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Does anyone have reviews about this show, from experience or word of mouth? 

Weighing in #1 for the Best Fine Art Fair and Fine Craft Show is La Quinta Arts Festival in La Quinta, CA. Average sales are the main determinant for the Art Fair Sourcebook's ratings. La Quinta set a new event record for art sales, exceeding $2.8 million! Divide that up by 234 artists and almost everyone is taking home a very nice check. Congratulations to Christi Salamone, Executive Director and Kathleen Hughes, event director.

#2 is another sweet show, a complete contrast to the tony location near the golf courses and tennis courts of La Quinta, a small town in southern Illinois across from St. Louis, Belleville, IL's, Art on the Square. This town really turns out the crowds who cherish it as just about the biggest thing that happens there all year. A completely volunteer-run event, headed by Patty Gregory, it hosts 100 artists who are devoted to the show.

Last summer I hosted a podcast with these three women titled "Bringing Buyers to the Art Fairs." You can listen to it here. Show directors should be particularly interested in this podcast as it explains nuts and bolts of taking care of sponsors, promotion, and fundraising that are applicable to just about any show.

Listen to it here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/artfairs/2013/08/14/how-to-bring-buyers-to-the-art-fairs

Who else made the list? Can anyone help us out here? 

(I've reviewed the Cape Coral Festival of the Arts in detail for several years.  The logistics and background for this show are unchanged.  You can read last year's review here.) 
This was my fifth, and surely my last, visit to Cape Coral Festival of the Arts.  Featuring 300+ artists, craftspersons, and buy-sellers, it's certainly the largest show in SW Florida, and one of the best attended.  The citizens swarmed the show from just before the official opening until mid-afternoon on both days.  Well organized, well communicated, and logistically easy for setup and teardown.

But is it a great art festival?  Not by a long shot.  The Fort Myers News-Press got it about right in the lead paragraph of their story about the show in Sunday's paper: "Fried food and painted toilet seats caught people’s eyes Saturday at Cape Coral’s Festival of the Arts."  And so, I might add, did the purveyor of "handcrafted" lounge chairs that sold for $39 each, and the other booths filled with buy-sell, costume jewelry, and tschotskes. Don't misunderstand--there are some fine artists and craftpersons at this show, but in recent years they seem to be more and more outnumbered. Like the host city itself, this is an unpretentious show that welcomes all comers, is a little rough around the edges, and tries to be all things to everybody.  

Naples, it is not. And that stark fact provides a great opportunity to learn a lesson on choosing shows that match your target market, as opposed to chasing shows based on high attendance or somebody's top 100 shows list. 

There was a time, not long after I started in the business, when I had solid sales at this show.  I sold small work, framed most of it, and offered small matted prints at a $20 price point.  In 2009 I had 35 buyers at an average sale of about $60, and a little bit of follow-up business in the week or two following the show.  Even last year, long after I'd switched to canvases and dumped my 8x10 matted prints, I still eked out a bit over $2K, thanks to a few small canvas sales and a lot of 11x14 matted print sales, many of which were deeply discounted.

This year, I went with much larger work at much higher price points: canvases were mostly 24x36 and larger.  (Last year, 24x36 was my largest size).  Fewer 11x14 mats (priced at $45-$49, also up from last year) and 16x20s at around $80-85.  As a concession to the bargain-seekers that abound in this working-class city, I hung a half-dozen smaller canvases, 24x16 or thereabouts, and set out a binful of small prints at deep discounts for my annual "Clear the Nest" sale.

The result?  In 14 hours of beautiful weather, I sold zero canvases, three deep-discount items, a couple of $20 calendars, and a bunch of 11x14 and 16x20 mats, totaling $1000.  About half-a-box of business cards fairly flew out the door, most likely never to be seen again.  

And yet, this doesn't upset me.  Because sometimes, you can define your market not by looking at who buys your work, but rather who does not.  So the fact that sales were tough to come by this weekend is actually good news.  Now, if sales lag in my next two shows (in downtown Sarasota and St. Pete), I've got a problem.  So..., stay tuned!

Booth Fee: $326, single check or online credit card, payable with application, cashed quickly
Attendance: High, but few strollers or sales after 4 PM either day
Weather: Fair both days
Number of artists: Over 300
Music: No
Food court: You betcha

Buy-sell?: Ditto
Artist amenities: None
Good show for: Beginning artists; those with low price points ($20-100) and/or kitsch. Small items sell best, as patrons have long walks and parking/access points are tight

Awards: Yes (Judge never walked in my booth, just gave a quick glance from 15 feet away, but paused long enough to place helpful initials on my booth sign)
Setup: Friday night check-in from 6-10 pm; access to street 8-12 midnight; Saturday setup began 6 AM. 
Teardown: 5-7 PM Sunday.  Streets re-opened just after 7 PM 

This was our first show of the new year, and it went well.  A good sign of the recovering economy.

This is a well established show, and always a top-seller.  This year it underwent a major change of location: from an upscale shopping mall on the main thoroughfare to a city park on a side road.  There was a lot of concern that the patrons wouldn't follow, but they showed up in large numbers.  It seemed, to my untrained eye, that there were larger crowds than ever before.

Sales, as is always the case, were all over the board.  I heard everything from "zero" to "best show ever".  Most people I talked to were very pleased with their weekend.  If you had a mailing list, it really helped.  Lots of our fan club showed up, even if it was only to say "hello".  And we saw many new faces that were never at the other location.

I am continually amazed at the effort it takes to produce an event like this: locations scouted, permits acquired, streets closed, layouts planned, security hired, entertainment and food booths arranged, and volunteers and support staff hired. All so that we can waltz in on a Friday, do our thing, and skip off on Sunday evening with some loot.  

Kudos to Barry, Susan, Midge, and all the lovely people at the Art Center for their months of hard labor which resulted in a pleasant and profitable weekend for many happy artists.

Hope your holidays were jolly and full of small moments to cherish. My best times are just being in the same room with my children and grandchildren. The little people are finally at the "game age" and we had a lot of fun playing "team Clue."

I enjoyed the Secret Santa exchange also. Some great gifts were exchanged. You could really tell these did not come from China ;) but were lovingly handmade by all of you.

Thanks to participants Sharon Donovan, Robert Wallis, Scott Pakulski, Brian Billings, Robert Johnson, Melanie Rolfes, Roxanne Coffelt, Larry Berman, Patricia DeMaria, Ellen Schneider, Trudi Van Dyke, Wendy Lea Holder, Sandra Schwarzbeck, Ruth Jellema, Meg Funk, Patti Monroe-Mohrenweiser, Jacki Bilsborrow, Maureen Roberts, Lois Anderson, Joan Tweedell, Suzanne Ens and Ron Roland.

I received a gift that I prize from my Secret Santa and others did also as reported here: http://www.artfairinsiders.com/forum/topics/santa-s-presents-arriving-show-us

As promised everyone who posted showing gifts will be receiving compliments of AFI my two e-books, "Getting Started at Art Fairs" and "Getting into Art Fairs: 20 Questions Answered." Look for them in your mailbox tomorrow.

In addition, everyone who participated will receive our famous Red Dot bumper sticker in the mail. Please email me your mailing address.

Then I had to find a judge to choose the Grand Prize Winner and it had to be someone with impeccable credentials in the art fair community. Thank you to Rick Bryant, Executive Director of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, who took on this daunting task.

Here are the judge's comments:

This was more difficult than I thought it would be!

I’m going with the license plate mug. Nice photo and object, not cloying and no mention of one’s cats or “my wife made me”. Just a cool outsider-y mug. Nice work.

Honorable mention goes to you. I thought yours was good, but it would be bad form for you to win.

Pretty interesting that our "judge" judged not only on the object but the photography! Obviously knows what he is doing. Thanks, Rick.

The winner of the is Scott Pakulski of Ypsilanti, MI. Scott wins a gift certificate from the famous Zingerman's Bakery in Ann Arbor.  Since you live near I thought I'd let you pick out your favorite goodies. Hope you can use it, Scott.

I don't know who was my Secret Santa and I'd guess Scott doesn't know either. Does anyone want to disclose their identity?

You guys were great and I enjoyed organizing this. Do you want to do it again next year?

P.S. I will always treasure my gift, a warm reminder of the caring that I have received from this community.

May 10 & 11
Birmingham, Michigan
Mother's Day Weekend

Saturday 10 am - 6 pm; Sunday 10 am - 5 pm
Produced by the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center
in association with The Guild of Artists & Artisans
160 Artists
Deadline: January 31

Art Birmingham, originally known as the Birmingham Fine Art Festival, takes place in the streets surrounding Shain Park, in downtown Birmingham, Michigan. The park is conveniently located in the center of this favorite suburban downtown and features welcoming pathways and beautiful landscaping.

As the downtown center, the park is surrounded by convenient parking for artists and fairgoers and within easy access to the many unique stores and fabulous restaurants of downtown Birmingham - favorites of the upscale shoppers and residents  throughout Oakland County and beyond. This highly respected event will showcase 160 juried artists in an elegant and extraordinary setting.

The show features a solid partnership of The Guild (an organization run by artists) and the premiere Art Center in affluent Oakland County bringing you a well organized event coupled with the "right" community connections.

Show Features

• Extensive advertising and promotion    
• Professional and respectful art fair staff
• Well-provisioned artist hospitality tent
• Negotiated special rates for artists in nearby hotels and motels
• Friendly booth sitters
• 100 free promotional postcards (additional postcards available)

Booth Fees

• $345, 10' x 10' booth fee; $65 corner fee
• $690, double booth fee; $65 corner fee

(Note: A limited number of double booths are available. A booth corner allows for access to the either the right or left side of the booth and the open side is between eight and ten feet from the next booth; a corner may or may not be at the end of a row or street.)

Security & Artist Parking

Professional, overnight security will be provided on Friday and Saturday. There is ample artist parking available in close proximity to the fair site. Parking is free on Sunday in the downtown Birmingham parking structures.

 

Eligibility 

Artists in fine art and fine craft disciplines are invited to apply. Please review the Exhibition Standards to help determine the eligibility of your specific artwork.

Important Show Information: Please review the  application  procedures, the event calendar and the Exhibition Standards  and Rules.

If you have any questions, please contact The Guild  at 734.662.3382, ext. 101 or info@theguild.org.

Apply: JuriedArtServices.com 

A friend of mine was excited to tell me that he was just juried into a fine craft show.  I was appalled and said - 'But you do 'buy and sell.'  And then I told him that if he was next to me, across from me, or anywhere near me, I would be totally upset.  He said he understood and hoped he wasn't placed near 'shlocky buy and sell.'  He figured that promoters needed to sell space.  I figure that if promoters are so desperate to sell space, then maybe there needs to be a 'Plan B' - to think it through before buy and sell is included in a fine craft show.  Now I know that  this particular promoter isn't necessarily being honest with the artists applying to these shows.  What are we as crafters to do - knowing that this is happening to a well thought of promoter, then it's most likely happening throughout the industry.

As I reflect on the year just passed, the highlights will include the birth of my first grandchild, the Detroit Tigers making it almost all the way and a very healthy Christmas Season, creatively speaking. 

I started out strong delivering felted hats, handbags, Fair Isle baby hats and felted booties to The Pear Tree in Dixboro, MI and also to Agora on Waldo's Hill in Antwerp, OH.  I had been to the Pear Tree before and know the shopkeeper/owner quite well, no concerns there.  Agora on the other hand was a new venue for me and I didn't know quite what to expect when they contacted me about selling my creations there.  I was flattered of course and looked at their website, which was lovely, and so went to work knitting and delivering two adult hats and coordinating handbags and four sets of baby hats and booties.

When we arrived in the town of Antwerp, we were a little under-whelmed as it appeared to be, like many small towns in America, rather ghostly in appearance without much going on.  There was a Subway Restaurant, where we had lunch, and a rather interesting general store/bulk food market but not much else.  The coffee house (Agora on Waldo's Hill) was the only bright spot in an otherwise depressed community.  It's in a restored Victorian House with coffee shop and pastries downstairs and two rooms for rent upstairs.  Very charming and the owner was delightful and welcoming.

I commenced to show her what I'd brought, saying that she needn't keep all of it, just what she thought she could sell there...she has a small room designated as a gift shop.  She said she'd like to keep all of it on consignment and I agreed, reluctantly.

On the way back home I realized I had just left an enormous body of work in the middle of nowhere and I couldn't help but question my decision to do so...my husband was also pretty dubious about the whole thing.

In the meantime, the East End Studio and Gallery in Marshall, MI where I've sold my work for the last two years, successfully, was clamoring for more and I had to scramble around to come up with something for them.  

So, I guess the lesson learned last year was stick with the tried and true and don't be too flattered or greedy and sign up to do more than you can accomplish in a busy selling season.  I still haven't received a check from Agora or The Pear Tree but it's still early January and I'm hopeful that the money will start pouring in any day now...

So there you go -- 10,000 people have joined our community. Welcome to each and every one.

Goaded by my son, Scott Fox, to start an online community over six years ago I finally launched ArtFairInsiders.com in the fall of 2008. I was skeptical about it being worth my time. He believed that people would be interested. I do believe he was right. Parents can learn lessons from their children.

How did we do it?

1. I focused on the concept of a site where an actual offline community could meet online and the people I knew best were the art fair artists. The site would be like those "behind the booth" conversations we always have face to face. I was fortunate, I knew a lot of artists.
2. I committed to building a site that would always be free to artists, then sat down at the computer and climbed in, spending hours writing, researching, answering emails, encouraging people to join, learning how to work with jpgs and some html along the way. It's been pretty much a full time job.
3. The site was meant to reflect the personality of the artists, full of useful information, artists helping artists, teaching the basic tenets of marketing art at art fairs. Artists are very generous with what they have learned and they stepped up and shared reviews, dos and don'ts, stories, YouTube videos, music, jokes and great images.
4. Together we created content that is useful in learning the business of being an itinerant artist. Because the site is helpful it gets passed on word-of-mouth, behind the booth. We are helping each other to be smarter and learn from each other's lessons, from veteran to newcomer.
5. The goal: to build a sense of community, embracing the shared emotional connection through our common work. Artists work alone in studios. Those brave enough come out to face the crowds at the art fairs, they need and can use a place to learn about other's fears and successes. This site is meant to strengthen and teach.

The gist of it is:

• 10,000 members
• over 4000 blog posts
• over 4700 discussions
• nearly 15,000 photos
• 10053 subscribe to our emails through the RSS
• videos and podcasts

Good job, folks!

Everyone here owes a big thanks to all the generous people who have contributed their time to teach and share and explain. Here are just some of those who have made a difference: http://www.artfairinsiders.com/page/featured-members

What does 10,000 mean? 

From Amy Elizabeth's blog, Breathtakingly Beautiful

My personal thanks to all the show directors and advertisers who have supported this site, keeping it free to the artists. I surely could not have done it without them. I speak for all of us in thanking you.

Also thanks to Jacki Bilsborrow who welcomes all new members to the site, writes each "Tip of the Day", participates in discussions and along with Pat Finney chooses the weekly "Post of the Week." Thanks to Larry Berman who is the gatekeeper, deciding who gets in as a member keeping the spammers away and also brings valuable tech advice and expertise. I totally rely on both of them for their help daily.

What do you think? Has this community been helpful to you?

June 14 & 15  
Indianapolis, Indiana
Talbot Street between 16th & 20th Sts.
and between Pennsylvania and Delaware Sts.
Sat. 10am-6pm; Sun. 10am-5pm
270 Exhibitors
Deadline:  January 21 (postmark)

The fair is sponsored by Talbot Street Art Fair, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts and philanthropic endeavors, program grants, scholarship endowments and awards.
270 fine art and fine craft artists from across the nation will participate in the oldest juried fair in Central Indiana.  The fair remains free to the public.

Media categories are two dimension, two and three dimension mixed media, clay, fiber, glass, jewelry, metal, photography, sculpture and wood.

Merit Awards of $250 are given for each category and also a $500 Best of Show Award.  2013 Merit Award winners will be invited jury exempt for the 2014 fair.  In addition to the Merit Awards, we also sponsor Purchase Awards.

All of the fair's focus is on the artists.  We do not have commercial booths or performing musicians.  We do extensive advertising to bring you the customers that buy.  The fair has a dedicated following ofpatrons who show up rain or shine.  Our local and regional media coverage includes billboards, newspapers, magazines, online ads and radio and television interviews.

We provide:

• 24 hour security with our Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers
• free parking for both artists and RVs and cold water
• We also offer the option of Friday afternoon set-up.  Our Block Captains help us create an organized fair that runs smoothly.

The booth space sizes vary from the standard of 10'x12' to 10'x22'.  The fees are a $30 application processing fee and booth space starting at $310.  Applications now available to download on our website:  www.talbotstreet.org

The postmark deadline for application is January 21 with a notification date of March 15.

The first cold of the new year, symptoms of which I'd been pounding with Zicam since Christmas Day, finally took root on New Year's Eve and made the first two days of 2014 pretty miserable.  But one of the advantages of age is that you know pretty much how well you are going to throw off illnesses, and I knew I'd be OK to participate in the Naples New Year show.

Which was a good thing.  I hadn't done the show since 2010, and lots had changed with my work since then.  Plus, I'd seen declining sales at the competing show at Miromar Outlets run by HotWorks/Patty Narozny over the last two years, so it was time to roll the dice 20 miles further south.  

It turned out to be a decent, if not spectacular, show, despite being much soggier than forecast on Saturday, with precipitation that progressed from a brief sprinkle during setup to intermittent showers around noon, to steady rain after about 2 PM.  And there were some good lessons learned from that:

* Never, never, bring work in cardboard boxes to shows in Florida.  I had received a large shipment of new, larger canvases on Friday.  And given how I was feeling and the partly cloudy forecast,  I was tempted to just load them into the van in their original shipping containers.  But instead, I forced myself to spend two hours cutting custom containers out of aluminum insulation and bubble wrap. When the rains hit unexpectedly at 7:30 AM Saturday morning, I was glad that I did. The work was safe and dry in its custom bags; some would have been damaged in soggy cardboard.

* Don't leave your booth because of lack of customers, rain brings out serious buyers.  This advice was echoed in Melanie Rolfe's post on Las Olas.  Folks on a mission for new art won't let a litle rain stop them.  You may find, as I did, that these buyers are there despite the rain because they've got flights out on Sunday, and they want to get their place ready for the season before they leave. 

Case in point:  Among my new, larger pieces was a 45x30 canvas of a shot I'd been selling successfully at 30x20 for several years.  I had it hung on my back wall, and it was attracting lots of attention from folks sitting at the outdoor seats at the Starbucks directly across from me. (So much so, that I joked about calling it my "Venti" sized canvas.  I didn't, for fear of arousing the ire of Starbucks' lawyers, who are demonstrably serious about  protecting their trademarks.)

But I digress.  About two hours into the show, a very nice lady strolled over, clutching her latte, and expressed interest in this $795 piece. The only sticking points seemed to be: Would it fit in her SUV(!), and how would it stay dry during the ride home?  She went off to measure her cargo space; I fetched the custom bag I'd spent a half hour making only the night before.  She returned in ten minutes, reporting that she just had room.  I took the work off the wall, slipped it in the bag, and happily took her check.  For a sale like that, I'll cut custom bags every day, and twice on Sunday. 

So the new, larger work would sell. . .that was a relief.  And an hour later, I sold a custom order for a smaller version (16x20 of another large piece on display.  And because I'd priced up the large piece, the price I put on the small piece looked like a bargain in the customer's eyes--even though said price was nearly double what I charged in 2013. 

Those were the only two customers I had on Saturday, but I had over $1000 in the till.  Pretty good first day return on my "go big or go home" initiative.  When Sunday dawned to sunny skies and warmer temps, I was expecting a gangbusters day-- but it didn't materialize.  Crowds were moderate, but nothing approaching wall-to-wall, and the buying energy wasn't there.  For most of the day, I saw more pocket pooches being carried than fine art purchases.  Some late-day buyers boosted the day's totals into respectability, but overall, the results were another decent paycheck--much like last week's show at Coconut Point. 

Many of the artists in my area of the show reported decent sales; few folks zeroed; others did pretty well. It was tough to draw conclusions from what I heard, but if I had to take a stab, I'd say that sales were slightly down from, or even with, 2013. 

A couple of other nuggets worth knowing about this show:
* Set-up is Saturday morning only (no Friday), beginning at 3 AM.  I drove down from Ft. Myers and arrived a little after six.  Check-in a few blocks away in a large, dark vacant lot lit only by a blinding floodlight, get your packet and parking pass, then drive as directed by the volunteer and von Liebig museum staff to your spot.  Well controlled but not overly so. 

* The show is laid out along Naples' swank Fifth Avenue shops and eateries in a single line; booths are back-to-back, with enough storage space behind to make things workable.  The show sets up the booths so that everyone can have an outside side wall for display, weather permitting.  I think it's safe to say that there isn't a bad booth location in the show, and even though the visitors definitely skew toward the cane-and-walker side of the demographic profile, most navigate the entire show.  Devoted. 

*Show quality is uniformly high: about 225 artists, and a wide variety of categories: painting the largest (20% of show); jewelry was about 11%; photography and sculpture, about 10%; closely followed by glass and mixed media.  You can also find a decent representation of furniture and woodworking.

* It's a conservative crowd.  Abstract art doesn't sell well here; never has.  They loves their birds and Florida beach scenes,  but there were a lot of artists, including myself, chasing that particular buying niche.

*It's also a cash crowd.  There are lots of Europeans (not just Germans and British, but eastern Europeans as well).  They pay cash; they write checks; they haggle (a little, but nothing like you'd find over in Boca Raton).  I did very little business in credit cards.  If you ship to Europe (I don't), you definitely want to advertise that in your booth.

So, I'm but one artist out of many AFI'ers that did this show.  Jump in with your experiences.  And if you opted for HotWorks' show in Estero this weekend (a half hour drive on Rt. 41 North),  how about letting us know how things went there this weekend?  The next three months will bring us lots of opportunities for same-weekend competing shows; it will be helpful for future generations to know what's what. 

Here are the winners of the Post of the Week for December - vote today to reward these members who have generously contributed to AFI:

• Jason Grauberger  -  "What Went Wrong?", December 4 (a new artist ponders a rejection)
• Pat Sorbini  -  "Re-calculating", December 12, (a veteran reevaluates her career and ponders what to do next)
• Nels Johnson  -  "MY FALL WRAP-UP OF SHOWS IN FLORIDA - - NOT TOO EXCITING - - can't wait for 2014 to come", December 16 (getting by during the slow months)
• En Soo  -  "2nd Annual Phoenix Festival for the Arts", December 23 (show review of a new event)

In addition, is there anyone who you think has been especially helpful this month who you think deserves a pat on the back? Please write in the name.

Click here to take survey

Deadline: January 12, 6 pm ET

Happy New Year. Just finished my first show of the New Year. Bring it 2014!

Lots of reviews have been written on Las Olas shows so set up, booth, load out details all the same. If you haven't done the show and aren't familiar with it and want to know more just search Las Olas and find past reviews.

I arrived around 2pm on Friday to The Riverside Hotel with about 5 other artists checking in at the same time. One of the wonderful things about doing this show is that I am spoiled and get to stay in a wonderful full service hotel that is practically on top of my booth. All I have to do is look out my hotel window and I can see my booth. Next year I am going to set up a zip line from my hotel room to my booth and just zipline to the booth;). I also choose to valet my vehicle in their out door lot which is actually a pretty cheap option for the area, so parking is cake. Friday afternoon was able to enjoy the day along the river, pool and of course Las Olas.

Saturday bright and early, 4am, I got up walked to the car and easily drove up to my spot and dropped off my stuff on the side walk. I love my block, we all seem pretty together. Third year on this block for me. Some blocks are not as organized, it just takes one artist to mess it all up but my area are all pros. By 4:20 I was back in my hotel room taking a quick nap because you can't start setting up until 5am. Back down at 5am and by 6am was all done and back in the hotel room with room service.

The weather for Saturday was suppose to be sunny and mid 70s. Perfect, but no it just drizzled most of the day. Crowds weren't the normal HUGE crowds for this show BUT by 11am large pieces were walking out of the show. The serious shoppers didnt let the drizzle deter them. I saw a steady stream of large work leave all day.

Sunday the forecast was for lots of rain, nope. Sunny with some clouds. And the people came. Big crowds. The jewler next to me had people waiting in line to get into her booth. Weather was great all day and the crowd was big all day.

Everyone I talked to was happy and reported better sales this year than last. Woo Hoo!

Breakdown easy peasy. Was broken to the side walk by 5:20 and then went to happy hour and had some dinner. At 7:45pm I went back to pick up my stuff and there was only two artists left so I was all packed up in 15 and back in the hotel room to watch the premier of Downton Abbey;).

Great way to kick off the new year.

You'd think the heat would take the stuffing out of even the most stalwart artists, but not so, folks. Here are some people we all know well with tips on how they get through the long hot days and what is good about art fairs:

I attended on Thursday and Friday with our daughter, Farah Darwish, and it was such a pleasure to see old friends and see wonderful new work.

The video includes: Andrew Shea, David Curles, Sharon Johnston, Joachim Knill, Janice Ho, Aaron Hequembourg, Sandra Wampler and Elaine Unzicker ... then my battery died!  7 min. 37 sec.

10,000 Artists

Congratulations to Connie. As of now we're at 9,993 members and will hit 10,000 within the next 24 hours.

Imagine asking a question or starting a blog and having 10,000 artists see it. Though they are mostly lurkers, think of the possibilities.

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

WTF!!!

Where is Parker, Coe, Bernstein and other cognitos.

Don't you guys have anything to contribute to this little analytical review of our industry.

You guys must be sitting back in the big chair, munching away on cheesy fritos and washing it down with lots of beers.

Heck! I bet Barely Barry Bernstein is probably swimming laps in them up in near-Marquette, Michigan.

Come on slugs, chime in, pay your dues.

People want to know.

You too, Coe.

Gee, whatever happened to Bill Sargent and the rest of the Lakeland Photo Mafia?

Sigh!

Where is Munks and Holly when we need them.

And most of all, missing.

Our major  mother, the beautiful,vivacious and loquacious Constance Mettler.

Certainly you must have something to contribute.

After all, Berman let us know about JAS preceding Zapp by four years-- certainly you can top that.

Wake up Norm, steal a tidbit out of him.  Give us a Bill Coleman minute.  I am not even going to post this on Facebook.  We will just keep it all in the family.

Greetings from the 22nd Annual Marion Arts Festival, in Marion, Iowa! (Adjacent to Cedar Rapids, in East Central Iowa).

Named by ArtFairCalendar.com as among America's Best Art Fairs 2013 and Art Fair SourceBook as among the Top 25 festivals in the nation for 2012, the MAF presents 50 artists, offering both fine art and fine craft to an audience of 14,000.

Marion is a "vintage uptown" type of community, and a part of the Cedar Rapids metro area. Our show is one-day, intimate and purposeful, with the mission to be an event through which you will thrive. 

(Here, we're obligated to insert that we're volunteer-driven, kind of hokey and maybe more than a little mom-and-pop ... in good ways, mostly.) 

There are no bands, there is no beer - our festival is about the art. (However, we do cop to falafel.)

Thank you for your interest, and for the work you do!  We count ourselves lucky that you're out there.  Please don't hesitate to contact us for information and encouragement!