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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.

Hello everybody,

this is my first review in this forum,please excuse all my typos,english is only my third language.

Last weekend (Labor Day) I did for the 10th consecutive year the 3 day show on the Santa Fe Plaza run by the Fiesta Council of Santa Fe,NM.

Set up is always the day before, so on Friday.

Every artist gets 15 Minutes to unload,very convinient close to the booth spot.

Also you can park after the show close to your spot to load again, just a little

waiting time until it was my turn.

This year a new managment took over just days before the show, but everybody was very nice and helpful, better than ever before.

I always have the same booth spot for years and know my neighbors well over the years and it's always nice meeting those 3 Texas couples every year again.

Unforunatly since 2008 year after year the show gets worse what sales is concerned.

When I startde doing the show in 2004 the booth fee was $300 or $350, not sure any more and I went home with 6k or so, so very, very good.

A good show for me is when the booth fee was 10% of my sales.

Well this year my sales were down to under 2k but the booth fee was up to $450.

So I consider this show not a good show anymore.

There are more and more buy-sell "artists" in the show who sell cheap neck-coolers etc.

and people spend their little money with them and not with us artists anymore.

I do abstract paintings in oils and acrylis, ORIGINALS ONLY ! and sold just one painting.

Thanks heaven I also do bead work (like a gazillion others too) and jewelry always sells, as you all know.

So I will hold off on this show even so I live in Santa Fe just 2 miles away from the Plaza,

until the economy gets better.

Thanks for reading my review,

greetings from Santa Fe to all of you and have a great remaining summer

Heike

Second art fair review, here we go...

This was my second juried art fair.  Two years ago, when I was in the beginning phases of learning everything I could from the Art Fair Insiders forums, my family & I were in Flagstaff and checked out the Flagstaff Art in the Park 4th of July event.  At the time, I was taking lots of mental notes and thought to myself, maybe next year?  Maybe by then I'll have a display put together and enough art and get into this art fair.

So, two years and a couple of months later, it was pretty cool to be juried into their Labor Day event.  

I'm still new at the art fair review thing, so I'll try to do my best here. 

Application process: they are not on Zapp, so you mail in your application along with three photos of individual art pieces and a photo of your booth.  Two checks go with the application, one for the jury fee and one for the booth fee, which is cashed when you are juried in or returned if you are not.

Communication: the organizer, Stu, returned emails quickly and was good to deal with.  At the art fair, I saw him pretty often, although I actually wasn't introduced to him... I just knew who he was from having seen the Facebook page.  He was personable and easy to talk to.

Location: the art fair is in Wheeler Park, a block off Route 66 and visible from it.  The park is right on the road heading up to the ski hill, which is a well-used thoroughfare, so the location is highly visible.  Pretty hard to miss if you're doing more than just driving by on the freeway.  Flagstaff is a very popular location for people to escape the heat of the Phoenix area, being only about 2 1/2 hours away.  All weekend, it was fun to ask people where they were from.  Quite a variety of answers.

Load in: it was busy, but I guess that's pretty expected when everybody is trying to set up all at the same time.  We arrived about an hour and a half after the time when you could start setting up, so things were well under way when we got there.  They allow you to park in the parking lot by the park during load in, and lots of people had their vehicles on the side road by the park.  We were even double-parked on that side road for a time, but it was pretty quick and nobody seemed to mind while the set up was going on.

Parking: it's about a block away at the Catholic school, although I actually never saw it, because my husband dropped me off at the curb by my booth each day and went to park the van.

The fair itself: the art fair is advertised as a fine arts & crafts fair, which is what it is.  I wasn't sure going in how I'd do, being more on the "fine art" end of things.  It seemed that the lower-priced items were more popular with the patrons of this event.  We had a major downpour on Saturday, which definitely hampered things.  It was amazing to see how many people came out after the heaviest rains were over, carrying umbrellas and wearing raincoats.  These people didn't seem fazed by rain.

On Sunday & Monday, we had beautiful weather and lots of crowds.  On Sunday, there was a farmers market nearby, so a lot of the folks going there came through the art fair on their way to and from the farmers market. 

As for how I did?  Well... I sold some smaller prints but didn't come anywhere near to making my booth fee, let alone meeting my total expenses.  But it was still a lovely weekend, fun to visit with the other artists and talk with a lot of really interesting people who came by, a nice getaway for my family from the heat.  And, it was pretty cool being a part of the event that I had hoped to get into, back at the beginning before I had a display or even enough paintings to really contemplate getting into a juried event.

I'm still trying to find my niche for my art, whether the art fair market is even the right place to try to sell my work.  So, if I were another artist, I wouldn't necessarily decide whether or not to try this event based on my results.  But my gut feeling is that if you are more on the "fine art" side of things, it might not be the best venue.  It seemed that most of what was being bought were the smaller, less pricey items.

I'm not giving up on this art fair thing yet.  I've got a juried art festival coming up in a couple of months, and we'll see how I do there.  I just have to pace myself on applying for more art fairs, because paying booth fees without selling enough to cover the fees adds up pretty quickly. 

I have learned pretty much everything I know about art fairs from AFI, and I have to say it really helped a lot at my first out-of-town, first major downpour, art fair.  Thanks, Art Fair Insiders! :)

Yep, that's me. Can't leave anything alone. But let's start with the good stuff.

This is the best show in Western New York. Hyperbole aside, just a joy to do. I have done this show since the first one 14 years ago when an artist friend called me and said "wanna do a show"? It is in a trendy urban neighborhood (where I just happen to live), about 4-5 blocks long. They have a dance tent and a kids area and a music stage and I normally avoid shows that have all that but this one just works. I made my best sales number of the year. Everyone loves this show. I mean everyone: artists, visitors, kids, dogs. It is a consensus that the people spend because of the happy atmosphere. I agree.

The show was established by local artists and is run by energizer bunny volunteers. Kudos to them all. The food court is run on solar energy and all the plastic utensils are comostable. It's stuff like that that tickles people.

Now, about that molehill. I was schmoozing with a friend who does amazing work with fabric. She prints and dyes nature designs on fabric and then creates wall hangings and bags and quilts. Her booth has jute blinds on the walls and understated, uncluttered display pedestals. It's like entering a Zen zone. Beautiful. I tell you this so that you can feel the horror of what set up beside her" Dye your own scarf!! Yahoo! Step right up, squirt ink into these troughs, drag this cheap square of silk in it, lookie you made something. That will be 25 bucks. Next!

Seriously. It was awful. The guy would step into the middle of the street and do his carnival barker thing to draw a crowd (an activity strictly prohibited) and then do his routine. He made a poop load of money.

So, of course, I "facebooked" a picture of this junk booth with the sarcastic comment "wonder what his jury pix looked like" because I know lots of really talented folks who cannot get into this show. I got like 50 comments. The artists were incensed, the "civilians" told us to have a drink, those with knowledge of the workings defended the committee and advised we take it up with them.

I think a lot of us mentioned it in the post show comment forms, but on the 2nd day the head of the committee stopped by the guy's booth to stop him from carnival barking and was overheard telling him he misrepresented what he was going to be showing. Should he have been tossed? Sure. But the show was so crowded and the vibe was so good I think he probably decided to ride it out.

It dawned on me later that our jury pix are on line for this show so I looked up the guy. Yep. He submitted pretty pictures of hand dyed silk scarves. Lovely. I would have accepted him.

Turns out he has been infecting shows all over the NorthEast with his tacky booth. Some shows are not as tightly juried as this one, but he apparently always presents himself as a fabric artist and then shows up with an EZ Up, 2 troughs and a bunch of red plastic buckets.

Oh, and guess who the Buffalo News showed a photo of in their coverage of the event? Yep. Sigh.

Still the best show, still the best crew, still my best sales. Molehills aside.

ArtFest Fort Myers works all year to produce the best fine art festival in Southwest Florida and many artists agree that this fine art festival puts all the right components together to create a very successful weekend for their artists!

ArtFest Fort Myers staff joins forces with a great volunteer
Steering Committee of  community "movers and shakers" who oversee the weekend, insuring that artist needs come first.

Expect:

• drive up access for staggered Friday set up
• great artist breakfast including eggs, yogurt, fresh fruit & juice, muffins
• reserved artist parking
• discounted hotel rates
• weekend  booth sitters and indoor restrooms, your every comfort is considered so you can concentrate on sales.

These wonderful amenities are one of the reasons so many great artists want to be a part of this event and isn't it fitting to be surrounded by artists with the caliber of work that you want to be associated with?

"I have participated in your show three times and each time my sales have been better than prior years.  Your promotional efforts are fantastic-there were always big crowds!  ArtFest Fort Myers is one of the top shows in Florida for sales," Michael Brown, a digital artist from the 2013 festival.

ArtFest Fort Myers understands that bringing a buying crowd to your booth is their main objective.  The art festival's comprehensive advertising plan includes TV, radio, newspapers, glossy magazines, billboards, direct mail, theatre & symphony programs and all social media outlets.  Ten million advertising impressions mean that the buying crowd from a    tri-county area and beyond are informed about the great artwork coming to ArtFest Fort Myers the first weekend in February! For 13 years, our community has supported the art festival and they are waiting for you to arrive!

          What is special about Fort Myers?

• An international airport, perfect weather and good business environment has enticed powerhouse corporations such as Hertz, Chico's, Sony and Gartner Group to call Fort Myers their home.
• Ever increasing residential and commercial construction, lots of new jobs
• and another season of record-breaking domestic and international tourism are spurring exciting population and job growth.
• AND our commitment to the arts is evident everywhere you look.

Pastel by Katie Wilson, 2D MM Winner

Apply now, through ZAPPlication, to make ArtFest Fort Myers a key part of your successful winter season in Florida!

A true community event, ArtFest Fort Myers is free to the public and includes art related activities to attract the best audience in a wide age range.  This non-profit supports art in the schools and community all year long.  Plan now to be a part of this fabulous Fort Myers art experience!