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Some of my earliest summer memories are of the time I spent with my family in Rehoboth Beach, DE, so I was happy to finally have a chance to do the 39th Annual Rehoboth Art League Members' Outdoor Show.  It's one that many of my Northern customers have been urging me to do for several years now.

It's a one-or two-weekend show (your choice), and although all Art League members can apply, you do have to be juried in.  (It's your choice whether to exhibit at one weekend or both.  If you're juried in, your choice in honored.)  Even cooler, those who choose to show both weekends can leave their tents up for the entire time.  Convenient!  You can't ask for a prettier setting (the RAL buildings are listed in the National Historic Register, and the terrain is surprisingly hilly and tastefully landscaped).

The locals are a mix of year-round residents (mostly retirees), seasonal visitors who live in surrounding Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, and other Delaware seashore communities, and short-term visitors from Pennsylvania, DC, and Maryland.  This isn't a day-tripper crowd; it's a sophisticated art show crowd that knows what they're viewing, come to buy, and are anxious to engage with the artists.  Many of them come year after year to visit and purchase at this show.  A well-organized shuttle runs patrons back and forth from the K-mart on busy Ocean Highway to the art show grounds, where they pay a $5 admission for the weekend. 

The show quality is outstanding, and leans heavily toward 2-D artists, although a few fine jewelers and other fine craftspersons exhibited, too.  Nary a buy-sell booth on the grounds, as near as I could tell. 

Setup was a Friday event, for the most part, although as a concession (one supposes) to locals who like to walk their dogs before and after work without a lot of hubbub, you couldn't arrive before 8:30 a.m. and you had to be off the grounds by 4:30.  You couldn't beat the artists' amenities:  Free coffee, fruit and pastries each morning, a tasty lunch delivered to your booth on schedule if you ordered it, and an artist dinner each Saturday night hosted by a local homeowner. Local residents volunteered their extra parking spaces (and several large lots) for artist parking. 

This isn't an inexpensive show to do, if you were selling. The RAL handles all transactions (flawlessly) and takes 25% off the top for their trouble.  Each artist gets a triplicate-form sales book.  When a purchase is made, the artist fills out the sales information and the buyers' name/address/email, their name and booth number, and then hands all three slips to the customer, who pays at their choice of several cashier locations, then returns with paid receipts in hand to pick up their artwork.  The League delivered Week 1 commission checks to each artist on Saturday of Week 2 if you were still around; otherwise they were mailed speedily.   Although I had never done a commission show before and had some trepidation going in, their system worked perfectly, and I enjoyed being freed up from having to handle sales transactions for a change. 

How were sales?  One of the best shows I've ever had:  Fourteen large Gallery Wraps sold over two weekends, and well over $6500 in revenue.  That'll pay for a couple of plane tickets to Florida, for sure.  And after a bleak-to-middling string of shows since I killed 'em at Mainsail in April, it was good to see lots of packages heading out the door. Best of all, I had a great time plugging into the local art scene and getting to know the local artists.  Good karma abounded:  I struck up a conversation with an illustrator across the green from me, and discovered that she was living in the same house (near Reading, PA) that I'd lived in when I was a 5-year-old.  (My old playroom is now her studio space.)  The odds on THAT ever happening are beyond what I know how to calculate!  She has promised me a house tour next month when I'm in that area again.  And I enjoyed a long reunion with my old photography partner, Kathleen Buckalew, with whom I teamed up 30 years ago for a photo tour of Ireland and Wales and a number of gallery exhibits thereafter.  We hadn't seen each other since 1987 when I moved to Denver!

As for this weekend: On to Seawall in Portsmouth, VA--another first-time show for me.  Let's hope the run of good karma continues.

It's amazing how many times new AFI members come online to ask the most basic questions….
So here I've tried to summarize many of the repetitive questions that are asked on this forum with the best answers that apply to each.

Question 1)  Which tent should I buy?  
Answer)  One that will keep you and your product safe and dry. (Anything more specific requires knowledge of your medium, products, need for ease of setups/takedown, type of walls you have/will purchase, your physical abilities/disabilities, life expectancy of the tent, and most of all "your budget".)

Question  2)  How much cash should I bring for change?  
Answer)  Enough so you have gas money to get home

Question 3) How many prints of each image should I bring to a show?  
Answer) The amount you will sell, according to your crystal ball.  No one in the universe of art shows can predict what product "they" can sell themselves, much less "you" at  a given show, much less on that particular weekend.

Question 4) Has anyone done the xxx show and what are the expected revenues?
Answer) If you have to ask this question, be sure to read question number 2.

Question 5) Why don't more artists not share their revenue information?
Answer) Because it nobody's business.

Question 6) Why can't you believe Sunshine Artist show rankings?
Answer) Because it has no worthwhile information.  It's content is only used to sell magazines.

Anyone want to add to the list or offer alternative answers?

September 7-9 Zapplication is sponsoring an arts festival conference and they kindly gave me a pass to run for a contest. We asked people to leave comments on why they wanted to attend and received some wonderful stories. Thanks to all who participated.

Then we asked you to vote for the winner. The winner is John Stillmunks of W. Des Moines, Iowa. Congratulations, Munks! You convinced our voters you should be there and I look forward to seeing you in Chicago.

See Munks' winning entry and the others also: http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/win-a-free-conference-pass-to-the-zapplication-conference-in-chic

Here is the agenda for anyone else interested in attending: http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/tab2.aspx?EventID=1106955

Today I took the time to read the Advocacy document from NAIA (I just joined on Monday) and it is FABULOUS!  I feel like I just took a crash course in Art Fair Producing! I love the idea of having an Artist Advisory Committee as outlined in the document.  We currently have artists on our Board of Directors, but they are not ones who are currently showing at art fairs.  I feel like all who commented on my first blog post have become my Advisory committee, but I have sent the document to my entire Board, today, and have asked them to read it in order to improve our Faire for our Artists!

If you have not taken the time to read it, it is so valuable for Art Fair Producers and Artists alike.  You can find it at https://naia-artists.org/advocacy.php. 

Hope you all have a great Art Fair to go to this weekend and best wishes for selling lots of ART!

To all jewelry artists, I need your opinion.  I create seaglass jewelry which for the most part I set in sterling

silver.  I make my own bezels, cuffs, bails, etc.  Those are my high end items.  They run from $75.00 to $495.00.

All those items are in cases.  I also have lower end items which are mainly drilled seaglass that I incorporate with sterling silver findings.  I have items that run from $5.00 to $69.00.  Those items are displayed on velvet covered tables in dishes of rice or shells.  People like to touch, so those items are accessible to the customers.  I have often wondered if I am hurting myself as an artist to be carrying the smaller, less expensive items, does anyone have an opinion on this.  Also, what are people's thoughts on having everything except a few items in cases?  I would appreciate other artists opinions on this.  Many thanks,

Ron

Each year subscribers to Sunshine Artist send in ballots from the magazine ranking their 10 top-selling shows. On these ballots they indicate their gross income for each of the shows. No other influence is used to determine the winning shows. The staff simply applies the math to determine each event's score. This year nearly 1000 shows received votes and the top 200 with the highest scores were ranked.

This is entirely a subscriber based ranking. So, if you're not a subscriber you had no input. The results of every poll, no matter what the subject matter, are open to discussion and questioning, nonetheless you can't argue with the facts:

• subscribers only vote

• gross income only is used for the rankings

Congratulations to these Top 20 shows:

1. St. James Court Art Show, Louisville, KY
2. Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, State College, PA
3. Art on the Square, Belleville, IL
4. Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, CO
5. Port Clinton Arts Festival, Highland Park, IL
6. Bayou City Arts Festival Memorial Park, Houston, TX
7. Coconut Grove Arts Festival, Coconut Grove, FL
8. One of a Kind Show and Sale, Chicago, IL
9. Naples National Art Festival, Naples, FL
10. La Quinta Arts Festival, La Quinta, FL
11. Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, Ann Arbor, MI
12. Art in the Glen, Glenview, IL
13. Downtown Festival & Art Show, Gainesville, FL
14. Bayou City Art Festival Downtown, Houston, TX
15. Rio Grande Arts & Crafts Festival Balloon Fiesta Show, Albuquerque, NM
16. Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, CA
17. Plaza Art Fair, Kansas City, MO
18. Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, Winter Park, FL
19. Allentown Art Festival, Buffalo, NY
20. Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff, St. Joseph, MI

A disappointing show is not enough to make me re-think my trinket philosophy, but a discussion with a fellow AFI-er may have come up with a compromise.

First, the show. Arts in the Gardens, Canandaigua, NY. (Finger Lakes region). There is no shortage of shows in this area and they run the gamut from stick art to fine art and everything in between. The settings are usually lovely which has little to do with sales. This is one of the better ones, with an awesome organization, amenities, etc. But there are drawbacks. A substantial gate fee and the secluded setting come to mind, so the attendance is affected, but this show is well-juried (is that a real term?) and the attendees are serious. Or one would think.

My sales were below average, even with the sales of my entire rack of journals to one person. (I hope this keeps happening to me.) Some folks had a really good day, many were disappointed. The artist dinner with the bottomless wine glasses helped a bit.

So, Sunday morning a member of this group stopped by to say Hi and talk about my "no more trinkets" post. I don't like to use names without permission. She is a wonderful jeweler with distinctive designs. And somehow, in our talks, the idea of putting scans or photos of my collage on cards came up. Selling them as reproductions of original work just might be a money maker.

Eureka. I paced the show looking at the different ways other artists did this.

My collage all use quotes on them, so they translate perfectly to cards. And once I get the image looking good and choose the right settings to print them, they looked pretty nice. Well, good enough to try them out this weekend. If they sell, I'll figure out a way to do it better. Right now I'm printing them on heavy mixed media paper, using our home photo printer, but we do have a professional grade printer in house and my guy has a camera that would have paid our mortgage for several months. I may put him to work. I used spray mount to attach them to card stock.

They will reflect the work I really like to do and will not be the time-consuming operation of creating teeny collages for 5 bucks.

And if I sell even 25 of them I'll have some gas money for our upcoming vacation. Enough to get me from Buffalo to, say, South Buffalo. Maybe enough for one night at a Motel 6.

I'll report back Monday. I really hope this works. I hate sleeping in rest areas.

I've reached sort of a dilemma and would be interested in how others view this situation.  I have three large, back-to-back shows coming up and, therefore, have more inventory than I would usually have on hand.  I can't possibly display all of it at once and I'm trying to determine what I should hold back for show #2, etc.

I suppose there are two ways to look at it.  If it isn't out, it's not going to sell.  But, does anyone else agree that it's possible to overwhelm the patrons with inventory to the point of them refusing to even look because there is so much there?  I don't think I have any two items that are just exactly alike.  Therefore, I can't simply "bring another one out" when an item sells.  I can't decide whether to dazzle them with inventory or take a more consertive approach and be a little  more selective in what I put out.  And, I can't bear the thought of having something packed away somewhere when I just know it would sell to the next person who walks by.  And, if I'm going to be consertive, how do I choose.  Do I put out what I consider to be the "cream of the crop" and run the

risk of the better items being gone before I ever get to show #2 and #3 (I feel sure there will be one or two left)?  I realize that, in a way, this may sound like a ridiculous thing to be concerned about.  But, I don't believe I've ever had three shows in a row like this that offered as much potential.  Two of the shows I've done several times in the past and have always done well at both.  The third is St. James and, as you all know, it certainly has the potential.  I'd like to hear from anyone who can make any sense out of what I'm talking about and have possibly dealt with this question.  I guess the real simple version of the question is whether or not it's possible to put out way too much inventory regardless of what sort of quality it may be.  Sort of the law of diminishing returns.

I've been working with a company for mats that I think has been fantastic. They carry most of the same plastic sleeves that clearbags do but without the terrible shipping costs, their mat prices are great, and they are very responsive. They'll cut anything to order. If you have a mat supplier, please compare with these guys and let us
know if you're getting better pricing. I've been very happy.

www.ddbcutting.com
My contact: Robin Sagulla
Email: robin@ddbcutting.com
Cell: 847-641-1900 

I promote myself as a "salvage artist", I repurpose metal objects (junk) by welding them into benches, chairs, plant holders, garden sculptures, etc ( www.salvageartist.com ).  I have done fairly well selling my art locally over the past three years, so this year I decided to branch out into surrounding states.  I spent a lot of time researching shows that I thought would be a good fit for me, reading on-line about tips to doing art shows and attended many to do further research.  I applied for 8 juried shows and was accepted into 6, I thought that was pretty good.  I was just at my 4th show of the year - Arts in the Gardens in Canandaigua New York.  Beautiful weekend, wonderful show, people were spending money! I did less than $300, my worst show yet (which is not to say that my others were good, I haven't hit $1000 yet).  I put a lot of thought into how I layout my booth.  I have a nice sign with my artist statement and picture on it and I engage the people in conversation.  I get wonderful comments - "your work is amazing", "so different than anything I have seen before", "your art is what I will remember about this show", "Your art is priced so reasonably" but they are not buying it!  I love sharing what I do with people, but these are not art exhibits they are shows and everything is for sale.  My prices are reasonable because after my first two failed shows, I lowered my prices.  If people walked past my booth and didn't even look at my art I would think my stuff was crap and stop trying to sell it.  But they stop, they look, the love it.  They pump up my ego and then they trample on my heart as they leave.  I love doing the shows and meeting other artist who constantly inspire me with their creativity.  A more helpful group of people you will never find, giving me tips on shows to try, web sites that are helpful and any other info they think will help me.  But what I really love to do is create, which I can't afford to do if I can't sell what I have already made.  SOOOO - what am I doing wrong????

November 17 & 18
Lexington, Kentucky
Heritage Hall at the Lexington Center
Presented by: Holiday Art Shows
10am-5pm
135 exhibitors
Deadline: Sept. 7

Please join us for the Lexington Art & Craft Show, the weekend before Thanksgiving.  This is a carefully juried, fine art and fine craft celebration of the arts.

135 talented artists and craftsmen in varying mediums such as fiber arts, jewelry, glass, mixed media, painting, pottery, photography, sculpture, and wood will be invited to become exhibitors.  Please note that late applications will be accepted if category is not full.

We are excited to offer you this premier event which takes place in the heart of downtown Lexington during the festive holiday season.

Show Highlights:

• Reasonable booth fees
• Overnight security
• Easy drive up load and unload
• Free artist parking nearby
• Extensive marketing campaign
• Artist friendly, knowledgeable staff
• Free postcards for your customers
• Friday set-up
• by artists for artists

Holiday Art Shows offers three options for submitting your application; please choose whichever is most convenient and comfortable for you:

1. Holiday Art Shows Online Application:  www.holidayartshows.com/online-application.html 
2. Zapplication.org: www.zapplication.org/index.php
3. Print and mail application:  www.holidayartshows.com/support-files/application.pdf

Media campaign includes: television, cable, regional newspapers and specialty publications, billboards, NPR radio, posters, flyers, banners, postcards and social networking.

Sponsored by: WKYT-News First

We look forward to receiving your application!

For more info: www.LexingtonArtShow.com

Lynn Wettach, Show Director: (904)794-0084

email: lynn@holidayartshows.com

Does anyone have experience with CCM or the Santa Monica show, specifically in Nov.....??????

I was wondering how the Piedmont Art Festival went. Apparently some people confuse this with the Atlanta Art Festival that is in Piedmont Park - Different organizers. Living in Atlanta there is a well established show that weekend (last weekend) and I didn't see the usual smattering of real estate signs promoting the event.  I am particularly interested (and maybe some of you are) of sales trends. The show I did this weekend was down, Dogwood was down in the spring< any reports we can sink our teeth into?

October 19-21 & 26-28
Nashville, Indiana
Fall Fine Arts Festival - a new event
Foxfire Park
9am-6pm
125 Exhibitors
Deadline: September 19

Artists mark your show calendars for the two busiest weekends of Nashville's year.  The Fall Fine Arts Festival is set to become one of your premier events of the year.

Nashville, Indiana, is "The Art colony of the Midwest" and attracts millions of qualified buyers every year.  The fall season in Nashville is really something to behold.  The town is packed with visitors from all over the Midwest in search of the unique treasures they just have to have! 

The two weekends of the Fall Fine Arts Festival are the two busiest weekends of the entire year, and Nashville is bursting at the seams with thousands of visitors from all across and Midwest.

Foxfire Park will host over 100 exhibitors and will feature high-end, handmade art from local, regional, and national artists.  This is a Juried Event, and exhibits will include woodworking, sculpture, metal work, pottery, glass work, jewelry and more.

This is a can't miss event as it marks the height of Nashville's fall season.  So if your goal is to get your work in front of thousands of qualified buyers, the Fall Fine Arts Festival is a must.

Artists can choose to come both weekends or just one.  There is a discount if they select both weekends.

• A 10x10 space for one weekend is $125.00 for both weekends it is $200.00
• A 10x20 space is $175.00 for one weekend or $300.00 for both.

Foxfire Park

The property at Foxfire Park has been family owned since 1940 and fittingly is the former home of one of the very first gift shops in Nashville.  Foxfire Park is in a premium location right downtown Nashville on the main thoroughfare and is the most visible location in town.  Visit our website for more information about Nashville and Foxfire Park.

We look forward to seeing you!

For more information on web based application, booth sizes and pricing:
www.FoxfireMarket.com/vendors.html

Let us know if there is anything we can help you with. Give us a call or send and email.  We would love to hear from you!

Info@foxfiremarket.com, Andrew Tilton-Director: (812)720-1141

I've been accepted for the Downtown Boulder Fall Fest Art Show which is Sept 22 and 23rd.  I live in Minneapolis so it's a 1000 mile trip each way so it's got to be a  pretty good show for that effort. I can't find any reviews of the show. Does anyone know anything about it? The deadline for me accepting their invitation is Aug 27.

Thanks,

Marc L.

Hi All,

We are looking for any info/experiences at the following 2 shows in Alabama. Orange Beach Festival of Art & 61st Annual Arts & Cratfs Festival in Fairhope. Both are March shows on back to back weekends. We are thinking of giving them a try. Anything you can share would be of help in our efforts to decide on them.

I was called off the wait list for this show just this Monday and if I hadn't made other plans already for the weekend probably would have dropped everything and gone. Apparently I wasn't the only one called off the wait list as there were other spots that had to be filled. As it was I had finished my morning plans and decided to audit the show and see what all the bru-ha-ha was about. It has been generating some local buzz. The show is only about 25 miles from where I live and its doesn't take long to get there, besides the drive is pleasant if you take the back way. By the way Golden, CO is home to the original Coors Brewery, stop in for some free suds after a tour!

The last time I visited this show it was held outside of town on a hillside so steep that if you mistakenly let go of the baby stroller you'd be chasing it downhill a long way! Wind, yes, it was so windy on that hillside that the night before my visit half the booths were blown away! Crowds, I wouldn't use that word to describe what I saw that day, a few stragglers perhaps.

Fast forward twelve years, the show is now in its 22nd year and several years ago they moved it into, or at least closer to the historic downtown area of Golden. It is held adjacent to a small park along Clear Creek. As I drove into town I noticed one large banner alongside the road. Not particularly flashy but it was a start. I arrived around 1 pm and started looking for parking nearby. I saw no other indications that the show was happening except for some random people walking around (could they have been art show zombies?) so I stopped into the visitors bureau and asked where the show was. I was directed to cross the nearby bridge on the main street, hang a right and I would be there. There wasn't a lot of signage (except for the farmers market) and I was anticipating a catastrophe. Apparently I was the only one that was clueless as, much to my amazement, the place was teeming with people, so much so, it was hard to get to some of the booths.

First order of business was to check out the quality of goods. I made the rounds of the show, which is about 2-3 blocks long and was generally impressed by the quality represented. With perhaps only 2-3 exceptions I thought that this was a FINE art show. Some of the participants I recognized from last weekends show in Ridgway, some could have been at Cherry Creek (My mind forgets) and others I've rubbed elbows with in Santa Fe, Carefree, Omaha, Tempe, etc. I didn't bother the busy ones but waved as I strolled by if they noticed me. Linda Bachman was there, back up and running, and we visited a bit. They are living in a rental house while theirs is being restored after the fire. Rick was at rental home busily preparing inventory for Port Clinton. Most of their inventory and tools were destroyed by the fire, anything that was bubble wrapped became hermetically sealed as was anything in their trailer and bins from the heat. Anyway she was in good spirits and I really enjoyed seeing her. We compared notes and we'll be doing Castle Rock together the second weekend of Sept. I visited with some other buddies as they got free.

So, the energy of the crowd seemed way above the "Walking Dead" that I've seen at other shows lately but did that seem to translate into sales? Not-so-much, at least not while I was there. Artists were noticeably engaged with the crowd and most booths were full of visitors. Although I saw a large photograph walking out as I was walking in, there wasn't much else moving by unless it might have been jewelry which could secretly walk out in a handbag. I guess we'll have to wait and see if any "Insiders" report on this show.

There were the usual fair-food booths tucked into a side area in the middle of the show so vendors from either end didn't have far to go. What puzzled me was the "Artisans in the Park.  Visitors (had) the opportunity to observe demonstrations by blacksmiths, leather toolers, spinners, and fiber artists." Well these poor folks were behind the regular booths and the food booths so unless you went to look at the river or sit in the park they were so far away I felt bad for them as not so many people went out of their way to see the demonstrations and I'm sure they weren't feeling the love of the crowd that the other vendors felt given the lack of visibility.

Of note was the close in parking, if you were on the N side of 11th street there was parking right behind your booth for many of the vendors. If you were on the S side there was parking right on the side streets adjacent to the neighborhood the show was in. As I left the show I happened to see an artists hospitality suite in one of the store fronts but didn't sneak in to see what they were offering!

As I drove out of Golden I noticed that every block (on each side of the street) had a small stage setup and musicians were performing outside of the regular businesses. Was this a coincidence? Was this orchestrated to take place in conjunction with the Golden Arts Festival? I don't know but in any case I can tell you that the little town of Golden was filled with people. As for signage that I didn't see, on my way out of Golden there was a huge banner hanging on the town archway on the main street that has probably been there for weeks! I'd say it did its job!