Blog

May 17 & 18
East Lansing, Michigan
Downtown East Lansing
Produced by Art Festival Board of Directors under the auspices of the East Lansing Arts Commission/City of East Lansing
220 Artists
Deadline: January 31

#56 Sunshine Artist ranking  

Established in 1964, the East Lansing Art Festival kicks off the festival season each Spring on the weekend prior to the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the beautiful streets of downtown East Lansing.  The popular Festival attracts 70,000-80,000 attendees from across the region.  In addition to the 200-220 juried exhibitors the ELAF encourages future artists through emerging artist programs.

East Lansing is a charming University town with a wide variety of shops, restaurants, galleries and the beautiful Michigan State University campus across the street.

This long-standing, non-profit event is beloved by the community of Greater Lansing and   attracts devoted art buyers from across the state.  Informally known as the "City of the Arts" the City of East Lansing welcomes the finest artists in North America to exhibit at this highly promoted event.

Having exhibited in this art fair ourselves here is what else you will like:

• well-educated visitors, including professional people from State government and the University
• dedicated and friendly volunteers who welcome artists with friendly smiles facilitating a smooth load in and out
• booth sitting services
• well-planned eclectic live music entertainment that enhances the art rather than distracts from it
• international flavors in a unique food court
• a festive mood as this is the kickoff of the art fair season
• affiliation with the Public TV and radio stations, bringing the right people to you

Apply today: www.Zapplication.org   

Michelle Carlson

Art Festival Director

East Lansing Art Festival

(517)319-6804

mcarlson@cityofeastlansing.com 

More info: www.elartfest.com  

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Find more art fairs looking for artists: callsforartists.com

June 16-22 
Detroit, Michigan
Along the Detroit River Walk
15 Artists
Deadline: March 1

I live in Fort Lauderdale and did the show for 3- 4 years but stopped doing it last year  because of the buy/sell and cheap crafts.  If you are selling fine art forget about this show.  The locals shop this show for Christmas gifts and want to haggle over prices.  I hope this helps. 

JANUARY 15 - 4 pm ET 

Call in to speak with us we want to hear from you: 805-243-1338

June 12 - 15
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Along the Boardwalk
280 Artists
Application Deadline - January 22

Click for Application https://www.zapplication.org/event-info-public.php?fair_id=2938

 

This year marks the 59th year for the Boardwalk Art Show, making it one of the oldest and most respected outdoor fine art shows on the eastern seaboard. The show is consistently ranked in Sunshine Artist Magazine's Top 40 fine art shows.

With an average attendance each year of 250,000, this four-day event attracts collectors, patrons, artists and tourists from across the nation. The show runs along the Virginia Beach boardwalk overlooking the sandy beach and Atlantic Ocean.

280 artists in 13 mediums compete for cash prizes up to $30,000, including our $7,500 Best in Show award. Staffed with over 300 volunteers, the Boardwalk Art Show prides itself in the genuine support and hospitality provided to artists and guests alike.

Expect:

• Beautiful festival atmosphere with public art, fine food and live entertainment.
• Artist Amenities: great volunteers, drive-up loading and unloading, overnight security, booth sitters, free artist awards dinner for all artists with live music and great food.
• For Guests: Enjoy 15 blocks of fine art, fabulous food and great entertainment situated in an active resort community.Consider joining us at the Boardwalk Beach Club, the jewel of the show, if you're looking to add something special to your experience. An 80' tented space along the boardwalk with open bar, unparalleled lunch service and lovely shaded seating with beautiful views of the ocean.

For more information: www.boardwalkartshow.com
or email christie@virginiamoca.org

Apply:  www.Zapplication.org

Like us on Facebook for show updates.

Proceeds from the Boardwalk Art Show directly support the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art and help fulfill our mission to provide thought-provoking art exhibitions and children's art education programs. In one year alone, MOCA brought over 10,000 school-aged children to the arts through our outreach programs.

See you at the Boardwalk!

...Unbelievable.....

Guess they have not been reading here about unreasonable costs to enter and exhibit at juried exhibitions......

This is from the call for entry I just got in my inbox:

"As you review the Artists’ Market application for 2014 you’ll note changes to our fee structure. We’ve worked hard, to maintain level costs for program administration and equipment rental to our exhibitors, particularly during the economic downturn. This year‘s increased costs reflect the incremental increases that the festival has absorbed over the past five years. We believe that these fees are competitive with arts festivals of similar caliber and that participation in the Artists’ Market at Artscape is a tremendous value to exhibitors."

"NEW Artists’ Market Fee Scale:

• Application Fee: $60
• Standard (10x10x7) Space Fee: $700
• Taller (10x10x10) Space Fee: $750
• Double Space Standard (10x20x7, limited availability) Space Fee: $1400
• Double Taller (10x20x10, limited availability) Space Fee: $1500
• Table and Chair Rental (2 each): $50
• End of Group Location (limited availability): $200"

This isn't what I would call a "high - end" event.. Guess it is high end cost, though

Purple Rose Theatre Company, Development Director - professional theatre in Chelsea, MI. Actor Jeff Daniels lives there and has started this theatre.

Paint Creek Center for the Arts, Executive Director - Rochester, MI -- the center runs the popular Art and Apples art fair

Ann Arbor Farmer's Market, Manager - cool part-time seasonal job, an hourly wage. Part of it is an artist's market

And if you really have the credentials, how about this one?

Cranbrook Academy of Art and Art Museum, Director - in Bloomfield Hills, one of the finest art schools in the country

Find more here: a3arts.org

Thanks to the Arts Alliance newsletter for sending this info.

Well, when you are down to your last few  gold coins in your pirate's chest, a certain level of anxiety and apprehension sweeps over you.

Which was my spirit as I left scenic Ybor for the lures of Florida's lower west coast last Friday.

We are, of course, talking about the newly relocated Bonita Springs Art Festival.

I was pleasantly surprised by the beauty and open-ness of the art site.

It flowed down palm-laden streets and coursed back on a paved road near the railway. A nicely, grassed park held a fair amount of booths.  I worried about them.  And I was right to.  They did not get nearly the same traffic as us on the paved streets.

If I know director Barry Witt, he will rework the layout before the next show in Feb.  He heard a certain amount of criticism from those who were ignored by the masses.

Unfortunately, you have the "lemming effect" going on here.  The crowds follow the easiest straight or curving line.  If you make them have to step up or onto a new path, there usually is a lot of resistance.  It happens everywhere.  You would think most show promoters could have figured that out by now.

Being on a new site created a lot of apprehension.  Would the crowds come, would they buy in certain numbers, would our booths be safe at night--not pillaged by the locals?

Glad to say it went swimmingly well.

Big crowds, lots of them with their dogs.  A certain amount of sales were made.  I heard of no vandalism anywhere.

The venue is in a real positive area.  It is very tropical, very airy, lots of sunshine.  There is ample parking for all.  It is a better situation than we had at the old location.

My sales were OK, I made a paycheck.  But this was the lowest amount of sales I have ever had at this show in 13 years.

For a $400 booth fee, I expect a better return on my money.  So do a lot of others.

There were ample sales made in the $2K-$5K range.  It happened across the board.  

There were also a lot of artists who had a zero Saturday and a meager Sunday.

Thirty-plus new booths were added to the show (an extra $12K for the promoting organization).

Frankly, it is too many.  The pie gets sliced way too thin.  But, that's the "haps" at shows these days.

We live in the era of cut-throat art associations, and private promoters, who can gouge the artists.  The artists' cost escalate, their sales returns get smaller all the time.  Trouble is, there are too many suckers lined up waiting to pay.  So the shows just don't flat-ass give a damn about your situation.

So, I am going to end this on a very positive note.

While I replenish my small gold chest with a few tokens, consider the following advice:

To make money at this show it helps if you have big price points and only need a few customers (say, 3-9) to make your show.  Volume sales are not here.  It helps if your work is related to tropical birds, or fish, and especially tropical flowers.  The patrons are monied and conservative.  Everything must match the wallpaper.

So there it is.

Barry Witt has done a very good job of promoting an established show at a new location.

It is  very nice new location.

The booth layouts need a little tweeking.

Think twice before you plunk done your money here--it is not a guarantee for all.

Hopefully, my 2014 season will steadily improve.

Drink a pint of grog for the pirate, he needs to feel the good vibes.

Nels.

BTW, Travis wrote a very good, cheery review of this same show, so check it out.

We were at the Howard Alan Boca Fest show this past weekend.  The show has been mentioned/reviewed on AFI a number of times so I’ll just hit the highlights of the logisitics.

As with most HAE shows, it’s a 5AM setup on Saturday morning, although many tents were up earlier than that.  The load-in is easy if you get there early enough but not horrible even if you’re late.  The HAE staff keeps everyone moving and we didn’t see any real logjams.

Spaces are in the parking lot at the Boca Town Center, an upscale shopping center in a very upscale community.  The layout is a series of fairly short row bordered by a long row connecting the short ones – think shopping center parking lot and you’ll get it.  The aisles are very wide and the spaces are 18 giant feet deep – think parking space.  If you had enough panels, you could display art the entire depth of your space or you could store everything you own behind the tent.

The weather was perfect all weekend – mostly sunny, not too warm and gentle breezes.  On Saturday the crowd was steady but not the throng we had expected.  Contributing factors may have been the torrential rains that had flooded the streets of many Boca neighborhoods in the few days before the show.  Also, it was the Jewish Shabbat combined with the Ariel Sharon funeral. 

In any event, Saturday was slow for us and for a number of the other artists we spoke to.  Of course, some were vey happy.  Just like every other show.

Sunday was very crowded  - HAE gets them out with lots of promotion/ads.  Unfortunately it was just as slow for us as Saturday.

Sales were very disappointing especially after coming off a very good weekend at Las Olas. Last year we did the Hot Works Boca show (Patty Narozny) and had light sales as well.  Combined with this year’s result – Boca you’re dead to us!

A painter across from us practically sold out and we did see lots of bags being carried – though many were small.  The quality of the art was very, very high and there were buyers – just not for our fabric art.

Highlights:

We had a buyer on Saturday who was waffling about taking a piece because the colors might not match.  We did the old pay for it now, take it home, if it doesn’t work, bring it back routine.  On Sunday morning, she walks into the booth carrying the piece.  We immediately assumed that our slow sales were to get even slower.  Instead, she said the piece worked so well she wanted another one just like it.  Yay!

Also, we had enough Marriott points that we got a “free” weekend in the onsite hotel.  (Of course it’s only free because we have paid for so many other nights.)  It was great to have a two-minute walk to the room for air-conditioning/bathroom breaks.  It also ensured that we could be in the hotel bar for happy hour within seconds of getting the tent zipped up.

We saw and talked to many artists who were also at Las Olas. This week we were next to AFIers Gary and Maureen Shull and right behind Melanie Rolfes-Leonard.  We enjoyed meeting them in person and comparing notes with them on past/upcoming shows.

Teardown was as easy as it gets.  With an 18’ deep spot, stacking everything behind the tent and then getting the tent down meant that the already wide aisles became even wider.  There was plenty of room to drive right to your spot and load the van.  HAE staff tightly controlled entry to the venue.  We were on our way in no time.

Lowlights:

It really came down to sales.  We covered the booth and a few meals but that was about it.  If we didn’t have the free room it would have been a loser.  Boca Raton is clearly not our market.  There were plenty of artists who did well here; there were also a number who weren’t happy. 

Bottom line:

Great venue, big crowds (mainly on Sunday), professional promoters, poor sales.

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.