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At long last, I'm back in the saddle after a bad back forced me to scuttle a scheduled show in Bethany Beach a month ago and then kept the kayak in the garage during a planned 2.5-week "staycation" back in Ft. Myers.   I used the time to reload four shows' worth of inventory and ship it all to my rental home in Cape May County, then hopped a non-stop flight on Spirit Airlines, ready to sell 'em all...or at least a lot of 'em...while I photographed the fall bird migration along my beloved South Jersey Coastline.

Well, not so fast, cowboy.  My first stop, The Wheaton Festival of Fine Craft,  is as well-organized as any show you'll find, with friendly volunteers, well-orchestrated load-in/out, a beautiful 65-acre, tree-lined setting on the grounds of the WheatonArts Center, and a solid following among arts lovers. The site is home to  the Museum of American Glass, the Creative Glass Center of America International Fellowship Program, the largest folklife center in New Jersey, a hot glass studio, several traditional craft studios, five museum stores, a 13,000 sq. ft. Event Center and a beautiful pond-side picnic grove.  The center bills itself as "the soul of American craft and art." And their marketing program and mail list is top-notch.

So what could go wrong? 

Well, in what seems to be a recurrent theme this season, it was the weather.  A beautiful, summer-like Saturday with steady crowds was scuttled by the cold front that whipped through Saturday night to drop a half-inch of rain and chill the temperatures by 25 degrees.  So Sunday turned out to be a fireplace-and-football kinda day for Philadelphia area residents, leaving artists to (mostly) talk amongst themselves. The 40 or so artists who displayed in one of the indoor venues, or under the ultra-long canopy outside, fared somewhat better, but even those crowds were way off from Saturday.

I wound up selling only slightly more than I sold at the previous weekend's "Margate Fun Fest", which was a popular community event for the family and kiddos, but makes no pretense of being a serious art show.

So Wheaton wound up 'way below my sales expectations, and it can't all be explained away by the weather.  (I sold nearly as much on Sunday as Saturday.)  So wha' happened? 

First off, the quality of work was excellent, but as the show name suggests, it's heavily skewed toward fine CRAFT, not fine art (of the 2-D variety).  Of the 125 artists, the show's beautifully designed, full color program listed only three fine artists and seven photographers, compared with 16 clay artists, 16 fiber artists, nine artists working in glass, 15 woodworkers, and 10 clothing designers.  Jewelry (29) was the most heavily represented, by far--but nearly all that I saw was beautifully made.  I had lots of time, unfortunately, to walk the show on Sunday, and I saw very little work that didn't belong at a high-end festival.  But, many of the folks who strolled the grounds on Saturday were carrying crafts, not 2-D work.  "If you're a 2-D artist, you'll build a following here over time," a ten-year veteran of the show told me. 

There were plenty of savvy buyers who came in to meet me on Saturday, but they were making bee-lines for the browse bins of 16x20s and 11x14s, not my wall canvases.  Another wildlife photographer friend who sells only canvases and notecards (no matted prints at all) said that his sales came almost entirely from ultra-small (8x10, 11x14) canvases, not his larger ones.  One of the fine artists next to me had a "working display tent" set up next to her usual gallery tent, and she cleverly carved out a survivor's take by selling her demo 8x10 prints for $10-20. But she didn't sell any larger works, which were sized and priced similarly to mine.

(Photo, right: Saturday crowds)

The jewelers I talked with did OK "considering it was pretty much a one-day show", as one put it. 

All in all, this is clearly an event run by folks who know what they're doing, and they obviously enjoy a lot of community support.  Bottom line, I can't hold the weather against them.  If you're a fine craftsperson within a day's drive of this show, I'd put this one on your list for 2013.  If you're a 2-D artist, I'd consider it, too...but come prepared with smaller, less expensive work and plan your first year as a "seed investment" for the future. 

(Photo, left: Late morning on Sunday)

Unheralded Burbank, CA, artist Adonna Khare wins the $200,000 in the Grand Rapids ArtPrize!

Her drawing "Elephants", 8 foot high and 35 feet long that she created in her garage and installed at the Grand Rapids Art Museum for the competition.

Over more than three weeks, as museum-goers watched her progress, the mural grew to 13 feet high and about 40 feet long. Khare said she was working frantically until the last minute before the votes were tallied, so she never got to figure out the exact dimensions.

Though it's a vision of exotic animals, Khare said "Elephants" is also highly personal.

"It's kind of a biography of my life transplanted into animals," she said. "Sad things like loss and sickness, and happy things like the birth of my daughter."

For example, she said, an orangutan hooked up to medical equipment is a stand-in for a young nephew who was diagnosed with diabetes, representing "the sickness of a child, and what it means to inflict pain in order for somebody to survive."

She said the additions she made in Grand Rapids were not preplanned, and reflected her first long separation from her daughter, Kinsey, who is now 3...

"I honestly didn't think I stood a chance," Khare said.

It's a great story. Adonna started out as a teacher but found herself conflicted with her goals and was looking for a way to balance a career and family. What is she going to do with the prize money? "We really need a new mattress. That is one thing we'll buy for sure."

Read the story here: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-adonna-khare-wins-200000-artprize-20121007,0,206128.story

Watch the video of her the announcement: http://www.mlive.com/artprize/index.ssf/2012/10/artprize_2012_see_photos_video_from_artprize_awards.html

Why am I talking about here on this blog? Because this prize is like the fairs -- populist. Who wins the sales? The people decide.

Just thought I would give all a quick update and review on this event.  We had mixed emotions going into this show.  However, we thought it would be worth another try.  This event is a country fair type of atmosphere in a local park.  The park area is hilly so it can be difficult for load in and load out.  Sometimes you are fortunate to find volunteers with ATV's and trailers to assist you.  However, this year, they were few and far between.  So we had to haul all of our items to our spot ourselves.  The nice thing is that you can set up on Friday.   So it does give you plenty of time. 

The show has beer sales, food area, and a bakery area The vendors?   A wide mix from artists to crafters to buy/sellers.  Yes a bit of everything there.  That is why we had mixed emotions.  Saturday the show opened at 10.  However we were told that the shoppers start arriving at 8 or so.  Sure enough they were right.  By 10am we had sold several pieces.  The weather on Saturday was cold, around 45, and overcast all day with a moderate wind.  Everyone was frozen.  But the crowds were there.  The place was jammed and we had a record sales day.  At one time, the two of us were writing out sales slips.   It was unbelievable. 

Then on Sunday the weather was actually decent.  In the mid to upper 50's with sunshine most of the day.  Only had one jacket on.  However the crowds were not as plentiful.   Now you figure that one out.   We can't.

Sales on Sunday were about half of what they were on Sat.  But we are not complaining.  Just saying, 

So all in all, we will most likely do this show again next year. 

One of the nice things that we do at some of these shows is get together with other vendors we know for dinner.  So, sure enough, we went to dinner on Friday with Mike from Stumpkins, and then on Saturday night we went to dinner with Liam and Corey from Liam's shard jewelery.  What a nice time both evenings sharing experiences and laughs and problems.  On Sunday night after tear down, C. Kay and I went to dinner, just the two of us to relax and celebrate the week end. 

So all in all it was a good show for crowds and sales.  But not good load in and out.  Cant have everything.  LOL.

B. David

It seems that this summer I have had the need to be saved so that I can go to heaven at many of the shows that we attend.  OK.  I design using Hebrew letters.  So it is pretty easy to figure out that I am Jewish.  The designs do NOT profess anything religious-- the designs DO profess love, peace, light, peaceful home, a woman of valor -- to name a few.  It is universal - it is global.  So why do people come up to me trying to save me so that I can go to heaven?  And why do these folks seem to talk without the need to take a breathe?  I am polite - very polite.  These folks never approach Jay - just me.  I listen politely.  This weekend I did tell the woman that she was making me quite uncomfortable.  She was -- and she took a lot of energy out of me ... her passion was real ... but she didn't stop pounding, pounding, pounding.  And this was just after a woman thought that a piece of 14k gold marked $400 was $4.00 - and walked away in a huff when she found out that those two zeros meant a very different number than she had anticipated. 

On the other hand, I guess that the 'gift' that my great-grandfather had - of listening -- and I've been told has been passed down to me -- has given me the opportunity to hear stories -- when someone - usually a woman -- looks at a piece, feels a connection, tells a story, sometimes breaks down in tears, and ultimately gets a hug if wanted ... has given me the opportunity to touch another person's life and perhaps bring about joy and/or healing. 

Or -- a young person who 'gets' the messages -- and asks more and more questions - trying to find layers -- and sometimes adds more stories - making the message that much more  meaningful and relevant.  The 'wows,' 'cool,' 'neat,' 'fabulous,' 'clever' negate the cute, very nice, interesting comments that mean - it's time to move on. 

The highs and lows of being a Judaic special educator who loves to doodle and has made those doodles come alive when placed into jewelry, etched glass, and a mobile. 

      I am a mixed media jewelry artist whose main ingredient is the dried acrylic paint pulled from the artist palette. After  years of doing shows, my booth has evolved to what you see here. It is simple, colorful, lightweight, and it all fits in my car.

        Recently I mentioned to my jewelry photographer that I have never been accepted to a show from Zapplication. He looked at my  jury slides and then assured me it was because of my booth shot, not because of the jewelry . He went on to say that jurors look at the type of tent in the booth shot,  and if it is an EZ Up they are more likely to disqualify you. 

 Here's my question: What do you think? Is it the tent or the display, or both, or neither? What can I do differently that could give me a better shot at being accepted into shows? 

Thanks!

This show was my second show (previous blog on my first show a bit over a week ago)

This was my first somewhat major art show, 130 artists from multiple states.

I do photogaphy, florals and insects with a lot of macro shots and printed on water color paper.

I went into this show with great hopes but came out a bit disappointed.  The show begun on a Saturday that was totally overcast and rather cool, a record low high temperature for the date.  On this day, I had mosest sales of a bit over $1,000 during very low attendance. 

With the amount of sales I had on Saturday, I was expecting a great day on Sunday that while still cool, was sunny and a great Fall day.  As anticipated, the attendence was substantially larger but at the same time, very few of the  attendees were purchasing anything and I ended the day with about $250 of sales.  Lots of nice comments and lots of people that said that they would cotact me in the future but very poor sales.  Talked to a number of other vendors and all that I talked to had the same story.

Do the serious buyers come out on the first day?  Is this just what sometimes happens with no good reason?

I had hoped that the two shows that I have now done would provide me with a solid reason to either continue with this type of venue in the future or to bow out.  Doing the shows is a lot of work and requires a substantial amount of money in inventory and equipment.  I now have to answer the question on should I continue.

I have no idea of if this is a good show or not and I live two blocks away and have attended as a visitor for a lot of past shows.

The show is held in the center of a historic city street with a grass/tree center and accsss is nice - one can drive up to ones site for loading and unloading.  There is a $7 a head entry fee and the show is held in conjunction with Best of Missouri, a event highlighting the best of Missouri products that is held at the Missouri Botanical Garden and draws thousands of attendees although I believe that the entry fee (up from $5 last year) keeps the number of attendees down.  This is primarly an art show with a food court in the center and a minimal amount of music.  It is my understanding that making it past the jury is somewhat difficult.

Being new to this whole scene, I have no idea of how to rate the show nor do I have any inkling how sales compare with other venues. 

The two shows that I have done thus far have been a nice learning experience and I have a list of multiple things that I will do if I continue to do art shows.

- I need to pare down the amount of artwork I bring and display.  My booth was too crowed to be visually pleasant, too many items too near to others, too much time to pack/unpack 

- I restricted accesses to the booth.

- I need to make the display more coherent in terms of subject  and color.

_I will no longer offer low cost small prints - Insufficient sales, cheapens the product, just more clutter.

Trying to determine how I did in terms of sales in relation to what other did.  How does one find out?

Why are most attendees at art shows.? I noticed that what seemed to be the majority walked down in front of the stalls without ever even glancing to see what was being sold?

Arrived on Thursday for Friday setup at the the fall Cottonwood Arts Festival in Richardson, TX part of the Metroplex of Dallas-Ft.Worth. I'm no foreigner to big cities having grown up in "Chicago Land" but I wasn't prepared for DFW! Statistics show the Metroplex at over 9200 square miles. What really got me was the highway interchange on the drive in that seemed more like a roller coaster than a highway. At one point, as we came around a curve, I looked down on what was seemingly traffic some 100 feet below us! Drivers in this complex were less than courteous or forgiving of out-of-towners. Fagetaboutit if you didn't know where you were going! I had heard that load-in at the show was unbearable but we were fortunate and it all went smoothly with plenty of time on Friday. A wonderful dinner was provided Friday night with musical accompaniment. As we ate the weather changed, as was expected, and by Saturday morning the temp was in the low 50's! It didn't improve throughout the day and I was glad I had set up my lights for the expected late day as we had to have them on all day as it was so overcast and gloomy. The folks still turned out but not in the droves that I had expected from other reports. Sales today were pretty dismal but we have slightly warmer temps to anticipate for tomorrow so perhaps the turnout will be better as well. We shall see.

The people in Louisville really have their social media machine in high gear. In this city the St. James Court Art Show in popularity is only second to the Kentucky Derby! Imagine that. In fact, it is so popular they close the public schools on Friday.

Here are some good links with videos in case you are considering participating in 2013:

• From the Louisville Courier: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20121005/BETTERLIFE05/310050008/Find-your-way-around-St-James-Court-Art-Show-website-your-phone?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|p&nclick_check=1
  
  See the artists setting up and an idea of the neighborhood.
  
  
• From the TV station with some very nice photos.
  http://www.wdrb.com/story/19734764/preparations-underway-for-st-james-art-show
  WDRB 41 Louisville - News, Weather, Sports Community

This is a terrific show for some, but not so for others. But if you are in the business at least worth a try once or twice.

·    Artists  are treated to a special artist hospitality area offering a  complimentary continental breakfast, beverages and snacks throughout the  day.

·    A  strategic marketing campaign targets local and visiting art consumers  through media partnerships in print, radio, television as well as direct  mail, visitor guides, concierges and social media. The average attendee  is a married, college-educated professional between the ages of 30-65  with annual income of $50,000 - $150,000.

·    Local hotel partners offer special discounted rates for exhibiting artists and their guests.

·    Dedicated hospitality and volunteer booth sitters also are available to assist artists.

Peter's Valley is in northern NJ -- not near much of anything -- beautiful Pocono mountains in the distance.  We asked for a bit more space for Jay's wheelchair-- and alas, we were given more space.  Lindsey the coordinator came by to make sure that the space was adequate and comfortable for us.  She made sure that parking for us was close and safe.  After the first day of the show, more handicap parking spaces were marked and made available.  This show absolutely did its best to accommodate Jay's and my needs.

Now... when it comes to sales ... we did ok -- not great, not terrible -- ok.  It's hard to judge because we are a niche market - universal spiritual messages that are using Hebrew letters - so people assume that it is just "Jewish" -- which it's not.  Hebrew letters are like Asian letters in the way they can be manipulated into different shapes.  The first day I mixed the jewelry up 3x -- the try to change the 'aura' and maybe generate more sales.  Sunday we were talking steadily to people - and never had time to make the changes.  Saturday was very cloudy and despite the lighting we had up, I felt that our product wasn't showing as well as it could.  We went to Walmart and bought clip lights on sale $4.95 and Sunday Jay put up 4 more lights -- with that and the sunshine people could see the etched glass and the jewelry a lot better.  We got our usual ''oohs and aaahs' -- people saying they never saw anything like this before -- thanking us for being there and then walking away.  We heard the fabulous, amazing, brilliant, how do you think of these, etc. but then we had so many walkers. Surprising, we didn't sell any glass -- happy we sold jewelry.  The numbers are such that we are on 'the line' of should we try one more year or not.  We shall see. 

Am working on my show schedule for 2013 and wanted to look at JazzFest.  I have been to their site and looked around on ZAPP for an artist application.  No luck.  Is there some information out there that can help.  I understood JazzFest to be a rather large art event.

Congratulations, Warren. Your post Nightmare on Elm Street has been selected to win this prestigious award, Post of the Month, by a jury of your peers.

March 7-10

La Quinta, California

a short drive from legendary Palm Springs  

10am-5pm daily
230 Artists 

Deadline - October 15

La Quinta Arts Festival will celebrate its 31st Anniversary in 2013 on the spectacular grounds of the La Quinta Civic Center Campus, a short drive from legendary Palm Springs, California.  The  Campus is a life-size picture postcard framed by majestic  mountains,  lush green lawns, and a lake - a spectacular outdoor gallery  extolled  by Art Fair SourceBook as "the most stunning festival site in the country."

Hosting 230 of the nation's foremost contemporary artists, this four day show attracts an affluent demographic and many wealthy snowbirds  who  have second homes in the desert. Art sales consistently exceed  $2  million each year. The festival runs concurrent with the BNP  Paribas  Open, an international tennis event, attended by 350,000 of a  highly  appealing demographic as well as the polo finals - both located a  few  miles from the festival.

 
La Quinta Arts Festival requires the Artist to pay a show fee of 20% of all art sales made at, or as a result of participating in La Quinta Arts Festival.  A low booth fee of $275 for a 12x12 space means minimal up-front investment to participate, and allows LQAF to be successful only if the artists are successful. 

(The Big Mountain Lion sculpture near the center of this picture was purchased by a couple from Michigan for
$60,000.  It was be delivered in July. The sculpture is by Jason Napier of Friday Harbor, Wisconsin)
         

Noteworthy:

• Consistently ranked among the Top Ten Fine Art Festivals in the Nation by both Artists and Festival Patrons
• 2.5 million dollars worth of art was sold in 2012 
• Juried online by 5 respected authorities from across the country in each  of the 11 media categories
• Dedicated 24/7 Artist Hotline
• 24 Hour Private Security and Police
• Leisurely 2 day set-up and tear-down. Also Paid Labor Assistance with flatbed golf carts.
• Artist  Hospitality  includes morning and afternoon snacks, chilled bottled  water  throughout the day, a gourmet lunch box delivered daily to each  booth.  (Artist selects lunch order.)
• Impressive Artist Award Reception  
• Booth Fees from $275 to $775 - all booths located on lush grass
• Volunteer Booth Sitters - contact by cell phone for your convenience  
• Currently ranked #2 Fine Art Festival in the Nation by Art Fair SourceBook 2012 and #7 Fine Art Fair by American Style Magazine 2012
  

For more information and to apply through ZAPP

Click here: www.lqaf.com/artists-resources/la-quinta-arts-festival-participation/   

Any questions, please contact Dedicated Artist Helpline:

Phone: 760-564-1244, ext. 112, Email: Helpline@LQAF.com  

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

Find more shows for your art fair schedule at CallsforArtists.com.
On this list you'll even find events who are looking for artists for 2012!

Here are the Top Ten finalists in the big art competition being held throughout downtown Grand Rapids, MI. On Friday the winner of the $250,000 prize will be announced. In all, $560,000 in total prize money -- $360,000 awarded by public vote, $200,000 awarded by a select group of art experts will be handed out.

These ten were chosen by popular vote (not jurors, the public are the voters) from a field of 1517 entries.

Who do you think will be the winner? Who is your favorite?

"Rebirth of Spring" by Frits Hoendervanger

Stick-to-it-ive-ness: Unwavering pertinacity; perseverance by Richard Morse

"Origami" by Kumi Yamashita

"Song of Lift" by Martijn van Wagtendonk

"Return to Eden" by Sandra Bryant

"Elephants" by Adonna Khare

"The Chase" by a team of artists

"Life in Wood" by Dan Heffron

"City Band" by Chris LaPorte

"Lights in the Night" by Mark Carpenter and Don Johnson

If you don't know, Kickstarter is a website that helps fund creative and innovative projects through crowd funding.  I am working with Kickstarter to raise funds for my next photographic adventure, this time to Australia.  I will only receive the funds if my project meets its pledge goal by Oct. 29.  If the project does not reach the goal, I receive nothing.  The best part is that no one is "donating" anything to me, Kickstarter requires all projects to return something tangible to the investors in the project.  In terms of my project, investors have the choice of purchasing a photograph from either my previous work, or the work I will shoot in Australia.

I think this is a great way to raise funds for arts projects and even exhibitions.  Its also a great source of promotion for your artwork.  It can take away the entire notion of "well, if I only had the money to..." It also exposes your work to a new audience!

You can check out my project here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1986082413/kite-aerial-photography-in-australia

I encourage everyone to look at the rest of the site and also, since we are all creative people here, keep it in mind for your own future projects.  So far my experiences with them have been excellent!

I will update with its progress.

Septemberfest in Schaumburg IL is a large festival which includes a carnival, large food area and main stage with bands and entertainment into the evening.  All are set on and around the grounds of the Schaumburg Municipal center.  The Arts and Crafts area consists of probably 250+ artists and crafters.  Well it has the possibility of having that many.  

We have done this show for about 4 years now.  Parking for guests is very limited, but they seem to come out for the show and the music at the main stage. The arts area closes at 5pm and we watch the people coming to the nightly band concerts carrying their lawn chairs and coolers.  As far as the art show goes, we have watched it deteriorate seriously over the last couple of years.   What do I mean by deteriorate?   An influx of buy and sellers..  This year I would say that close to 35-40% were buy and sell.

As an example, a year ago there was a person that was 2 booths over from us.  That person had a double booth.  The only thing in their booth were items that were shipped from Eastern Asia.  Their items were stored behind the tent in their original baxes and they would restock from them. 

Management for the show was made aware of these vendors on the first day of the show.  Management chose to do nothing about it.  Septemberfest agreement states that the artist must be in the booth with their product.  If the items are buy and sell, the vendor will be asked to tear down and leave.   When this was mentioned to management they said that they did not want any confrontations with the vendor so they would leave them there and not have them come back.  Strange way to handle things when their agreement says if you have buy and sell you will be asked to leave and no refund.  Confrontation would not be an issue when they have plenty of Schaumburg police on site all day. 

So this one vendor got to stay the whole show and make life miserable for true artists trying to sell their art work.  Then we get to this year.   Guess what????     Yep, this vendor was back.   In a different location but back again.  When management was confronted they said well he paid his fee before we found out he was buy and sell so we had to let him in.  Then they go on to tell me that it will all be changed next year bacause they have a new president.   Well in my thoughts it is not the president who lets these people in but the people running the arts portion of the festival.  If they wont remove somone who is violating their policy.  It makes me believe that all they want to do is fill spaces in this show and they do not care who applies. 

Maybe a festial is not the best venue for art.  We will look to other locations to fill the void in our calendar. 

B. David Kruser

After reviewing all the suggestions I received - here are the changes I made (and the one I didn't).  I decided to keep my Salvage Artist identity.  I have developed a following with that identity and didn't really feel I could change the name.  I did change my artist statement (see the new one at www.salavgeartist.com ) and how I described myself and my art.  With the help of my wonderful husband, we revamped my booth.  I had my first opportunity to try out the changes this weekend at the New Hope Arts & Craft Show.  My sales were not a lot better, but the reponse was very different.  People thought my artwork was decidedly more upscale.  They thought my prices, which I had raised back up to where I thought they should be, were very reasonable.  I even had a couple of artists stop by to tell me they thougth my booth was beautiful!  I have attached a picture of the new booth to this blog, it is hard to see, but the shears are a very pretty shade of green.  I usually have more pieces in my booth, but edited some out to do a new booth shot.  thanks for all the suggestions!

This is my second year doing the Riverfront Art Festival.  It is held in Genoa Park, Columbus, Ohio (same place the large Columbus Arts Festival is held in the spring).

This show was bought by the Columbus Dispatch in 2011.  I did the 2011 show also, and they made great improvements in 2012.  I did really horribly in 2011, but the weather was really awful (in the 40s and rainy), so I thought I would give it another shot.  I mean, I certainly would not have gone out of the house in that weather if I didnt have to!  This year, the weather was beautiful and I did leaps and bounds better. 

There still werent a ton of people out.  Nothing like the Columbus Arts Festival or even Easton I'd guess.  There would be little spurts where there would be a good crowd and then really slow.  But I saw quite a few 2D artwork being carried around, both small and large, so that was good.  I sold 6 decent sized originals (between $200-400) and 12 prints.  I'm a local artist so expenses were low for me, so I did quite well all things considered.  I almost cleared $2000 profit, so I was definitely happy with that.

Load in/out was sort of silly.  They have 4 sections.  A and B are across from each other.  C and D are down the road, also across from each other.  They had all section A come at 8am, all section B come at 9am, etc.  They called it staggered.  In my book, making an entire section come at once is not staggered -- that is a cluster.  Especially if the 8am people did not move, and now the 9am people come and its double blocked.  Fortunately people didnt really listen and just came whenever they felt like it, or else it would have been a big mess.  There were no instructions for tear down other than be out by 10pm (tear down was 5pm).  Unfortunately people went and got their vans/trailers and parked in front of their tents while they took their merry time breaking down.  I had broken down my entire tent and just needed to load the trailer, and I had to circle around several times until I could find a spot to park since everyone else was blocking my space and had barely even taken their artwork off the walls.

It seems there was a lot more advertising done this year.  I live in Columbus and didnt see fliers or any commercials, but the newspaper was definitely advertising, as was their facebook page.  The Dispatch is trying hard to be good promoters, and they are still learning, but at least they are trying.  Which in my book, definitely counts for something.

They have a program called ArtBucks, which is really nice.  Last year they gave each college student $100 artbucks to spend with the artists.  This year, they gave out six $100 certificates every hour randomely.  I dont think it worked as well this year as it did last year, (I hardly saw anyone with them) but I'm sure they will tweak that next year until they find the best way to do it.  Its a great program and definitely helps draw people in.

The range of quality in artists was huge.  There were some really great artists, some mediocre, and then there were some incredibly crafty vendors too.  I can't remember, but I think they were part of an art league, so I think they might have been trying to sell little items to raise money.  Still, that type of thing does not really do good things for the artists, especially the ones whose booths were right next to the craft tent.  Fortunately, my booth was at the other end.

I had a good amount of space behind my booth for storage.  I think everyone did.  Easy access to electricity.  The parking was a good walk away depending on where your booth was, but it was free and I don't know how they could get us any closer anyway unless artists got a free pass to park in the COSI parking lot.  Good artist amenities including free coffee, water, panera bagels, chips, cookies, etc.  Quite a nice spread.  The staff were always walking around and very visable.  The judging awards were great too.  $1500 for best of show, $1000 for 2nd, and $500 for third.  Although I really have to disagree with the judges.... sorry if anyone reading this won :/.  I'm really not just being a sore "loser" either.  Everyone I talked to was very surprised with the choices (including some of the winners). 

I'd definitely do the show again.  I think it has potential, and the Dispatch is really trying to bring people in.  The patrons seemed very appreciative and interested.  My suggestion would be to change the hours a bit though.  The hours are Friday 5-9p, Saturday noon-9p, and Sunday noon-5p.  Friday actually had a good crowd and I made half my sales.  It seemed that most serious people came Saturday morning before noon.  I made a big sale at 11am as I was opening my tent and another shortly after noon.  Then it was all just little prints.  So maybe change Saturday to 10-5p or at least 10-7p.

I'm intersted to know how others did.  I heard mixed reviews as I was walking around.  Either I did a lot better than others, or I have lower expectations ;).