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Well, did I wake you all up from your art-induced stupor?

This was supposed to be a site where people in like biz shared good info with each other.

You can have phone-sex with Siri and find out about how to weigh your booth down.  Or how to buy containers, mats, frames.  You now you can throw the damn roof in a swimming pool.  Siri cannot tell you how much space you get behind your booth at "Art in the Pearl."

So far, nary a word from the great one from Texas who did that show, and maybe Sausilito too.

So we have seen shows like:

Port Clinton

Sausilito

Bloomington

Arts and Apples

Wausau

Longs Park

Deer Path  north of Chicago

Alexandria

anything on the Atlantic Coast that Geoff Coe use to report about

WITHOUT A ZERO REPORT.

I thought this was an insider blog group.

You shared helpful info about shows.  For example, if I had never done the show before in Portland,Oregon it would be helpful to know the following:

Did you get any storage space behind the booth?  How much?

Was there space in between booths?  Or, did you have to buy a corner?

Could you drive up to the front of your booth, or did you have to schlep in from a block away with a beer cart?

What were the demographics for the show.  Mostly young-and-tattoed, oldsters with disposable income. 

Were they buying mostly low-end?

So far, I am seeing diddle.

No blogs from Parker, BJ or Coe, let alone Fulwiler who only comes on this site when he wants to whine about something.

Come on folks, step up to the plate.

I give out a lot of info about anything I blog about.  I get very little in return.  Can't ya tell me, at least, how much space I get with my neighbor behind me?

You guys are the lamest lurkers I have ever seen on this site.

Get your shit together and chip in for the common good.

I have a big broad back, throw all the darts and arrows you want to, into it.  Aint gonna hurt me one bit.

Give me some good feedback.

  Maybe you will get a real helpful review of Saint louis, I just did.  Otherwise, I am out of here.  Rather work on my putting stroke than blog to a bunch of  "LAME LURKERS."

The best blogger we have on his site right now, is Geri Wegner who buys from artists.  She is the best--where are the rest?

My last show of the season is in the bag. This was another new show for me, running Fri-Sun Sept 6-8. I woke up late on Monday morning after the show and felt totally fried. I’m not sure why. Sure, the show had long hours, 10-8 Friday and Saturday, 10-5 on Sunday, but Edmonds was just as long. It wasn’t that hot and I was in the shade. They had men with golf carts to help haul your gear so set-up was relatively easy. It was a 430 mile drive which probably took its toll, but I don’t think that was it... I think it was because I was in a major dead area of the show. This show claims to get 200k people and although I knew that was surely an exaggeration, I expected at least 60-100k. I’ve had more people walk by and into my booth at small shows this year. I certainly had more activity in Edmonds this year. If it had been hotter, the shade in my area might have helped attract some people. I made most of my sales on Saturday but Sunday had the most people. Others around me had differing results.

I was watching traffic flow in my general area all weekend and here’s what I noticed. Some of the isles were WAY too wide, as was mine. There were only 7 booths on my side of this HUGE isle with intervening trees and about 25 on the other side offset from ours (not directly across). There were always more people on the other side of the isle than on my side. They just didn’t bother to come over to my side. Not enough booths to matter maybe? Even the other side didn’t get the traffic that other parts of the show got. One jeweler was smart and asked to be moved after the first day. This was not the area I requested and there were many other first timers around me. The picture below was taken around the busiest time. Notice how wide the isle is and how there are many more people on the left than the right. I was on the right.

I had heard there was B/S at this show, and there was. I had heard there were some low end work at this show, and there was. But many artists say it’s their best show of the season so I decided to give it a try. I came prepared to sell a lot, a lot of small items. I was stocked up on prints, cards and other reproduction items. But they didn’t sell like at other shows this season. I think buyers were very price sensitive. I did however sell 2 originals which saved the show for me. In the end I made money. It was my highest grossing show of the season, by a small margin, but it was also the most costly with its 20% commission. In the end, I'm glad I did this show and I will try it again if I can get a better booth location. Also I will check the Boise State football schedule. This year there was a home game on Saturday which may have affected attendance. I know there was a 4G outage during the game that affected square sales. I didn’t have a problem with it but many others did.

Some specifics

Setting-- In a very nice partially treed park between the art museum and the zoo and across from the Boise River. I could hear elephants during the show! Layout--260 artists in a very confusing and spread out configuration. For the first 2 days I got lost trying to find my own booth!

Food-- 36 food vendors!!! Mostly stuff like hamburgers and hotdogs. On the expensive side.

Setup-- all day Thursday starting at 9am. Although you can’t drive on the field they have men in carts to help you load in and out. Artists trickle in throughout the day to set up.

Booth size-- aprox. 15 ft wide by 12 ft deep.

Booth fee-- $100 (more for a corner, I think) plus 20%. There is a very long line at load out to pay your fee. They also collect the sales tax. Some people waited over 2 hours in line! I tore down and loaded up first. The line wasn’t that bad by the time I was done.

Weather-- A storm came through on Thursday afternoon. We lucked out and only caught a portion of it. Other artists that came in late said they drove through torrential rain, high wind and 3 inches of hail. Even so, a few artists lost their tents to the wind. They don’t allow staking so bring plenty of weight. It wasn’t very hot this year but I heard it often is.

Amenities-- artist breakfast on Saturday, evening drinks and jazz with free drink coupon. Coffee and snacks in the morning. They take coffee away at 10am and tended to run out. I only got some at the breakfast.

September 6-8 saw most of you at work, attending an art fairs somewhere across the country. I'm waiting to hear details, stories, sales figures, weather reports, life on the road.

In the meantime though here are some shows that I've gathered info on:

• The biggie was, of course, in Clayton, MO - the Saint Louis Art Fair. Here are the prizewinners:

First Place Winners:

• Cathy Rose – Mixed Media
• Mary Jackson – Fiber
• Scott Amrhein – Glass
• Justin Teilheit – Ceramics
• William Kidd – Ceramics
• Leon Niehues – Fiber
• Chris Rom/Geoff Buddie – Mixed Media
• Scott Gamble – Glass
• Yu Zhou – Painting
• Gustavo Castillo – Painting

Second Place Winners:

• Steven Olszewski – Sculpture
• Jill Bedford - Photography
• Linda Steinworth – Jewelry
• Andy Rogers – Ceramics
• James Petran – Painting
• Joachim Knill – Painting
• Matthew Cornell – Painting
• Julie Seymour – Jewelry
• Michael Mode - Wood

Other Awards

• Best of Show:  Deborah Mae Broad – Printmaking
• Craig Campbell Juror Award:  Kelly Marshall – Fiber
• David Pinson Juror Award:  Joyce Stratton – Mixed Media
• Shary Brown Juror Award:  Michel Delgado – Mixed Media
• Emerging Artists Award:  Lisa Hilton -- Sculpture
• Sally Murdaugh Award:  Jeffrey Zachmann – Metalwork

Here's a nice intro video on this event: http://fox2now.com/2013/09/06/find-the-countrys-best-artists-at-the-st-louis-art-fair-in-clayton/

• Alexandria, VA - King Street Art Festival. This popular show is held in one of D.C.'s toniest neighborhoods and was the best on the East Coast this last weekend. More info: http://www.alexandrianews.org/11th-annual-king-street-art-festival-attracts-thousands/
• Rochester, MI - Art & Apples. This used to be the best Michigan show and is still very popular with the local art fair lovers. One of the best parts about it is the wonderful apple pies. Here is info on that: http://www.dailytribune.com/article/DT/20130815/LIFE01/130819690

In addition, the show which is run by the Paint Creek Center for the Arts is seeking an Executive Director. A good art job for you? http://www.artservemichigan.org/opportunities/job-postings/paint-creek-center-for-the-arts-is-seeking-an-executive-director/?utm_source=9.10.13+ENEWS&utm_campaign=9.10.13+ENEWS&utm_medium=email

• Interested in reading about an artist's life and sexual adventures? Read on about conceptual artist John Held and how he makes it as an artist: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-gladysz/life-and-the-sexual-adven_b_3893853.html

Congratulations to Amy Welborn of Crestwood, KY, who despite the solid competition. triumphed in our contest to win the pass to the Arts Festival Conference in Louisville, KY, sponsored by ZAPPlication.org. 

Amy garnered nearly 80 votes and since the survey was set so a person could only vote once, I'm thinking she got all her friends to get in there and vote for her. This is how social media works, folks. I was not judging, it was all about the marketing of her application.

There were 23 entries and some got no votes at all. People didn't even vote for themselves!

See you in Louisville, Amy!

I was a happy participant in the 2013 Mundelein Fine Arts Festival. Well, I was the furthest artist there traveling 290 miles to be in the event. It was my first ever Chicago area show and it was a pretty good two day fair!

Mundelein is about 45 minutes north of Chicago. The show is run by artist Christa Lawrence who personally greats each artist and making sure the artist is doing well at the show. It's a small show only 46 booths (some of those are double booths - so only about 44 artists).

But the excellent thing about this show are there are many volunteers (which from a one person team is a very nice). Attendance was about 2500 people. It's not a big show but I had decent sales. Yes, I made over $1100 at this show. I am fairly new to this show - so established artists may have been a bit higher. So from an artist's perspective, good sales from a small crowd is great! It was my third best show to date and I won a ribbon too! Thank you to Wee Kirk Pre-School for the purchase award of my Playtime print! 

And next year, I will apply again to this show! I love it!

This last image from from early Sunday morning...

Due to all the flash flooding, this venue was changed from Memorial Park to Field's Park by the tennis courts. This show has been going on for nearly 40 years in the Memorial Park location, which is central to the downtown area and gets foot traffic from the tourist downtown.

The committee did a good job moving the show. Field's Park is a nice park with more grass and trees than Memorial Park. However, there is a lot less parking and the park is hidden, not viewable from the main streets. Several artists had canceled this show.

Set up and tear down was difficult and required a lot of co-operation with other artists.

This is a 3 day show. Friday we set up. Saturday was HOT and HUMID. Sunday it rained with thunder and lightening, this scared away almost all of the patrons and closed the show early. (Hwy 24 was closed for a while too and customers ran to rescue their cars parked in downtown Manitou. There was street flooding and I was happy to have a big tall van to drive through the water.)  Monday was warm, with artists parking  vehicles curbside early for the dreaded tear down. Most of the artists I know who did this show were down in sales by 50-95%. I actually sold OK, but I think it was due to my mailing list.

This is the first time I can remember with motels/hotels all posting Vacancy. Normally the town is filled. Downtown, local businesses all had sandbags lined up near their front doors, ready for the next flood. Although they are talking about building some ponds to help with the flash floods, those in the know about these things, say this will be an ongoing problem for the next 5-10 years.

I heard that the committee for Commonwheel will be meeting with the mayor and making decisions on whether to cancel this show for next year or attempt to have it again in Fields Park. I like doing this show, and hope it doesn't get canceled. Although I understand the safety concerns.

Connie, Thanks for the post of the week award, that was very kind of you.

I am thankful that my Kevlar undies and Nomex outer garments held up during the responses to the original posting. I knew that I was stepping on the wearable producer toes when I wrote this and I certainly wasn't deluding myself. But I wanted to wait for a bit before posting on it again and let those offended take their opportunities to express themselves.......

Thankfully, my placement of my laurels in strategic spots has prevented chafing, and my color choices tended towards blue since I have a good selection of that color. I am not resting on them because the pins and hooks could be, frankly, a bit uncomfortable. And only a certain number of our world could possibly appreciate the finer 'points' of that raiment...However, the ruffles of the medallions, frankly, provided that extra bit of padding which prevented bruising of my poor little ego....just gotta watch those rivets...

I certainly wasn't surprised by the responses after the posting. The arguments presented have done little to change my opinions - especially when some of the most vociferous were voiced by the audience targeted by the posting. No surprises there.

My point remains: When wearables make up 40% (more or less) of any given 'arts and crafts' or 'fine art' show, the event is now a fashion event with a craft or art component.

I understand that my creative passion is a business in the end analysis... Duh. I did retail sales for 20 years before getting a masters degree, a professional license, stamp and seal.... And plenty of my co-conspirators have suggested that I raise my prices. And maybe in the right show or circumstances I might. But my line of $40.00 - Now $50.00 originals has served me well over the past 5 hard years of economic turmoil.

2008 was previously my best year for original painting sales. Then it got tough...which is where my 'value-priced originals' saved my sales from plunging into the abyss. Only in 2013 do I see a pick-up in sales which resembles 2008... But I was competing directly and primarily with the wearable vendors - not the other painters

Fact has always been that if the audience connects with your work; the price is reasonable; and they still have some money in their pockets after purchasing their wearables, they might buy your work... But my point continues to be, that because of the demographics of those attending these events and who are making the buying decisions, the weighting of the wearable category against the other traditional arts and artisanal disciplines is hurting the latter and benefitting the former....

Here's an interesting question: Could some of the older members of the audience comment on what the breakdowns by category of the average arts and crafts show and fine art show were back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was still working a corporate day job (1980's and 1990's)?

I think that the mix has shifted over time to be heavy on wearables. The slide has been gradual, but has fundamentally changed the conceptual make-up of both types of events... Probably good for the promoter, but bad for traditional artists and artisans overall. My PhD wife agrees with me that show mixes by discipline at both 'fine art' and 'arts and crafts' events have moved more towards the wearables end of things even in the 10 years I have been exhibiting...

And, how come the majority of jewelers in the arts and crafts/fine art world are women - when, in the brick and mortar stores of jewelry the majority of the jewelers are men... did ya ever wonder about that? My experience in the custom and wholesale jewelry world was working in a shop consisting of six men, three-to four dogs at any given time and one female bookkeeper... The majority of our custom, wholesale and retail clients were male and about 30% of the work was men's jewelry... Those demographics are not in evidence in the fine art or arts and crafts show worlds....weird....

Please resume the flamefest unabated... My energy bill will be less this year if I can capture more of the heat this thread has produced.. Re-girding my loins, hams, butt and shoulders..... and starting to do 'the turtle'...

This Sunday, Monday show over Labor Day weekend has shown improvement yearly for the last 5 years.

It is run by the local art league and used to feature mostly local artists of varying abilities so it was a very uneven show.  It also had a central purchasing point which killed impulse buying.  Then, someone saw the light and opened it up to artists everywhere and got rid of the central cashier area.

Lake Forest is a combination of very old money and current corporate executives.  As a result, all types of art work will sell there.  It still seems as if there is more 2d than at most festivals but I think that is a result more of booth placement.  There were very few questionable booths from a talent standpoint,

There is no music, no smelly food, very few corporate booths (and they don't yell as you pass by), an out of the way children's area and an over all good atmosphere.

This is basically the last of the Chicago-area festivals in the northern suburbs and it is a great way to end the season.  

I saw LOTS of big pieces going by and lots of activity at a lot of booths.  

It is a great show to end the summer season.

It took us a while to get accepted into this show, but it was recommended to us by T'Louise and we are so grateful this year to get accepted. This was my 5th attempt. The show brings such a diverse crowd! So many different types of people, saying so many different things... It was the first time we have used lights - we loved our booth at night. We were right by an acoustic stage so the music was beautiful with our glass mosaics lit up. We pull a travel trailer so we stayed in Grant Park. That was a 3/4 mile easy walk to the show. Had to pull over the curb, but we made it. We would drive to the show and drop off our water and supplies for the day, drive the truck back to the park and walk back to the show. It was a nice place to sleep, very quiet. 

Set up was easier then we expected. We pulled up at our time and unloaded, moved our truck to the parking lot behind us. The show electric cords were a problem because huge box & cords were heavily in the way, but the festival workers went and got the appropriate person to move them. I was not as nice as i could of been about that - sorry.... I knew it was going to rain and i was scared of the electricity. 

All our information in our packets was correct and there were many many many volunteers that would come assist you in anything you needed. Sales were BRISK on all 4 days, I had to go to bed, so we really had to happily scoot people out of our booth EVERY NIGHT so we could leave. Every time we did that, it ended up in 3 sales. People bought what they were pondering about and they panicked! Woke up to Saturday that was crazy busy - I have NEVER seen crowds like that - One of our best 1 days... Sunday was more of the same, Monday everything was gone. Young buyers, mature & experienced buyers - many from Canada - FABULOUS concerts, food, games and the T-shirt choices. My 13 year old is happy.. Some may say, its very fair like, but that is what patrons like about this show. It brings in such a diverse group of people... If your art has a personality to it, it will sell. This was our best show we have ever done... No one complained about our prices. We start at $40 and go up to $3500. We have to miss Arts & Apples because we have nothing to sell! 

The police were intense at the show as to giving tickets for parking... I was scared everywhere we parked, but you gotta park somewhere! we need a 20 min. close parking pass to drop off our things... parking was very difficult. There are just so many, from artists to carnival folk to patrons that need to park. I like that the art is kept to a certain area, but intertwined with all the activities going on. Everyone that walked past said how awesome the show was to be at. Everyone was carrying something... Lots of beer, but lots of art too, and most kids had a light up something at the end of the day. Take down is great because we do what T'Louise suggests: zip it up & go eat. So we do. We pull in a hour and a half later and easily take down. The crew that were cleaning the streets - I counted. It was 23 seconds after someone put out their cigarette on the ground before someone came and swept it up! Very clean show, the streets didn't smell like beer and no beer was spilled on me or in my booth. And no pets! That was awesome - I like dogs, but at big shows, they get stepped on and they pee. Sometimes on Mike's shoe that his foot is wearing. Our trailer got trapped at the end of the show, so we had to stay Monday night. MC Hammer was playing and the parking lot was packed. Our trailer was not getting out. It was ok. We were tired. 

I was very happy with this show. It didn't feel long to us, maybe because we always had live entertainment right behind the booth. The frozen wine slushee company is great to be by! They bring in a crowd that wanders at your booth!

When we pulled out on Tuesday morning, staff were busy picking up garbage in the park and along every parking lot we passed. Royal Oak is a nice city to have a show. It's like the upscale areas of Florida, St. Armand's Circle, where pedestrians can cross the street and the cars must stop. The restaurant Jimi's behind us was delicious and let us use their restrooms. 

The leather purse booth was lost in the storm on Friday night, we had 12" of standing water in the bottom of the booth, so the show called us to let us know about that. We went down to see... our neighbor lost her tent, we helped her as well as many others and festival staff bent over backwards to help her. Our tent was fine because we had zero items on the floor. Stan Baker lost 1 dish, but he gave that to me to mosaic with! Thanks Stan! Ill give it right back to you, just different!

I don't think I could do this show alone. I see so many artists alone... You are troopers! That's HARD work! Thanks Lisa!

I was really excited to get into this show. I had high hopes.  I even bought a double booth space and put up the 15' for the first time.

First of all the show is a joy to do from almost every aspect.  Unfortunately that missing aspect was sales.  Setup is easy and leisurely.  Staff support is wonderful.  When I first go to my space there was supposed to be someone next to me but a bush in the area made it impossible for both of us to set up in the space and the staff immediately found a different space for the other booth with no argument or hassle.  The staff person assigned to my area even hunted down a place where I could buy a shofly pie for me.  A lovely breakfast was supplied Sat. and Sun. and there was a dinner but I didn't get to it.  With a few exceptions the art work was exceptional.  I felt honored to be among them.  We were allowed to drive in and park behind or in front of the booth for breakdown which also went very smoothly.

But sales were awful.  I zeroed on both Friday and Sunday with some minimal sales on Saturday.  The weather was not great, hot and humid, but not the worst I have seen this season.  Others around me had similar results.  The only person near me that I saw making sales was a local painter.  I saw very few packages.  Usually I can at least engage people even if the sales are slim but even that was difficult.  The only people who really talked with me were photographers who either wanted to give me advice or pick my brain for my techniques.  I gave out a lot of cards and my website traffic spiked on Monday but so far none of the promised orders.  It ended up being my only losing show so far this season.

If I were local and didn't have to get one of the expensive hotels in the area I might go back but I'm not local and I'll have to give this one a pass in the future.

When you are the crown jewel of all the shows put on by one promoter, you expect to see great things.

Sadly, that was not the case at this year's Port Clinton show.  The art at this show is usually good and that was the case this year, for the most part, but there was art that would not have gotten in, in past years and there was nothing that was spectacular or must have.

The crowds arrived early but I didn't notice a lot of packages being carried.  There was no energy at any of the booths, totally different than what I felt at Morning Glory earlier in the month.  The food was much better than the usual festival because this show is combined with Taste of Highland Park.    It provides a pleasant break as this is a large show and it gives you a chance to enjoy some decent food, good music and figure out what you want to go back and buy.

I spoke with a lot of artists who said they would not be back next year.  The sales did not justify the high expenses of doing this show.

You hear of artists who zeroed at a show.  Unless you count the food I bought, I bought nothing at this show.  I can't remember the last time that happened, especially with a show that is supposed to be one of the best in the nation.

OMG! Did you know that it is about the marketing??? Art licensing expert Tara Reed was a great guest full of useful strategic information on licensing your work for products. It isn't all about art fairs, gallery shows, etc. There is this other world where artists stay in their studios and produce imagery that gets purchased for just about every product you can think of: greeting cards, calendars, wall art, dishes, hot pads, jewelry, sheets, clothing, puzzles, tote bags, etc.

Don't hold your nose, folks, this is a very legit business and if you are amenable to creating on demand for a client this may be the place for you.

This is not the "easy" money you can make standing on the street on a weekend, but the real kicker is that you can sell a great image over and over and over, not only once. I asked Tara for the names of a couple of artists who are making the big bucks in this business right now:

Kelly Rae Roberts, self described "artist, author, possiblitarian": www.Kellyraeroberts.com

and

Jim Shore, who has done a bunch of commissions for Disney, incorporating their characters with his unique style: http://www.jimshore.com/content/ (really ugly website, but don't think he cares)

Looking for another stream of income? Listen to this conversation: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/artfairs/2013/09/04/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-licensing-your-art

P.S. I've done some licensing but I learned A LOT speaking with Tara!

This is my first year doing shows, and thus far I have done 8 total and have 2 more before the year come to a close.  I have had a rough ride thus far to be honest.  The best I have done was (looking back now, not even that great), not too far from home, and one of my first shows.  I have, however, been in A LOT of awful shows, and others that were great, but for some reason I heard at every single one "This is the worst year of this show to date"... Every. Single. Show.  You can imagine, this has disheartened me greatly, being my first year in the game, and hearing that it is the worst year for people who have been at it for 25+ years.  I have tried to meet and learn as much as I can from the artists around me at every show, and honestly have learned a lot, but also lost a lot of passion, motivation, money, tears, and time.  I feel as though I am a bit lost at this point, and am not sure where to start again for the next year (or even start again period). 

I just did the Lake Forest Art on the Square show, which had an amazing turn out, lots of people buying work, lots of enthusiasm, yet I did not sell a thing, and did not have very many people coming into my booth.  I heard from other artists that since it was my first year, a lot of people do not like to buy from you unless they have seen you before... which I find crazy ridiculous, but informative.  I am not sure I would do the show again, considering I'm completely in the whole, and the toss up of it being a good show for me is a bit too great.  Although I saw a lot of people walking around with work (and originals at that), I heard from a lot of the artists around me that they did not do as good as they have done in the past and that the crowd was not as good... Are all shows going down hill or is it just me?? 

I know the economy is not where it used to be, but I am beginning to have the feeling that people just don't care about original work.  I really really really do not want to do prints, but I'm beginning to think I just have to otherwise I'm never going to make money.  Or I will just have to not do shows until I have a legit income that can support my dream.  I get people that come into my booth, are there for a long time, and as soon as I come up to speak to them, they run away.  As if they do not want to know that there is a human being attached to the work because they feel as though then they are obligated to buy from me or something?  Conversations are few, usually only with other artists who are visiting the fair do I speak with in length, aka farther than "hi, how are you?  If you have any questions please feel free to ask.. yaddah yaddah". 

This has been a year of experiences, sadness, happiness, feeling of failure, and learning/ getting a VERY thick skin.  I wish things could have been different, and that everyone had semi the same response at shows, but unfortunately, everyone's experience is different, mine however, has been that Art is losing the battle. :(

       First, I want to mention one of the highlights of this show, at least for my wife, Lori Huff, and I. On Friday evening we were joined by AFIers Dick Sherer, his wife Jean, Steve Sawusch, and Steve Appel at the Dunraven Inn for dinner. If you’ve never dined at the Dunraven, you don’t know what you’re missing.

Pictured from L to R: Steve Appel, Weldon Lee, Steve Sawusch, Dick Shearer, Jean Shearer, and Lori Huff

Now for the review . . .

City:  Estes Park    State: Colorado

Start Date:  8/31/13             End Date:  9/2/13

Promoter:  Estes Valley Sunrise Rotary

Event Name:  Estes Park Arts & Crafts Show

Weather:  partly cloudy, mornings – cool, afternoons – hot, intermittent rain Sat and Sun afternoons. Fortunately, there was little, to no wind.

Venue:  Bond Park (located in the center of town along Elkhorn Avenue) featuring breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains. The park is situated adjacent to the Municipal Court with access to restrooms and water fountains.

General Information

Event Rating. (0 is the worst, 10 is the best)

Sales:  5

       Slow at times for us with sales in the 500 to 1K range. I would guess that most exhibitors experienced decent sales. A few did exceptionally well. However, we    personally did better during the Memorial Day show hosted by the Art Center of Estes Park.

Attendance:  8

       Well attended by locals, out-of-towners, and their dogs, with roughly 100 exhibiting artists.

Enjoyability:  10

       Friendly people and friendly dogs

Public Mood:  10

       Upbeat. Everyone seemed to be having a good time

Buying Power:  7

       At most shows this year, 90-percent of our sales have consisted of (20x30) photographs in the $400 price range. However, this show was different with roughly 40-percent of our sales consisting of items under $100 (mugs, coasters, books, etc.).

Organization:  The show was well organized with volunteers frequently checking on exhibitors to offer their services. Unloading was a snap with set-up taking place all day Friday before the show. A few even set up Thursday evening. If you came early Friday as we always do, you could drive up to your spot and unload. Plus, there was someone there to help in the process. Since it takes us time to break down once the show is over, we were able to do the same thing when loading up to leave. 

     The only thing I would change would be to add a couple of food vendors. However, in all fairness, volunteers would drop by every day, take lunch orders from one of the local restaurants, and then return at lunch with the food. The selections were good and we love dining at the restaurant providing the food. I just prefer a different food selection at art fairs.

     I definitely plan on attending this show in 2014.

Estes Park is the gateway to the east side of Rocky Mountain Park. There are many summer homes in the area and it is a destination for a broad spectrum of nationalities, income levels, and interests.  I started doing this show in 2010 after sales at the Memorial Day show in Estes park could not seem to get beyond $2K for three days.  Gross sales at the September Labor Day show since 2010 have ranged from $3.8-$4.7K and I have considered it a good solid show. This year sales were off and I will analyze this later.  The show is produced by the Estes Valley Sunrise Rotary, Inc. and they do an all-around EXCELLENT job!!!!  The town is packed for the weekend, and leading up to the show was a lot of promotion on Facebook.

SETUP AND TAKE DOWN.  Set up officially begins at 9:00 ON Friday but Rotarians are present to check you in as early as 8:00. If you are early you can park at your site to unload. Street parking is available within a block of the show, but oversize vehicle and trailers have to park at the fairgrounds. Free shuttle service is available from there, and in town. Volunteers are available to assist with set up.

               Takedown begins at 3:00 on Monday and volunteers were there to help.  The Rotarians who helped me with carrying merchandise tubs to my truck cut 15 minutes off standard knock down time.  Like set up, traffic was controlled and vehicles were not allowed in until you were ready to load.

 WEATHER.  Temperatures were in the high 70s to low 80s all three days. There were brief afternoon showers but not heavy rain. The longest was about an hour on Sunday.  Some people ducked into shops but, others got out the rain gear and umbrellas. There was little wind which can be a problem at Estes Park shows.  The fleece jacket felt good when the showers were over.

 THE SHOW.  The town was packed with people and thousands went through the art show. There was seldom a time when people were not in my booth but sales fell short of expectations this year.  My booth location had been moved from the north end down to a prime location on Elkhorn Ave./US 36, the main street through town to RMNP. Other artist in a variety of mediums also noted that their sales were down this year. It simple seemed like a crowd of lookers (and in my case smellers) who were not buying holiday gifts or mementos of their vacation.  Belts and suspenders were my top sellers. My sales were in the $2-$2.5K range. They would have been down around $1.1K (break even for all show expenses – booth, housing, travel etc.)  if it weren’t for including repairs taken in and special order work, both of which are post-show completion and cash flow.  There was a good balance of all art mediums including edibles like jellies and salsas.  No buy/sell at this show.  Nuts and bolts for the show are in www.artshowreviews.com.

 ANALYSIS.  At three Colorado shows, Grand Junction, Winter Park and Estes Park, I have had several returning clients tell me “… I bought ……. from you last year´ and not buy anything this year. No gifts for Uncle Charlie etc. At Estes Park this probably accounted for $700/day which, if sales had occurred, it would have made this a more typical show for me.  I also did not see the usual number of horse owners.

I know some of you will say “what is this guy complaining about with his sales”.  I am a former scientist and thus an analytical artist/businessman.  When shows do not meet their expected financial expectation, it is time to reassess. For this summer's “down shows” they will probably be placed on a schedule of doing them in alternate years.  I am thinking that if my returning clients don’t find me there every year, maybe they will get Uncle Charlie’s gift or something they need/want realizing I might not be there next year.  

 THE OTHER FUN STUFF.  Weldon Lee organized a dinner for AFIs at the Dunraven Inn.  I will leave it to him to give you the details.  I met AFI Ruth Finkenbiner who came by my booth. These summer art shows in Colorado resort areas are working vacations for Jean and me. I don’t mind spending the money on a condo or house so long as it has a hot tub. It really relaxes these old bones after a day in the booth. I also like staying at the historic old places we rent in Estes Park.  After the show we went to RMNP. There were still hoards of people especially at the popular alpine lake trail heads. I didn’t want to hike with lots of “traffic and crying babies” so we opted for the subalpine Bierdstadt Lake (named for the painter, I bagged Mount Bierdstadt, 14,065’ a couple years ago).  It was a 4.5 mile round trip and pretty much a “walk your dog” hike with the route we took.  We saw maybe 10 people tops.  Special picture of the return route for Steve Appel who loves Colorado mountain driving LOL.  More pictures on my Facebook page: Richard L. Sherer.  It was 95 in Denver so we opted to go over Trail Ridge Road and return home through Winter Park and over Berthoud Pass. I got to do a lot of mountain road driving with the loaded to the gills Suburban.  Cool with thunderstorms by the time we got home around 8:00pm.   

PHOTOS. The show, Birdstadt Lake and Longs Peak 14,259’), switchbacks down to valley trail head.