Blog

April 12-14
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock Memorial Civic Center
110 spaces
Deadline: January 25

Why should you bring your artwork to Lubbock?

• Because we are the home of Buddy Holly, Mac Davis, Waylon Jennings, Joe Ely, Glenna Goodacre, Eddie Dixon, Barry Corbin, Susan Graham, and Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks! Pretty cool, huh?
• Lubbock has a population of 230,000 and serves as the regional education and medical 'hub' for West Texas.  
• In fact, we have three major universities in Lubbock; the largest of which, Texas Tech University, has undergraduate/graduate programs, a law school AND medical school.  
• We have also been selected as "100 Best Communities for Young People" by ING.

You can "Tour Texas." There are plenty of other great shows after the Lubbock Arts Festival including Main Street Ft. Worth (April 18-21, 2013) or Fiesta Arts Fair, San Antonio (April 20-21, 2013); Art on the Square in South Lake, Dallas/Ft.Worth (April 26-28, 2013) and Cottonwood Arts Festival, Richardson (May 4-5, 2013). So spend some time in the Lone Star state and enjoy the bluebonnets of the Hill Country along the way and include us in your tour!

You can "BEAT THE HEAT." The Lubbock Arts Festival is 100% indoors. YEP, you read that right ... our event is held in the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center which has AIR CONDITIONING and NO porta potties (only indoor plumbing for our artists)!! We also let you pull up and unload right at the back door of the Civic Center - heck, we will even let you park right next to the Civic Center in a reserved lot for the duration of the show.
 
Artists like us. Why? Aside from our witty prose, we bring 30,000 people through the doors and provide artist perks such as lunch on Friday and Saturday; overnight event security; discounted rates at our host hotel; and $50,000 worth of advertising (we have even won a marketing award from the Texas Festivals and Events Association for our event program). Most of all, and most importantly, we are just really nice people who want you to be successful!

Check out what this artist said about us:  
 

I'm glad Connie thinks my two blogs about Jury Fees were notable last month.  But I'm still waiting for her answer to my direct question.

If you'll recall, Maureen Riley the Director of The Ann Arbor Original show chimed in on my blog "Jury Fee Revisited" with this statement:

"If the work is going to get into the show....it's going to get into the show regardless of the medium it's juried under.  3D mixed media and sculpture are two other mediums where the line is very blurry.  Artists often call and ask where they should apply for better odds of getting in.  My answer is always the same....it doesn't matter...if the work is going to be accepted, it's going to be accepted in either category."

And:

"My intent was to assuage artist's concerns about the category designation, as I believe that it has little bearing on the outcome."

I asked Connie if she believed that, and I'm still waiting for an answer.

As yet, I haven't found anyone who believes the category you apply under has little to do with your chances of being accepted.  Several years ago some very "straight" photography circumnavigated the category rules for Cherry Creek and some other premium shows and sneaked in under "Digital".  Well I can tell you, the $--t hit the fan and they all rewrote the category definitions for the next year.

If it really doesn't matter, why the fuss?

UPDATE:  After paying him $25 and sending 4 emails, I still haven't gotten a reply from Mr. King, the director of The Des Moines Art Show.

Congrats to R.C. Fulwiler and Richard Sherer for their amazing virtuosity and

R. C. for winning of the best December post for "Jury Fees, What's it For?" and to Richard Sherer for his three part discussion "How do You Research Shows?"

All right you people (and you know who you are.) Connie made me do this, I thought it was self-explanatory but as usual...dumb ass me.  

Warhol was a brand. Yes, I know to invoke that name is BS, but let it sink in. He was the first artist to establish himself in fine art/publishing/film production/etc. How did a humble shoe illustrator from "Redbook" do such a thing?  How does Coca Cola (brown sugar water) own a whole isle in the grocery store? Duh...Branding. 

As practicing artists in the 21st century, this stuff is as important as acrylic paint, silver or whatever your media is. If you are reading this, you got this far. Now is time to click a couple more buttons and begin to mine what is essentially a "free" medium...the cyber art festival circuit. 

Connie gets it. And, we need to get it. Top of mind is Facebook, Twitter and this blog. What about Tumblr, Pinterest, Flickr, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+ and your own personal blog?  

This my friends is the stuff that dreams are made of? Push a few buttons and take a chhha chhha chance. All it takes is time and the results can be the equivalent of producing a magazine ad or television commercial. This link will get you started...thinking that is.www.newyorkartists.net/blog

I've reviewed this show extensively in the past.  For more background, see my blogpost from 2011.)

Hot, humid weather and white tents make for an unsavory sales environment.  Artists get cranky; customers go brain-dead.   And the high temps and humidity, under mostly sunny blue skies, drove the buyers indoors and scuttled sales at the Estero Fine Art Show in Miromar Outlets, Estero FL this weekend.

Which was a real shame, as Patty Narozny and her Hot Works staff delivered a reliably high quality show, in the face of competition from the Naples show on Fifth Avenue south.  But the attendance and buying energy, which showed a bit of promise on Saturday, disappeared entirely on Sunday as the temperatures and humidity both rose into the mid-80s. By Sunday afternoon my row had only a couple of dozen browsers, and I could see that customers were resisting coming into my south-facing tent, even though I had two portable fans running in an attempt to lure them in. 

For the second straight week, I didn't even hit four figures in sales.  Sold one canvas at a fairly deep discount, a smattering of 16x20 mats on Saturday, and nothing but 11x14 mats on Sunday.  No be-backs, no cash sales, and not many of what Nels calls "good shoes people" walking around.  As a result, I'm several thousand dollars behind my year-over-year pace--the first time in five years I've hit a downturn.  I didn't talk to a single artist who had a good show, although some said they did "okay", without enthusiasm. 

The artist across from me, who makes charming containers from recycled materials, came back for a return visit after she wowed the crowd at HotWorks' October 2012 Miromar show.  She won an award this weekend, and deservingly so, but could count her customers on one hand.  Like everyone else in my vicinity, she was shaking her head in wonder.  Load-out was the quietest I can ever remember, as everyone worked with grim efficiency to clear out and put this one behind them.

I have had a few conversations since Christmastime with folks I know from New Jersey, New York, Pa., and Delaware, and we're all wondering if our customer base from the Sandy-ravaged Northeast will be making the trip down to FL this year.  As a decidedly unscientific experiment, I swapped my usual wide brimmed straw "show hat" for a Phillies cap on Sunday--lots of folks from the Northeast  can't resist making a comment.  Only one customer all day said anything. 

It's early yet, of course, but this is two lackluster shows in a row, at a time of year when that's never happened.  Luckily, I opened up a solo show at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, clear across the state, on Friday night before heading back to Estero, and my work sold briskly over there on opening night.  Maybe I should charter a shuttle and bring 'em to Cape Coral next weekend. 

Onward. 

Anyone here fluent in "art speak"?

I saw this call for entry, and while my head hurt just reading it, I'm, pretty sure our Bubble Tower fits their needs.  Anyone care to look it over and tell me if I'm crazy to think we've a shot at this?
Scottsdale Arts Festival 2013 Temporary Public Artwork call for entry

https://www.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=1207&...

If the  solar powered BubbleYou® Bubble Tower -the world's biggest bubble toy® is a good fit for this call for entry, I'll need major help translating my marketing material into art speak. I lack ANY training either in art or art speak.   Audacious, I agree, but I've got to start somewhere and this one seems to be a fit.  ???? or am I nuts ?  Feel free to pile on, don't hold back! 

Cheers and a HUGE THANK YOU!!
Bill Coleman

http://www.bubbletower.com/

http://www.stiltwalker.com/

This art fair business is full of fun, frustration, financial challenge, friends, and fascinating questions about where it is going next. I am sure you remember when you started in the business the helpfulness of other artists and the great tips you picked up "behind the booth". This was invaluable information that has built your business. Any chance you can "pay it forward?"

Can you post a 2012 show review or two on ArtShowReviews.com? The reviews are coming in steadily but yours would be so appreciated.

It's easy:

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

You guys are great -- love to all the art fair community in the New Year.

Greetings from the 21st Annual Marion Arts Festival, in Marion, Iowa (adjacent to Cedar Rapids, in Eastern Iowa).  Consistently  ranked among the top tier of juried art events nationwide, the MAF  presents 50 artists, offering both fine art and fine craft to an  audience of 16,000.  There are no bands, there is no beer-the MAF is about the art.

The MAF is one of the most artist-profitable festivals nationwide!  The Art Fair SourceBook ranks the MAF as:

• Among the Top 25 festivals in the country for 2012!
• #17 in fine art
• #24  in fine craft
• #1 show in the country among events featuring 100 artists or fewer
• #1 one-day show nationwide

Marion is a "vintage uptown" type of community, and a part of   the Cedar Rapids metro area.  Our show is intimate and purposeful, with the mission to be an event through which you will thrive.  (Here,  we're obligated to insert that we're volunteer-driven, hokey and maybe  more than a little mom-and-pop...in good ways, mostly.)  Our exhibitors enjoy a sincere welcome and an easy-to-do- show.

Visit our website: www.marionartsfestival.com to see the range and quality of our 20th annual lineup-you'll find fifty of your most respected artists pals.

Artist amenities:

• Friday check-in and set-up
• Friday evening artists' party
• Convenient free parking for artists
• 24-hour security
• Booth sitters and energetic volunteers
• Continental breakfast; water & snacks all day
• Separate indoor restrooms
• Cash awards
• Extensive event marketing, including billboards, websites, newspapers, TV, and radio (including statewide venues)

We invite artist entries through ZAPPlication: www.zapplication.org

You have our best wishes as you plan your spring and summer season!

For further information, email director Deb Bailey: mafdirector@marioncc.org

More info about our application in this video:

Marion Arts Festival 2013: Please Share Your Mojo

Greg Lawler's Art Fair Sourcebook ratings of the top shows in the country are out and shows are sharing the information on their websites and local press.

#1 - La Quinta Arts Festival - "Last year’s festival did more than $2.5 million sales and attendance increased more than 30 percent." There are 200 artists in the show, so you do the math! Sounds pretty good. The rest of the story: http://www.mydesert.com/article/20130103/NEWS01/301030001/La-Quinta-Arts-Festival-ranked-No-1-nation

Any other shows out there who want to share their rankings?

Looking at returns on shows, geography and my plans for the year.  I'm going to try to pick up some shows outside the Chicago area for the first time.  To see my reasoning check out my blog: http://heartfirestudios.blogspot.com/2013/01/geographically-challenged.html  ... if you are so inclined I welcome any advice to an artist who is finally going to travel.

May 18 & 19  
Indianapolis, Indiana
43rd year
225+ Artists
Deadline: January 20

Established in 1971, the Broad Ripple Art Fair, the Art Center's largest fundraiser, is Indy's kickoff to the summer festival season!  Now it its 43rd year, the Broad Ripple Art Fair attracts over 22,000 visitors annually to the Broad Ripple Village cultural district and showcases more than 225 artists from the U.S. and Canada.

The Art Fair features booths from local cultural organizations, a children's creative area, gourmet food courts, a beer and wine garden and live entertainment on four stages and the Frank M. Basile Auditorium.


The Art Fair takes place on the grounds of the Indianapolis Art Center and its ARTSPARK, and the North Side Optimist Opti-Park annually each May.

All proceeds from the Art Fair aid the Art Center in serving more than 300,000 people annually through its year-round on-site studio art classes, contemporary art exhibitions, community events and outreach programs for underserved youth.

Points of note:

• Top 100 Art Fair (Sunshine Artist Magazine 2012, Art Fair Sourcebook 2012)
• Jury is open to public and scores are released to artists
• Jury/Booth Fees ($34/$320-$420 depending on location)
• Over $400,000 in marketing and promotion
• Features 225 fine artists
• Second day pass-back for patrons; gated fair average of over 20,000 attendees
• Heavy item pick up service
• Staff and volunteer supported load-in and load-out
• Over 400 volunteers

Application Dates:

• Applications Open:  October 1, 2012
• Application Deadline:  January 20, 2013
• Notification:  February 22, 2013
• Booth Fee due:  March 22, 2013

For more info: http://indplsartcenter.org/events/braf/

Apply: www.Zapplication.org

Kyle Herrington, Artist Committee Chair KyleH@IndplsArtCenter.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to fill up your 2013 show schedule? Visit callsforartists.com

I have a trivial question and am wondering if anyone else has ever pondered the same question.

When you have your choice of a booth location in a show, is it better to be near the front (or the main entrance) or the back or somewhere in the middle.

My question specifically applies to the Bayou Festival in Houston.  You have to enter Memorial Park through the main entrance and, if your booth is in the back, you have to walk the entire length of the park to get to your booth.  And, of course, if you're near the entrance, you don't have far to go.

I guess it's a psychological question as to whether a person is more likely to buy as they come in or as they go out  Coming in they are fresh and ready to rock-and-roll and as they go out they're tired and ready to go home.

I know.  I said it was a trivial question but , I'd be interested in hearing whether or not any of you have an opinion on this.

Does anyone have any comments regarding this Spring show?  I know their Christmas show has a lot of buy-sell and I did well there many, many years ago in the handcraft section; however, I know nothing about the spring show.  How does it compare to the May show in the park?  Any input will be greatly appreciated.

PS:  Happy New Year to everyone.  I'm hoping it's a good one!

Yet another reason to move to Florida:

Series of fine arts festivals planned for Veterans Park

Does Florida need more art fairs? The City of Flagler Beach has just announced a series of six art fairs to be held on the third Saturday of the month, starting February 17. The city has entered into a partnership with Justine Wintersmith, who has organized similar festivals in Washington State and Arizona.

Wintersmith's hope is "to help "establish the artist/collector relationship" in the area through repetition so that collectors might come to the series of festivals to meet the artists and gain a better understanding of their work."

The city hopes that in addition to generating revenue for the city, the festivals will attract more visitors to city shops and restaurants.

Some interesting points:

• Veterans Park can accommodate between 50 and 80 artist booths.
• There is no application fee to enter but admissions will go through a jury process to ensure that three main criteria are met: work must be created by the artist who submits the piece; it is quality work; and it is considered fine art.
• Artists within 100 miles are eligible to participate.

Read the story here: http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130102/NEWS0402/301019988/1064?p=1&tc=pg

What do you think? Does this venue impinge on other nearby events?

I have been accepted to Woodlands in Texas but was waitlisted for Main Street Ft. Worth (#4). I don't want to drive that far for one show or risk showing up for Main Street and not get in. I do well in North Florida in April as it's home base. Should I go to Texas or stay home?

Also, Leesburg or Las Olas? I can depend on @$2000 from LAs Olas, but Leesburg would be so easy and convenient. Has anyone done the Deland show in March? they want slides or photos?!?!), or do Hyde Park? Hmmm, so many decisions!

Sculpture by N'namdi Okonkwo at the AA Street Art Fair

 
The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair is the original of a collective of four concurrent fairs that transform central Ann Arbor into a massive outdoor art gallery each July.  Established in 1960 and still true to its mission of increasing public knowledge and appreciation for contemporary fine arts and fine crafts,  the Original Ann Arbor Art Fair presents consistently high quality, all original work.

Located on the streets surrounding the historic Burton Carillon Tower and the tree-lined central campus of the University of Michigan, the Street Art Fair, the Original, offers a serene atmosphere that does not include sidewalk sales or merchandise vendors.  The Street Art Fair is the only Ann Arbor fair to be named to AmericanStyle's list of Top-Ten Art Fairs and is known for attracting collectors, corporate buyers, and gallery representatives.

Highlights:

• The combined Ann Arbor Art Fair draws more than 500,000 fairgoers from across the nation
• Marketed extensively throughout Southeast Michigan and northern Ohio
• In-depth Artist directory on the Fair's website, which received 11 million hits leading up to last year's Fair
• Inclusion in the searchable iPhone Artist Directory
•  $7,500 in award money and automatic reinvitation for award winners
• Set-up the day before, behind booth storage
• Artist amenities include: 24-hour security, indoor restrooms, booth sitting, daily breakfast, beverages and snacks, welcome cocktail reception, and an awards breakfast on Thursday
• Paid demonstration opportunities

Application fee: $40

Booth fee: $650

Electricity and corners are available for $100 additional

For more info:  www.artfair.org

email: mriley@artfair.org, (734)994-5260

Apply: www.zapplication.org

Our Tradition continues...The Art League of Lincoln has renamed the former clay art show and competition held annually at the Gladding McBean Clay company as “AMERICA’S CLAYFEST at Gladding McBean”  This show is celebrating 25 years of clay competition at the historic Gladding McBean Clay Manufacturing Company in Lincoln, California. Our juror, world renowned ceramic artist, Richard Shaw, will be selecting the works that will be shown on site at the Gladding McBean property, inside one of the historic beehive kilns and in the historic architectural design studio. This prestigious show has traditionally had entries from all over the United States, Canada, Mexico and Asia. All clay artists are invited to submit entries. Deadline is February 4th 2013...See our web page www.all4art.net for a Prospectus and Entry

After a show-free December, I was anxious to get the cash register ringing at Coconut Point, Howard Alan's first event of Florida high season (or "last-show-of-the-year", depending on your perspective).  I'd invested not much money but quite a bit of time during the break installing the Square's point-of-sale software and Fresh Books cloud accounting and reporting software, putting all my items into its inventory and price point systems, and figuring out how I could tweak them to get an at-a-glance view of the business in 2013.  I was really looking forward to seeing how that improved the customer checkout experience.

Unfortunately, but through no fault of the Howard Alan folks, I didn't gather much data--or moolah, either.  Instead of my speedy, high-tech gizmos, I could have gone all retro and serviced my few customers with a stone tablet and abacus beads and not missed a beat.

The crowds came strong, as they always do, to this jewel of the Southwest Florida shopping scene.  And some folks sold very well, indeed.  But I was among the downtrodden on this trip, selling less than I'd sold at the much smaller Naples Thanksgiving show, and about two-thirds less than past experience here had led me to expect.

I didn't do a great deal of walking around during show hours, but I did a lot of asking around during load-out.  And it seems that the folks who fared best (sales of $4K and up on the weekend) were selling at high price points: Large paintings and photographs for the high-ceilinged, Mediterranean-style homes in this area (at price points of $800 and up); expensive glass sculptures, and the like.  Some folks, like myself, who didn't meet expectations were selling at middle price points, and, as more than one artist said to me, "the middle class folks weren't buying."  A jeweler near me had sold one item as of early Sunday afternoon; a painter finally had a $1200 buyer (for a half-dozen reproductions) in mid-afternoon of Day 2 to get her, more or less, in the black. A photographer friend had a decent show, thanks to a single large buyer.   Another artist nearby, like myself, struggled to crack $1K.

I had lots of traffic through my booth, to be sure: About a half-dozen folks who are about to close on new homes, but not quite at the "furnishing stage";  some potentially nice marketing opportunities (about which more later); but no buyers of my (typically) 24x30 inch canvases of Florida bird life, at price points from the low $200s to high $400s. (Last year, I sold seven.)

Matted prints moved slowly, too, as browsers didn't seem impressed with a "15% off both if you buy two" offer. I might have done better, had I adjusted on the fly.

Lots of the stores surrounding the show had 20 to 50 percent off signs in their windows; maybe that's what the middle-income shoppers were looking for.  But the word around the tents was that, if Joe Sixpack was made nervous by fiscal cliffs and bills from Christmas past, the upper-income buyers weren't.  And that may be an observation worth paying attention to as the winter season continues.

"Go big, or go home," as they say. 

****

Other notes:

*This is a Friday, all-day, setup show.  Easy and well-managed.  Artist parking was tightly restricted this year to the row at the far edge of the movie theatre lot that hosts it.  It's a brisk seven-minute walk to the near edge of the show, but an artist shuttle was provided to help out, and it seemed to do the trick.  

* It's a busy, busy shopping center, especially with the show falling only four days after Christmas. (I overheard a clerk in the Barnes & Noble store referring to "gift-card-from-Grandma season.") A few visitors mentioned that parking for the show was a bit of a hassle.

* Give yourself lots of time for tear-down: The shopping lots stay filled late at Coconut Point, so if you're hoping to find a spot on the edge of the show and dolly out, it can be a long wait to find space.  Many artists just ordered takeout from one of the restaurants and waited until they could pull past the barricades and up to the front of their tent.

* Show quality was very good, as usual for an HAE "A" show.  Maybe a little heavier on photography than in years past.  Quality may have benefited even more from the lack of a competitor down the road in Naples: The von Liebig's first Fifth Avenue show isn't until next weekend.

I'll be spending this day flying from Los Angeles to Detroit. Like many parents I have seen my bright and shiny children move away for greener pastures and good jobs in California and elsewhere. So, for me this last day is a sad one, as I leave behind my sons, their wives and 3 little grandchildren until we can meet again. I make these trips to LA frequently and almost always my seat mates are parents or kids making the trek to visit family. All of us are happy on the outbound trip and depressed on the inbound leg. 

Have you been watching Facebook in the last week, as many friends post images of happy families together and loved ones gathered? It has been heartwarming.  I hope your holidays were full of love and hugs like mine and that the New Year will bring you more of the same, whether with your family of birth or your family "on the road" as we travel and meet up with friends. 

How will you spend the last day of 2012?