having a communication problem.  Websites and Face Book pages all over the internet are buzzing.

I have no horse in this race (obviously) although I did live in Houston for ten years and I have had the pleasure of being threatened with a lawsuit by an "artist" whose work I questioned, thanks to the Director of BCAF a couple of years ago.  

And there was last year's "art heist" held during the final hours of last year's show that I objected to so some might think I don't have a lot of love for the folks running this show.

I don't make this stuff up, it just happens naturally.  Apparently no one has received any information about booth space, hotels, load-in and whatever other info is usually sent prior to the show.  Inquiries for the most part were not answered leaving artists wondering what is going on. At  one point, artists calling the number of the BCAF office heard the phone picked up and someone in the background saying  to hang up the phone.  Then there is the rumor that the show has been expanded from 300 artists to 450.    300 is a lot of artists but 450 is a ridiculous number.  If the show has attendance to support 300 that is fine but if you are going to increase your booth number by 50%, you damn well better increase your attendance by at least 75% just to be safe.  Those are very small pieces of pie for the artists.

One of the artists received an email (finally) from someone in authority at BCAF with some sort of verbiage about making this a world class event that collectors from all over the world would rush to attend except it is a little late for this year with less than a month until the show.  As to the change in the prospectus from 300 to 450 artists, this was explained by a change in the board of directors after the prospectus and application money was received.  Others are checking into the legality of changing the show from what was listed in the prospectus.  (oh, did I mention that this information came out after the date for any kind of booth refund had passed?  Is anyone surprised?)

Adding to all the fun surprises, the  Fall BCAF had an application deadline before the Spring BCAF had even taken place.  Something that hadn't happened before, it is usually after.  But, have no fear, they have extended that deadline a bit for all those who didn't know they had made it so much earlier than previous years.  

And the surprises keep on coming--those called off the wait list (you have to fill those 150 booths somehow) are not being told that the show has been increased by such a large amount either.  

Of course all this fun led to some interesting comments and questions on their FB page where you can rate the show.  Gee, that section of the page seems to have been removed and there is no place to add commentary other than under something they have posted.  

Now with all this going on, including the hiring of people to help spread the gospel of wonderfulness that the BCAF will be, one would think that there would be some information disseminated today to stem the flow of conjecture and ill feelings towards this festival but alas, the silence has been deafening.

Houston--YOU have a problem.

Great weekend, great show, lots of orders for custom portraits!