Blog

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!

I paint on multiple layers of plexiglass to give the art a 3D look. The finish pieces have 4 layers of plexi with spacers between them and are about 1" thick. They look awesome, if you can see the work past that glare! The glare is bad in the house and can only imagine how bad it will be in my booth outdoors. I'm looking for a non-glare glass or acrylic product for the final layer to protect the work. I have looked at non-glare acrylic, but the one I tried is only clear if it's directly on the art, otherwise it gives it a foggy look. I've also seen Tru-View non-glare glass but it is pricey and of course it's more trouble some as far as transporting. Any suggestion?

I've just updated my website, new images had been added and store coming soon. Galleries have a new look. Some feedback will be appreciated. www.lpstudios.net . I only have on concern, pages that you need read the background is white and for the galleries is black. Please let me know what you think.

I take my down time and update the website every year. I did the final stuff before I add the store to the website. I need advice and things that you do not like. There are things that I can not do: gallery images can not get any bigger.

Thanks

September 27 & 28  
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria Riverfront Festival Park & Gateway Building
Fri. Patron Preview Party
Sat. 9am-5pm; Sun. 10am-5pm
150 Artists
Deadline:  March 14

Highlights:

• $10,000 Total Awards, including Best of show: $2,500; 10 Awards of Excellence: $750 each and 10 Honorable Mentions:  Automatic invite for 2015
• Peoria is hallway between Chicago and St. Louis and a short destination drive from Des Moines, Milwaukee and Indianapolis
• Voted in Top 50 Best Art Fairs by ArtFairCalendar.com
• Rated #87 in the Top 200 Art Fairs by Sunshine Artist, 2013
• Ranked in the Top 200 Fairs, 2013 Art Fair Sourcebook, #63 in Fine Art and #92 in Fine Craft

With 35% of our exhibiting artists new each year, we never tire of hearing:  "Wow, I never thought I'd sell this well and have this much fun in Peoria, Illinois!"

Whether you're a first-timer...

This has been one of the nicest shows I've been a part of.  Well organized, very artist friendly, beautiful town and art savvy customers.  Plus, what an outstanding group of artists.-Joe Martino, 2013 Fine Art Fair Artist

Or back for more...

I love your festival,  It is always one of my favorites every year.  I always love coming back.  Thank you!-Shawn Wolter, 2005-2013 Fine Art Fair Artist

We pride ourselves on preserving the established reputation of hosting an exceptional fair-now into its 52nd year!!

• An appreciative buying audience for ALL mediums
• Pre-fair sales opportunities and commissioned post-fair sales
• Easy set-up and teardown/level and accessible
• Over 400 energetic community volunteers willing to please-delivery of refreshments, booth sitters for breaks, and other help as needed
• Overnight security-both Friday and Saturday
• Complimentary meals all weekend with artist awards reception meal
• Beautiful outdoor venue on over three acres of Riverfront
• Above and beyond hospitality-enjoy some good mid-western fun!

Come to Central Illinois and let us show you why so many artists consider the Peoria Art Guild's Fine Art Fair one of the most fun (and profitable) fairs they do all year!

Application available at: www.Zapplication.org 

For more info, please call (309)671-1090, visit: www.peoriaartguild.org, or email: events@peoriaartguild.org