Blog

  I am accepted to the Coconut Grove Art Fair in February. Never did that one! Any advice, helpful hints? It is very expensive to even be in Miami, so any advice for lodging?  Should I be happy or worry?

 Thanks for any suggestion!!

Ana

OTAF from Dawn Smith on Vimeo.

Together with our friends at the Arts Business Institute we are pleased to offer you this opportunity:

This two-day intensive business learning experience is designed to help artists launch or grow a production studio business. Lectures include How to Wholesale, Pricing for Profit, Marketing for Artists, Sales Strategies, Gallery Relationships and more. A tour of the Buyers Market, the largest trade show in the country for handmade luxury goods, is included, as well as an invitation to attend the prestigious NICHE Awards ceremony. Personalized business consultations are also available.

Deadline to apply was December 15

I'm search for table cloths that fix over my tables   my tables are 2 x 4   and 1.5 x 6  all in feet.   The hardest is the 1.5ft x 6ft   And help is a appreciated. 

Thanks  Bill

We all know this art fair business is full of frustration, fun, financial challenge, friends, and fascinating questions about what will happen next. 

I'm sure you remember when you started in the business the helpfulness of other artists and the great tips you picked up "behind the booth." This was invaluable information that has built your business. Any chance you can "pay it forward?"

Wll you post a 2013 show review or two on ArtShowReviews.com? The reviews are coming in steadily but yours would be so appreciated. 

It's easy and fast:

1. Click this link www.ArtShowReviews.com 
2. Answer the questions - about 10 of them
3. Sit back and receive the good karma. You've done your good deed for the day and your reward is on its way.

Here are some of the reasons artists have told us they post reviews:

I saw that there were no comments or reviews posted and I felt that this was a good show that deserved a review.

 

I always review the big shows. More people should.

 

I think it helps to know about shows. and hope others will post what shows they do as well.

 

To help other artists.

 

I've learned a lot from reading at this site and wanted to reciprocate.

Well, 2013 was my second year in the art fair scene and it has been a remarkable year indeed. First off, my sales have been 11 times what they were my first year. Yay! I hit my first 1K day at Crocker Park (Westlake, Ohio) on Saturday. Too bad the Guild killed off that show...

I earned two ribbons. One for Photography at the Crosby Festival of the Arts in Toledo, Ohio and my second ribbon was from a purchase award by Wee Kirk Preschool in Mundelein, Illinois. So I guess I am an award winning artist...

I have created an address file for people who signed up to be on my mailing list. That is something that did not happen in 2012. But this brings me to a decision for 2014. To get into even bigger shows. I will be applying for the Ann Arbor fairs. I live in Washtenaw County anyway.

I also learned something from 2013, that the jury was confused by images of Lego minifigures with landscapes. In 2014, I will keep my jury images constitant with Lego minifigures or classic Fisher Price Little People. That portion of my sales (the minifigures and Little People) is 85-90% of my total at fairs. So the other work in the booth has been getting less and less booth space.

Also, I did have a few commissioned pieces from my Etsy shop. The shop on Etsy helps with the winter months when I do not have fairs...

If I make four to five times what I made in 2013 from the fairs in 2014, I will be very, very happy! Now it's time to get my inventory up again and prepare new images for 2014. Best of luck gang in 2014!

Got this email today from someone I don't know, asking for information on starting out with shows. I spent more time than I intended answering his questions, and thought some of your other newbies might benefit as well. Here's his email:

My name is *** and I’m a photographer...  As a fellow photographer I would like to ask you a few questions regarding art fairs.  

I’m exploring the idea of participating in a few art fairs for the 2014 season; I anticipate my start up cost to be approximately $10,000, does that sound right to you?  This start up money would buy a tent, print enough material to have on hand at the show, and traveling/art fair cost?   I assume subsequent shows won’t cost as much; is it safe to conclude each art fair thereafter would cost approximately $6,000?

How do you determine the number of prints to display; do you sell the display pieces, and if you do, does the customer take the purchased product at the point of purchase or do you keep it until the show is finished?

How many smaller unframed prints do you carry to each show; for example, do you bring twenty 8x10”, ten 11x14”, and two 14x17” of each picture?

In taking with other photographers I am aware that I want to look for shows that are juried, is that your opinion also?

My last question is a bit sensitive and I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, however, I appreciate any advice you can provide: Roughly, what kind of sales may a photographer expect to see at an average size art show?  I know there are a million factors that come into play but I’m looking for a rough idea on what to expect.

So here's what I wrote back:

That's a lot of questions. Fortunately there are a number of resources to help you get started, and to commune with your fellow artrepreneurs!

First off, let me suggest http://www.artfairinsiders.com

There is a lot of material there, much of it based on questions similar to yours. There are forums for just about every media, and many of the subjects come up time and again. There is also a photographer's forum.

On Facebook, there is a group for art show photographers. Started by Larry Berman as a Yahoo forum years ago, it's morphed into a group that sees some activity. Feel free to join, ask questions, lurk. If you're already on Facebook, here's the address: http://www.facebook.com/groups/artshowphoto/

There are several good books devoted to selling and setting up at art fairs. Among the best is Maria Arango's book:

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Festival-Guide-Artists-Festivals/dp/1430319763

and Bruce Baker's CD set on selling:

http://bbakerinc.com/store/

Check out the NAIA organizatoin: http://www.naia-artists.org
Some helpful information there, too, although you have to join to get most of the meat.

Show information is much easier to come by these days. Several pubs deal this out:

http://www.artfaircalendar.com/

http://www.zapplication.org is the main online art show application application. Most of the big national shows list on here. One thing to keep in mind: once the deadline is past, the show drops off the Apply to This Show list. You can find a list of all the shows that list though, under a separate navigation topic.

http://www.juriedartservices.com
This is the other major listing application. What isn't on ZAPP or JASV is on Entry Thingy

Greg Lawler's Art Fair Sourcebook used to be worth the subscription price, especially for those starting out. Now, maybe not so much, but take a look at it anyway. http://www.artfairsourcebook.com

Your cost estimate isn't too far off.  You will need display materials inside the canopy however, and those are not particularly cheap.

Flourish makes the most solid tent. Solid steel frame, heavy vinyl, heavy duty zippers. You can trick it out any number of ways, but a basic Trimline will run you about $1000.
http://www.flourish.com

You can start with an EZ-Up, a Caravan or any number of other cheap folding tents, but I wouldn't advise it if you can afford a stronger tent.

A set of Propanels (9 x 38" x 7') run another $1000 or so. Depending on if you buy braces and lights, you can spend more. Their site is instructional.
http://www.propanels.com

Armstrong Display products makes a similar set of panels for about the same cost.

Jury fees set me back about $1000-1500 per year, depending on how many shows I apply to. If I'm accepted, the booth fees run anywhere from $200 for a small local show to upwards of $1500 for the very top shows in Coconut Grove and Sausalito. Most good juried shows fall into the $400-600 range for a single 10x10 spot. I do about 20 shows a year, which run me on average $500 per booth. That come to about $11,000 just to play. Some shows are less, some shows charge you extra for electricity, if they have it, or a corner space, or a double.

You should have liability insurance. Some shows require it. That may cost you $350-650/year, or you can insure per show with a company called Artists, Crafters  & Tradesmen Insurance http://www.ACTInsPro.com

Miscellaneous show equipment:

• Weights for your booth: at least 50 pounds per leg
• Awnings
• A chair
• Some sort of write-up desk
• Bins or folding racks to display matted prints
• A credit card system. Most people use the Square now, or PayPal's swiper, or Intuit. You can still open a merchant account and use a wireless terminal. Square requires that you have an iPhone or iPad, and a cellular data plan or access to wireless. Same for the others. Lots of research on this.
• Office supplies: stapler, tape, duct tape, bags, all kinds of miscellaneous stuff.
• A flashlight, lantern, or headlamp
• Raingear
• Plastic tarps
• Bungie cords
• A-clamps
• A dolly to move stuff back and forth to your vehicle when you can't drive to your booth location
• Plastic tubs to carry matted prints in

Travel costs depend entirely on how far you plan to range for shows. The further you go, the more it will cost you. $6000 / show is way high, though. For a two day show, you might have three days' of hotel, two days on the road, meals, gas, etc. Priceline, Hotwire, Orbitz, other sites all help you reduce travel costs. If you stay within a 50 mile radius of home, you can probably sleep in your own bed and cut out travel costs entirely. But you can't make a season of shows too easily doing that. You can get a couple of practice shows in.

A transportation system. This stuff needs more than a Honda Element to cart it around in. Although I know a painter from Canada who can do shows in an Element. Most people drive big white vans or Sprinters. I haul a trailer with a pickup truck. If you are going to use Propanels, you'll need something more than an SUV, unless you go with the knockdown panels. (I had those for a season -- got rid of them at the same time I bought my first trailer).

There is way way more to this than the summary above.

You single biggest cost over time will be inventory. You absolutely must have framed work or canvas wraps, or metal mounted prints, or some other sort of work to hang on your walls. As far as the number of pieces to make? Only time and experience will help you here. As a rule of thumb, you need a couple different sizes of matted prints, and a couple different sizes to hang on your walls to draw people in. I hang about 20-25 pieces, maybe have another 40-50 choices in the flip bins, in multiple sizes. You can start smaller than that, but you will need 4-6 pieces on each of three walls as a minimum. You are better off making fewer larger pieces than a whole passle of little dinky ones.

Selling

When you sell a framed piece off the wall, people usually expect to take it with them. You wrap it up, either in a black garbage bag (tacky and cheap) or using premium materials that show the work off as it walks down the street. It helps to have a postcard with your logo on it that you can slip into a clear bag. Sometimes you will have to deliver a piece if it's too large for the customer to take home. Every once in a while, you can keep the piece till the end of the show and the customer will return and pick it up, but that's the exception not the rule. Mostly the framed work is there to sell matted prints or smaller version. If you have two pieces, one bigger and one smaller, people will mostly opt for the less expensive of the two. Not always, but mostly. It helps to have a few extra framed pieces to fill in the holes when you sell one. Near the end of a show, it sometimes helps to leave a blank spot or two to indicate that you're selling out.

Sales are wildly variable, based on the show, the attendance, the weather, the competition in your media, the competition in other media that compete for wall space (paintings, drawings, prints, 2-D mixed media), how good you are, how cheap you are, how exclusive you are... I have grossed $0 at more than one show; I have also made close to $10,000 for three days work. Keep in mind that $2000 gross at a show where you can sleep in your own bed and sold nothing but low cost items will make more profit that $2000 at a show that you had to drive two days each direction to get to, with hotels at $100/day and a booth fee of $500. Make yourself a business plan that gives you an idea of what you have to sell in order to be profitable. If you don't you will lose money steadily for several years before you figure it out. There are very few photographers making good money at shows these days. I know most of them, and even those guys are not making what they did ten years ago.

Keep your presentation cohesive. Don't show a little bit of wildlife you shot at the zoo, some pictures of barns in the snow and the shots you took on vacation. That stuff will NOT sell anymore. Trust me on this. Develop a point of view, and DO NOT steal other people's ideas. You will need an artist statement that says, in 100 characters or less, what it is you do, and what makes your work different. Start there, and develop a few key images around a concept. Otherwise you will be throwing your money down a rathlole. People can get cute kitty cats and lions sleeping at the zoo on the interwebz for much less than you can sell them at a show.

You will need a booth shot showing how your booth looks when setup for a show in order to jury for shows. If you don't have this, some shows will let you apply in the emerging artist category without one. Ann Arbor, the Original, for one. Main St. Fort Worth, for another. Do your research. Start with the local shows, closer to home. Call the show if you can't find the answer online. But look online first. Check the show websites.

You will need a website. Something simple at first, that can showcase your concepts, highlight your show schedule and maybe sell some work for you in the off season.

Be prepared to work very, very hard. Be prepared to get very, very discouraged. This is not a business for the faint of heart. It helps to have deep pockets, because you will lose money learning.

And lastly, you can check out my blog for some personal ideas. I haven't updated it in a while, but there are some useful posts there.

http://www.parkerparker.net/studio/blog

Okay, I'm sure you all have your own tips and tricks to add to this, so I'll leave it at that.

December 3 - 5 pm ET - Join us by clicking the link

Our guest is Sheryl Kosovski, a certified Financial Recovery Coach who specializes in business development for creative people, helping artists and designers grow their businesses, make more money and learn how to hold onto that income.

How do you handle your money? We'll discuss how to create a spending plan to reflect where you want your resources to go. One that enables you to take care of your financial responsibilities, meet your needs, and enjoy life in the process. One that will, over time, enable you to do things that may seem impossible to afford today.

Do you:

• rarely balance your checkbook or forget to record checks?
• not have a savings account?
• pay only the minimum monthly credit card payment?
• frequently live in pain or stress around money?
• live from show to show?

Or are you:

• confident in your ability to make money
• living below your means
• tenacious in achieving your goals
• determined to get paid what you are worth

We'll talk about how:

• to set up a annual plan to track your income for getting your expenses/income into balance
• to end financial chaos in your life that leads to a better reality 
• Awareness of the financial details of your situation can empower you to make money as an artist and how to hold onto that money

May 2-4, 2014 
Princeton, New Jersey
Morven Museum & Garden
55 Stockton St
25 Artists
Preview Night Donor Party May 2, (attendance by exhibiting artists is required)
Deadline: December 10

The third annual Morven in May: A Celebration of Art, Craft and Garden is a juried exhibition and sale of fine, contemporary American craft.  Until 2014, the show was by invitation-only.  Three jurors who are experts in the field will choose 25 artists from a pool of applicants.  They will select a waiting list from remaining applicants.

The show is produced by Morven Museum & Garden, situated in the heart of a thriving downtown and adjacent to Princeton University.  Morven's goal is to present a boutique-style show of professional craft artists whose work is designed and executed at the highest possible level.  

Inquiries:   www.morven.org/events/event/morven-in-may  

Address all correspondence and inquiries to:

Barbara Webb, Director of Development

Morven Museum & Garden

55 Stockton Street

Princeton, New Jersey

E-mail:  bwebb@morven.org

(609)924-8144 Ext: 101

From the Best of Missouri Hands Conference, March 2013 -- solid tips from Reed McMillan, a man with a long career in art exhibition, currently sales director for the International Contemporary Furniture Fair -- 6 minutes

2nd Annual AFI Secret Santa Gift Exchange 

It's that time of the year! The time where people from all over the world come together to do something nice for each other ...

Announcing our 2013 gift exchange. Ever been in a "job" where they did the Secret Santa thing? You draw a name and then do nice things for a person secretly during the holiday season and give them a gift at the end -- all anonymously?

We are all so connected with each other in our business that this seems a good time to have some fun with each other.

Won't you join us?

Here is the calendar: 

1. Sign up to join the fun by December 8 at this link.

2. We'll be drawing the names on December 9 and sending them to you

3. Gifts shipped by December 20

4. Post photos of the gift you receive

AFI member Larry Raineri shows us his gift from Maureen Roberts in 2012

Read about last year's gift exchange here: http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/putting-santa-to-bed

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/forum/topics/anyone-up-for-some-holiday-fun?id=2160589%3ATopic%3A361837&page=2#comments

I believe both the Photographer who sells their artwork at Art fairs or Galleries would find this informative, as well as the art collector.

I think many of us, myself included have had to deal with presentation issues. Just when you think you have decided on the perfect frame/mat combo for your artwork, you find out differently.  

The link below will take you to my "blog list". (minor inconvenience) Simply click on the little grey tab (bottom left) and this directs you to the FULL article :)   thanks for your patience  

http://fineartamerica.com/blogs/addressing-the-needs-of-fine-art-photography-buyers.html

I've reviewed Patty Narozny's HotWorks "Estero Fine Art Shows"at Miromar Outlets extensively in the past.  You can read the most recent review (of the January 2013) here. It contains a link to even more reviews.

I spent this past weekend at HotWorks' annual fall show at Miromar Outlet, one of the three largest malls in SW Florida, halfway between Fort Myers and Naples.  Although many of the seasonal snowbirds won't arrive until New Year's, there are many Canadian and European visitors around, and the new home sales figures in the local market are up. So I was looking forward to the strong sales I had here in 2010 and 2011, and hoping that last year's dive off the cliff was an aberration, driven by an especially early (late October) show date. 

Sadly, it wasn't. 

Part of the problem may have been the weather, which couldn't serve up the kind of comfortable clime that the newly-arrived snowbirds find to their liking.  Friday (setup day) was just right, but clouds and rain moved in overnight and lingered through early morning. The  local tv meteorologists had predicted they'd linger into the afternoon and suggested, repeatedly, that "Sunday is the better day for your outdoor weekend activities."  

Showers did, in fact, linger into the afternoon in other parts of the Fort Myers area, but the high clouds and moderate breezes we saw should have been decent show weather.  Crowds were light to very moderate on Saturday morning, then tapered off through the afternoon.

Skies cleared overnight, but it was an illusion: instead of the crisp, dry air that November is famous for in these parts, the air on Sunday was mid-June muggy, and temperatures rose quickly through the low 80s, topping out at 90 degrees in mid-afternoon.  Attendance was light; heads were down.  Through early afternoon I saw more patrons carrying stacks of slick, glossy lifestyle magazines (handed out for free at the gate by one of the show sponsors) than I did art purchases.  (This isn't a minor complaint: Hands filled with freebies aren't going to browse through print bins, touch handiwork, or try on jewelery. At least give 'em a bag so they can be carried with one hand.)

I had a south-facing booth and the sun blasted it all day, making presentations short and interest minimal.  Most customers preferred what little shade was offered by the rows of north-facing booths. When a few puffy clouds appeared mid-afternoon, it seemed to spike traffic and buying interest, but just a bit.  I wound up, though, with a very modest customer count, no gallery wraps out the door, and barely $500 gross sales--just enough to cover the $395 booth fee and pay for the cost of goods sold. 

Paradoxically, some artists with low-priced items sold well, but a few of those I spoke with who sold big-ticket items, waited for the "home run" customer, and found one were among the survivors too. Overall (based on the folks I spoke with), results were on the low range of acceptable to disappointing.

As always with a Hot Works show, the quality and mix of art is quite good. Patty's shows have a loyal following among artists from her home state of Michigan, and she recruits actively for artists from other shows. There is some loyalty among the visitors, too: I had five customers drop in to say hello and tell me how much they like the work they had bought from me at shows past (good!) but only one purchased from me (a $20 wall calendar) this year. 

Pluses for the show include friendly, helpful show staff, easily identified by their red HotWorks t-shirts (hear that, show promoters??) who dispensed fruit and water throughout the weekend, and an easy setup.  And Patty herself was around the show from beginning to end.  Minuses include a long, long walk to the artist parking lot at the far reaches of the sprawling Miromar Outlets grounds  (it took me over ten minutes to trek it on Sunday morning, and I'm a fast walker).  And, though perhaps it's a personal-taste issue, the sleep-inducing music of the French-music crooner who, as he does every year, performed the same eight-song playlist all weekend long.  (Note to the organizers: Everyone who listened to Edith Piaf music in the '40s and '50s is gone now.) 

The mall security is on hand to help pedestrians, including show-goers, cross the roads between one part of the show and the other, but the narrow two-lane routes,  a bit twisty in spots, are open to general mall traffic and the drivers aren't paying particularly close attention. 

Is there a glimmer of a big-picture trend to be gleaned from this year's show?  Maybe: I had a half-dozen  folks tell me that they had just purchased a new home--more than last year--and I missed out on several sales because I didn't have work on hand large enough to be a focal point of a bare wall above a four-cushion sofa.  So it could be that the mantra I was hearing toward the end of last year down here--"Go big, or go home!"-- is back in force.  As I write this the UPS truck just delivered three 48-inch wide canvases.  Maybe if they'd shown up on Friday, when I was expecting them, I'd be able to back up my conjecture with hard evidence in the form of hard cash.  As it is, I'll just have to take 'em to Bill Kinney's Sarasota show this coming weekend, and, as they say in the real estate business, await developments. 

April 12 & 13
Cedar Key, Florida
Historic Second Street
60 miles SW of Gainsville
at the end of SR24
Deadline: December 1, 2013

• 120 Fine Artists and Craftsman, all showcasing their work on Historic 2nd Street in Cedar Key
• Over $14,000 in Prizes and Purchase Awards distributed to more artists this year
• Over 20,000 visitors each year with expanded promotions for the 50th Anniversary Event
• Complimentary full breakfast on Saturday and continental breakfast on Sunday
• Artists' Reception and Awards Ceremony with appetizers and beverages Saturday Evening
• Artists' Hospitality Center and Friendly Volunteers available to help throughout the weekend
• $32 entry Fee (waived for previous year's winners)
• $165 Booth Fee (10' deep by 12' wide for 10'x10' tents); double spaces available
• Great, local food served by non-profit organizations in Cedar Key's City Park on the Gulf: including famous Cedar Key steamed clams, fried oysters, homemade crab cakes and desserts, freshly famous Cedar Key steamed clams, fried oysters, homemade crab cakes and desserts, freshly squeezed lemonade, & more.  Music and children's art activities make this an event to remember.

Now Accepting Applications via: www.Zapplication.org

Deadline: December 1, 2013
Notification of artists by January 1, 2014

Deadline for Response and Booth Fee: February 1, 2014

Experience the tranquil beauty of Florida's Nature Coast and the unmatchable hospitality of Cedar Key's historic community of artists, fisherman, and creative, eclectic people.

The town of Cedar Key sits on one of several islands in the Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge.  This historic fishing village has long been a haven for artists and nature lovers.  You can experience the magic of our community on April 12 & 13, while also connecting with two larger festivals in NW Florida on the weekend before (Santa Fe Spring Arts Festival, Gainesville) & the weekend after (Mainsail Arts Festival, Tampa/St Pete), putting tougher a Spring "Florida Tour."

Website: www.cedarkeyartsfestival.com email: cedarkeyartsfestival@gmail.com 353-543-5400

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Find even more 2014 art fairs at www.CallsforArtists.com - new shows added almost daily.

What a thorough review of the downtown Bayou City Art Festival. Thanks, Carole. The members have chosen it as "post of the Month." Who knew that not only could you succeed and find the best parts of a challenging event but you are an amazing skier!

Congrats to Scott Pakulski whose generous participation and sharing of information on this site insures that it lives on to help everyone who is interested in this crazy world of the art fair business. He is now an official "community leader" and wears our logo Red Dot on his profile photo. Thanks, Scott.

Like you I sit here at my computer and use it as an important tool in my life. You may only be here for fun or finding information that answers questions or further your career, but you may also be using it to earn your living. How and when did life online take over life offline?

Every time you visit Facebook, other artist's websites, follow online conversations, see who got into that show you coveted, see where you aren't, does it lead to a negative mood or lower self esteem? Is someone else having more fun? getting into better shows? making more money?

The great thing about the Internet is that it is a wonderful resource that puts a lot of your informational needs at your fingertips, literally.

The bad thing is you can see what is going on with your peer group who seem to be having a more successful life. Someone out there IS getting into all the good shows (not me), someone out there has money in the bank to pay those booth fees whose deadlines are near (not me), someone out there has just landed a nice commission (not me), my neighbor nearly sold out at that last art fair (not me).

What do we do with this fear? We are always on the alert to make sure we're going to be okay -- but now there it is staring at us when we are online! Fear, jealousy, disappointment pouring from that glowing monitor (FoMo)*.

From marketing guru Seth Godin:

The lizard brain is on high alert to make sure that everything is okay. The lizard brain can't rest until it knows that everyone likes us, that no one is offended, that all graphs are ticking up and to the right and the future is assured. But of course, the future (and the present) isn't perfect. It can't be.

The combination of the two, the reverse schadenfreude of FOMO (the pain we may feel from others having good fortune) and the insatiable yet unreachable need for everything to be fine, conspire to make us distracted, unhappy and most of all, somewhere else.

What is your answer? Where is joy? How do you keep yourself going and away from the dissatisfaction with your life? Who is in charge here anyway?

*Fear of Missing out