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For the third year, we attended the Old Hilliard Art Fair in Old Hilliard, OH, a suburb on the western side of Columbus, held this year on Saturday, Sept. 14.  For two years it has been something of a middling show, but it's not that far of a trip for us and it's only a one day show.

This year, however, this became the ugly stepchild of the Old Hilliard Street Fair.  The entire venue was put on an empty grass lot off the beaten path while the buy-sell and "crap" booths occupied main street and its immediate offshoots.  Just to make sure that there were enough distractions to keep people away from the art part, a kids' activities sections was added within easy eyesight and easier access.

The end results was that attendance in the arts section was anemic, to say the least.  This time, we did not make booth.  Attendance for the street fair and kids' section was not bad, but it never filtered to the arts part.  We realize now that the arts council has no support from the local community.  Although the field was marked off for the designated booths, someone had parked a car right in the middle of one of those spaces during the night.  Why?  Because, while all the other areas that would be part of the street fair had posted temporary "No Parking" signs put up by the police department, they conveniently forgot about the artists.

In conclusion, there is no way that we would even suggest that anyone attend a future incarnation of the Old Hilliard Art Fair.  Because there is no Old Hilliard Art Fair, only an area designated for "artists."  during a street fair.  When the local arts council can obtain local support for their activities, we'll be happy to take another look.  But for now, good bye Old Hilliard.

As a parting remark, we have had some very successful shows in Ohio.  The best have always had the support of the local Chamber of Commerce.  Lesson learned.  As we continue in our art show endeavors, it's something we will keep an eye out for.

I wish all a good show!

Had the experience of doing Funky Ferndale this past weekend in Ferndale, MI. Found it quite interesting overall. Felt a bit like a northern version of Key west. Folks were very friendly and receptive to our work.

What a gorgeous setting and incredible weather this last weekend. (Sept. 14 & 15) This has to be the best show for literally "catering" to their vendors! There was a whole shop front just for us to go to to get drinks, snacks, food....and dinner was catered!!! Imagine that!!!

The friendliest crowd ever...ok, here is the down side, small turn out. Erin and I (my daughter) did fabulous because we have prices for everyone; a few exhibitors left Saturday. Not everyone is there for a 1200.00 painting...we were constant, very few people walked by us without looking. Our jewelry is very different, we are NOT bored housewives stringing beads together!!! Even other jewelers didn't do as well as we did. We were packing up and people were coming back to grab something they saw!

We found out that another very popular festival changed its weekend to the same one...maybe that was it. But....when was the last time you went to a show with this view, breezes off the river, 70 degree weather and endless coffee! Most relaxing show we've ever been to!

Saturday, February 22  

Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo County Expo Center
9:30 - 4:00
Approx. 125 spaces
Deadline: October 1

You've  heard how fun it is. This is your chance to find out for yourself! This  is the show to sell your seconds, overstock, duds or things you're just  tired of looking at in your booth, even your art supplies or art you've  traded for!

What's not to like? Indoors in the deep of winter and beloved by customers. Bad weather does not deter these shoppers, they come by the droves.

It's  only 6½ hours long with morning set-up. Make it easy on yourself, rent  some tables and forget the normal time consuming display.

It's  run by Bonnie Blandford (jeweler) and Michael Kifer (potter) who both  make their living doing art fairs so they know how to make it  more fun! Besides, who doesn't need money in February?

The scoop:

• $15 application fee
• Booth fees starting at $125 for a 10 x 10
• Very few rules (no buy/sell)
• Share a booth if you'd like, but all parties must apply
• Mark things down and move them out! 

Applications, more information and pictures are at:
www.GarageSaleArtFair.com

This was my first time at this show and there was mixed reviews from the artists.  Even though it was my first time, I, as well as numerous others believe the attendance was less than expected.  Weather was PERFECT and maybe that contributed to it.

My "art" is not traditional in the since.  I produce fine writing instruments. OK, ink pens but unique and one of a kind.  We even heard another artist complaining to the next booth about them "letting a pen turner" in an art show. 

With that said, I had a great show.  Selling more than any other show in 4 yrs. The promoters were helpful to the extent of being on call for the wife, (handicapped), for a ride to the potty.  And the venue was great as well.  Only down side we saw was no dedicated parking for the artist.

Now, I may be new on the scene, but my observation of those who weren't selling is this.  If you are setting 20' across the street (after visiting one of the numerous bars during selling hours) yacking with your neighbor instead of engaging potential customers, your not gonna sell anything. 

Okay... I made it through this years Funky Ferndale Art Fair. It is located in suburban Detroit, Michigan in Oakland County. Funky Ferndale takes up the west side of Nine Mile Road and the DIY Street Fair is on the east side of Nine Mile Road with Woodward Avenue being the divider for both shows. The difference between Funky Ferndale is that it is a juried show and the DIY Street Fair is a first come first serve booth fee.

Set up was pretty easy although my tent was on the south side of Nine Mile (unloading was from the north so I had to bring items through my neighbor's booth to get to mine. I was also a neighbor to Steven Daniel's Adventures of a Tree Frog. He gave me some pointers at the fair which were helpful.

The fair runs three days (Friday 3-8PM, Saturday 10AM-8PM and Sunday 12PM-5PM). I don't quite understand the Friday portion for the crowds were very light on Friday and I only had $140 of sales.

Saturday was a much different story - selling a lot of 5x7s and an occasional 8x10 but none of my framed pieces sold. So I guess I will not be doing anymore framing this year. That was my only disappointment from this show. I had debuted a gigantic Village People print (#1/125) in Lego form at this fair. A lot of complements on it but no takers. Sales on Saturday were $727.50 and my highest price point that sold that day was $35. So a lot of volume but no big piece and I had to cart all those frames back home on Sunday. :(

Mark Loeb (show director) stopped by my booth on Saturday and was questioning about a new poster for the fair. So maybe a commissioned Lego minifigure piece for the show!

Sunday, it rained off and on. So sales were not all that great and it limited the crowd a bit. But I did $250 on a rain soaked afternoon. But it really came down closer to 5PM. That means I had my first tear down in the rain. Bummer.

DIY Street Fair Main Stage

DIY Street Fair at night (They run 'til midnight on Friday and Saturday)

Funky Ferndale on Sunday

More Funky Ferndale on Sunday

Seaside Park Selected Arts & Crafts Show                    Saturday, August 30, 2013

Boro Lawn - 6^th & Central Avenue                                     10:00am – 4:00pm

Seaside Park, NJ   08752

I spoke to the show promoter before registering and asked about space for a cargo trailer to unload.  I was assured there would be no issue.  Set-up started at 8am - we arrived at 7:45am and did not find any curb space.  With that said, the police were lenient about where and how the exhibitors pulled over to unload.  Space was very tight and we witnessed a vehicle nip the edge of an exhibitor’s things. 

I asked the promoter to give us a space that was close to the unloading area because our things were bulky and very heavy – we were assigned a space in the middle of the exhibiting area.    The exhibiting area is a grassy space in front of the municipal building (between the ocean and bay) and offers no shade.   The day was hot and humid.    

We were told to park our cargo trailer on Bayview Avenue; however, there were no appropriate spots available.  After searching for a place to park I finally found a pull through space which was in the middle of the road.   Luckily I noticed a sign that indicated those spaces were one hour parking only.  I walked six blocks back to the show to learn that the one hour parking would be enforced.  It was only then that I was advised to park in the church parking lot only two blocks away.  That lot was better, but still somewhat small for a cargo trailer.  All in all, it took 60 minutes to find a parking space and get back to my table.  That was 60 minutes less I had to help set up.   

Exhibitors are provided with a free Italian or turkey sub, chips, and soda for lunch.  No food is sold at the show. 

The municipal building was nicely air conditioned, had a cooled water fountain, and offered a nice reprieve from the heat and clean restrooms. 

A clothing store located across the street from the show was having a 50% off sale.  People were lined up around the corner for that sale and came to browse at the arts & crafts show carrying bags of their found bargains.

To register for the show, we had to provide five photos and be juried in.  Around 2pm, a t-shirt vendor (didn’t look handmade) told us she was leaving because she wasn’t selling anything.  Since she was sharing a booth with another person and didn’t have a tent or tables, she simply packed up her t-shirts and left.  Around 3pm another vendor approached us to announce he had t-shirts for sale.  When asked if he made the t-shirts he indicated he purchased them from the Internet.  When it was pointed out that was not an art or craft, he laughed and indicated that’s what most people there do.  I spoke to the promoter who then told the vendor he had to leave.  By that time, there was only one hour of the show left. 

Before registering the promoter indicated there were 6,000 – 7,000 would be buyers at the 2012 show.  I’d estimate there were only about 1,000 – 1,500 would be buyers at the 2013 show.  Most people had many nice things to say about our art; however, sales were poor and we did not even make enough money to pay the $100 registration fee.   To make ourselves feel better, we looked at the day as another contribution to a Hurricane Sandy ravaged area.    

Check In and Set Up

My wife and I participated in the Atlanta Arts Festival this past weekend. This was our first time doing this show and we did not know what to expect. We drove into Atlanta Thursday afternoon and got caught up in the largest rush hour traffic madness I have ever seen. Being from a small town where 50 cars backed up in the afternoon is heavy traffic to us…well, it made Atlanta traffic beyond words…or at least any words I would be allowed to use on this review..

Artist check in was at 9am in a parking lot about a half mile from the fair and usually for most shows we do that means 9am or anytime afterwards. We checked in right at 9:05am (it took us at least 30 minutes to drive from our hotel where everyone told us it was a 10 minute drive… and were immediately told to put or emergency flashers on and follow the police escorted caravan of 20 or so vehicles to the Park for set up. With the heavy traffic everywhere I can easily see why it has to be done this way.

Once in the park we unloaded the van and started our setup but were not able to finish because the motorcycle police came by and told us to move because the next group caravan would arrive shortly.

I drove to the artist parking lot that was a block away from the artist check in and parked…then walked back to the park to finish setting up.

`

The Show…etc…

No one could have asked for any better weather. The temperature was great and the humidity was low.

The Artist hospitality tent had some delicimious muffins, fruits and juices for their breakfast and also some tasty ham and turkey rolls, chips, etc. for lunch. Plenty of cold water and soda pops. We definitely didn’t go hungry..!

Crowds were very sparse in the morning and picked up as the day progressed. I rarely ever saw anyone carrying any packages or any form of purchases during the day…with the exception of the beer and ice cream on a stick.

As I walked around the fair I did not see many artists with that gleam in their eyes like you would expect to see when sales are very good. Most artists that I spoke to said sales were really off and disappointing.

If I could charge a dollar for every great compliment I had about my sculpted wood boxes I wouldn’t even need to sell any…but unfortunately we sold nothing.

I heard from many people, both artists and visitors, that there was another art show in this same park -Piedmont Park just a few weeks before this one. Not Good..

Sunday was another beautiful weather day but sales were not there for us or many of the other artists who still did not have that gleam in their eyes when asked how the show was going for them.

I am not sure who was putting on the show because no one ever did come by the booth and introduce themselves…but they could have been the people at the artist check in or the people at artist hospitality…I am not sure.

Load out was fairly easy...not bad at all….We took everything down, packed it up and against the curb and then went to retrieve my van. It was nowhere as bad as others had led us to believe. We were out of the park in about 90 minutes.

The show organizers did a fine job…especially with the logistics of doing everything in such a highly congested traffic area. I cannot fault them for my poor sales.

I am sure I will stir a pot here (again), but I feel compelled to share my experience and opinion.

When we started down this road several years ago, we hit all the local shows (GLW, etc), went to Tucson, and of course all the big online sites from Fire Mountain to Rio Grande.  Then I found, in my own backyard, an incredible PARTNER in succiess.  I met Raj and Geeta from Eagle International (beadwholesaler.com) and was impressed with the "We care about your business" attitude.  We quickly started buying all of our Silver, GF, and Swarovski from them.  I firmly believe that knowing that the price is always fair, the communication straightforward, and the constant attitude that they are there to serve you and help you grow your business is in many ways responsible for our success.  Unlike the "Big Boys", they truly care about you, and will spend the time to insure that you are getting what you need, when you need it.  Advice is always there, and we have bounced several ideas off of them, and that has also saved us money.  If someone came along and beat their price on Wire by $1 per ounce or Factory Packs by $3, I would pass.  Relationships in business matter.  Once you have one, it is invaluable.  If you are buying jewelry supplies from a nameless website or source, I suggest you find a partner in your success.  Whether it is Raj, Geeta and team at Eagle/BeadWholesaler or someone else that will a facilitator in your growth, it really does make a difference.  I have even encouraged BeadWholesaler to advertise on this forum, and they are! 

We all do this art fair as source of income. After my last experience I should beyond mad about my experience at Lakeview East. What surprise me is how other artist do not think how their actions affect the other artist. This is sad to me because I just starting to understand a comment at Lakefront Arts Festival is about me not you. I try to helpful to people around me during the shows. I make I do not your possible sales more difficult. I keep to my area assign follow the rules but when promoters look what is going and they do not care or do not understand. I got a demo in front if me; it is way street with 2 lanes per side, lest call it 40 feet wide street. You loose 20 feet to tents in each side. You extent your display 6 to 7 feet past your 10 feet. People are looking what you doing and now you people only have 4 feet go between my space and his crowd. He ask how long the demo will his answer all day long, really. I do not understand how that not fire lane violation but who I am. Never to said that I have a bad day and it was the only possible sales because the next day was to follow by rain all day long.  I did better sales in rain that I did the sunny day with demo guy. By the time Erin show up it was to late for anything to solve the damage was done. What amaze me is how he does not understand how that affect me. If he did not got space requested he should not done the demo. I already think highly bad about the shows in Chicago and this was the icing in the cake. Doing the shows is not as corp work.

Next time you see just hi and please leave alone because it will a while before I change a view.

From here on is about me. Make money to paid my bills. I need to make an effort to not be homeless. I really I try to help people and talk to people but after this experience I really do not want talk to anyone around me, I learned is about me not you. I really if I am homeless you do not care.

On Saturday evening after show close several artists had their tents slashed by vandals. The show is held in Piedmont park, a very large park in midtown Atlanta, and because of the size and layout of the park security is difficult. I give the organizers credit, they wrote checks to all the artists that had damage even though they didn't have to.

This past year vandalism is certainly on the rise, at the VB Boardwalk festival this year someone tried to set my tent on fire (didn't succeed), tents slashed at Delray, fires set in tents in Sarasota, cigarette butts thrown out of a second story apartment window down on the tents below, gang tags on tents, and the ever popular drunk relieving themselves on your tent

As if our chosen profession isn't difficult enough, now we have this to contend with. Some shows have very good security, others it's non-existent. With the rising booth fees I don't think it's too much to expect that our belongings should be protected, 1 or 2 cops patrolling 150 to 200 tents isn't enough, especially if their idea of security is sleeping in their cruiser (I've seen it).

That's my two cents, how do you feel?

Hi~We are already in some of the larger Art Fairs in Arizona, & are waiting for other acceptances, but we will be there for 6 months, & we would like to also do those what I call "bread & butter" shows in between the larger ones.  I know there are a lot of "sites" out there, but it's always better to get any recommendations or opinions on promoters or shows.  Looking at sites as you all know is like looking at words. I can research to a POINT, but it is always better to hear from other Artists. We do Fine Wire-Sculpture Jewelry, Kiln-Fired Enamel Jewelry, & Stained Glass, however we do not bring the stained glass everywhere.  The Jewelry is our main media, & we do BEST at Fine Art, Art, or Art & Fine Craft shows, but with the Stained glass, I consider that a "craft" as it is patterned (mostly OUR OWN). We also do a lot of "gifty" items in the stained glass for Christmas.

Thanks for any opinions or past good/bad experiences at these!!!

If you're an artist or craftsperson, what a great opportunity to showcase your offerings  at the start of the busy holiday season! 

Booth spaces may be purchased online or over the phone with a credit card (817 659 9249). Once purchased, a confirmation email will be sent to finalize all details. 10x10 booths, $225.  Electric available, $35 for all three days.

Okay. Earlier in the year I snapped this photo of my car to the Crosby Festival of the Arts in Toledo, Ohio. Notice something?

Yes, my ham radio license plate. I have been an amateur radio operator for 25 years now - first getting my Novice license when I was 16 years old. I now have the highest class license of Amateur Extra.

Plus I am a Skywarn certified spotter. Something that comes in handy at art fairs. I can listen and report to the local weather net to hear the storms progress. That is kind of tricky with taking items down from your tent to get ready for the impending doom.

So do you have any other strange hobbies that kind fit in and kind do not fit in with the art fair circuit?

Wow, I canceled my participation in the Estes Park Fine Art Festival earlier this morning. I didn't want to make a 6 hour drive up there through these floods and mudslides... but now the situation is much worse. Here is a video of downtown Estes Park taken this  morning. Hoping everyone in Estes is safe.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=686801504681447&set=vb.521157024579230&type=2&theater

It has been a rough couple of years, and I'm hoping the last few shows are the turning point. What would have have been bad shows a few years ago are now looking good and this was the best I've done since the economy got flushed down the crapper. Not spectacular but not to be sneezed at either. What was good to hear is that everyone around me in my green section of the show was reporting better than expected sales.

After last year's dismal sales and losing money, I decided to scale back the double booth and just go with a single. With the 12 foot wide spaces, there was enough room to scoot the booth over to one side and open up an outside wall. I used that to hang the humor pieces I have that don't match the other work, and used about six running feet of wall space. The crowd was older than usual, without so many of the twenty-somethings that find the GI Joe and Barbie pictures amusing and usually buy these. If anything the crowd seemed to be a bit more conservative, and this could be from the high gate fee the show charges. As a result, I sold 4 of these pieces which isn't much as they are the lowest price point items I have. I'm considering matting these again and bumping the price up to match my other small flip bin work. 

As a nod to Nels, nice alliteration as it were, here's some info about the booth spaces, 12x12 with ample storage space behind the booth. The Blue area has no one behind the booths, and you're under oak trees for nice cool shade. The orchestra and a fountain are at the end and the grounds are wide between the booth fronts. The only problem is the frontage is small and only allows about 4-5 vehicles at a time to load out. They're usually the last ones out. In the Green area it's a bit more tightly packed but there's typically about 5 feet of space for you. I'm at the end with a bush behind me, so I can spread out a bit and I put up an awning using my rear tarp extended out all the way for some decent shade. Some folks will stand a couple of Propanels up a few feet behind the booth and gain some extra display space. If memory serves correctly, one of the other areas is on asphalt and gets hot as the devil id the sun is out. This time it was and I saw a few customers walking around looking like someone threw a bucket of water at them. Several fair goers commented on my fans as being welcome as some booths were so hot they couldn't stay in them long. A few even noted that I had the fans blowing over the flip bins and thought that was rather clever ;-)

The artists in the Yellow section were expected to be open on Friday evening for the gala dog and pony preview show. I didn't care to walk that far to find out if that resulted in any sales, and I'm glad I wasn't over there.

The volunteers were out in force to help you unload and they either schlepped your boxes and crates over to the spot or they used a golf cart or tractor to haul stuff. Three guys showed up and my van was unloaded and piled up at my spot in about ten minutes. Likewise at tear down, they were there getting people moved out. All you had to do was ask, and they were particularly helping the ladies and the older artists. This is a show I've watched evolve to becoming more efficient and helpful as the years have gone by. I've done this show every year except once since 1988, and the early years were frequent nightmares with set up on Saturday mornings, and now it's on Fridays. This year it was moved back to start at 10:00AM for set-up and the gates were closed at 4:00. The only part that's a PITA is the time to go get the vehicle and get back in. They keep track of who is in and only allow a certain number in at a time. I keep tearing down and send my wife after the van, which takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get back. Once the boxes are packed, she leaves and I continue taking down panels, dropping the tent, folding tarps, and so on. By the time I'm about finished, she usually pulls in. The volunteers are there to help load up also and they try to hurry and get everyone out by dark. The directions used to be cart everything to the road and go get the vehicle, but that's moving everything twice, and now it's stack it up at your spot, bring in the vehicle, and the volunteers help you get it to your van and they do the heavy lifting. 

I'll keep applying for this one as long as I can, and although the St. Louis show on the same weekend may be more lucrative sales-wise, it also carries much higher expenses for me as I'm local and here it's a cross town drive for me on interstate almost all the way. I sleep in my own bed, and I use a couple gallons of gas to get to the show. Yep, I'll do it again ;-)

Just finished load'n up the van for the next show in Wichita this coming weekend so its time for a review. See the short version on ArtShowReviews...Or the last version is at:

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/colorado-artfest-at-castle-rock

Not much different to say about this year except a few additions. This show has dead zones. On the south side in front of the fence that surrounds the library parking lot there seemed to be nary a visitor. On South Street, which "connects" the two parts of this show, even if you are near the entrance on the east side it seems dead. One artist neighbor from Park City who was doing gang busters there seemed to be taking a nap through most of this show even though he was right next to the entrance! And then there is the North section, again, next to the fence you don't seem to get a lot of visitations, or so I was told by a fellow artist. I've had that spot several times and that was my experience, as-well-as low sales totals, also.

Depending on where you are located in this show you either have abundant back-o-the-booth storage or none at all. Remember those fences I mentioned? If your in the middle of either of the two parking lots you have lots of storage behind with generous between booth space.

Weather...well either it rains and kills the crowd or it is unG_dly hot. It was the latter this year upper mid 90's! Surprisingly though it didn't deter the crowd, people were out there through the hottest part of the day looking and buying. I saw a lot of large items with legs walking out and not just singles but multiple pieces with the same buyers.

Load-In/Out is not bad, this year they had staggered times for the different zones but then later sent me an email asking if I could come in earlier to avoid congestion, why not! Getting out...well there is always the guy that has to be first and there was no exception here. One of my neighbors had his truck in there before anyone else and packed out that way whereas I prefer to pack everything down into a pile first, let the jackrabbits get out, and then I load my van. This time the weather was threatening so I packed everything but the tent, moved the van in, loaded the boxes and then broke the tent down. Good thing too as the rain did come!

As for final sales totals...My booth was near one of the entrances this year so I saw a lot of congestion in my booth...a good thing!...haven't seen that many people in the booth all at once in a LOOOONNNGGG time. Sales for me this year were twice what I made last year. My mid range pieces seemed to sell the best though I did have a few commissions for smaller items as well. Was it the difference in where I was located? Are they just more interested in my work? Are they willing to spend a little more this year? I wont speculate I will just appreciate!