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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!

Does anyone have any ultra thick fusible silver foil for sale? I used to buy it from Arrowsprings, but they said the manufacturer went out of business. It's .999 fine silver that's almost as thick as aluminum foil and  usually comes on a roll. I thought that maybe someone had some he/she never used and would like to sell it. Thanks!

Hello fellow Artist, this is my first entry on Art Fair Insiders. I have enjoyed many of the Artist different blogs and found them to be quite helpful, i am an Artist as well and have so far been lucky enough to generate business strictly through word of mouth. I do all commissioned work, redesigning rooms for people and doing all the labor myself. The nice part is designing a room which incorporates one of my paintings or furniture designs, or if i am lucky both? Anyway, during my down time, or lack of work available at the time, i do what all of us do? Create Art!  I have decided to try and expand my art horizons into the fray of ArtFairs??? My first show is Labor Day Weekend at the Hamptons in NY. Needless to say i am nervous as hell? Entering into a world of the unknown can be quite intimidating to say the least! Thats why some of these blogs i have read have been very helpful, and some very scary! lol    ANY ADVISE both good and bad would be appreciated? Thank You good luck,and may your day have been a creative one.

I am a new Arts Fair producer and am wanting to learn form those of you who go to art fairs for a living (we do the craziest things for the love of art, don't we?). I would love some insight as to what you think fair managers can or should do to make your fair experience better for the artist? Is it the perks you are offered?  The art that is juried in?  The kind of entertainment at the event?

Obviously there are some things out of our control, but give me your  description of a perfectly managed Fair experience... or one of two of your favorite or LEAST favorite things...

Happy art Fair-ing!

I just started an not for profit organization promoting and sponsoring African fine art. I am preparing a budget for the year covering various art festivals can anyone assist me with a template go get some ideas of the costs involved?

Thanks in advance

Soraya

Here is our latest podcast from August 14 where I spoke with author Scott Fox, my son, whose expertise is small business Internet marketing. Scott grew up in the art fair business, traveling to art fairs with us and knows a lot about artists and how they earn their living, so his information is very specific to our particular needs.

Listen to it here:

The show covers everything from choosing a domain name to capturing the sale online, including:

• keywords and how to determine the best ones
• choosing an url
• how google searches for sites
• why a free platform may not be the best choice for your site
• how to expand your market beyond the people you meet at shows
• what are the five things every artist's website should have
• his idea for an "artist retirement plan"

You'll also learn about his own lifestyle business coaching forum whose focus is on helping individuals build their Internet businesses.

In addition this fall Scott we'll be doing another podcast where he will be taking live calls from you.

Are you interested in this?

Check out the rest of our podcasts by clicking on the "Radio" button on the toolbar at the top of this page,

or visiting the Art Fair Radio Show page here.

I'd love feedback in the comments below about this podcast.

I am working on some conceptual items. I have done a series of shopping bags that I have painted petroglyphs on. The works will be priced at $ 5.00 or so each.

The concept is that we buy replacement items all the time, as with phones and technology. The ones we have are perfectly good, but, we get new ones anyway. In places like Japan there is an industry to collect last year's microwave ovens, etc.

Peoples lives have also become transitory. Fewer people are buying houses. Renting and leasing cars, homes and other stuff is very in vogue.

So, maybe you don't want to purchase a piece for the rest of your life. Maybe you just want something for today and maybe tomorrow. Allow yourself mental flexibility.

The works are made from shopping bags so that it has a life beyond a piece of art. You can use it to tote something when you are ready to change your visual environment.

In regards to Sales Reps, yes that would be the Atlanta Gift Mart, but there are many others and if you google "permanent show rooms in gift marts" you will see them all over the country. You can probably call and order a catalog that lists showrooms along with what they rep.  This way you can approach a Rep/showroom that focuses on your type of artwork or where you mesh well with other lines.   

In regards to a different post, a sales rep does not go to art/craft festivals.  They go around to stores and sell your art for a percentage of 15-18%.  They usually have permant show rooms in gift marts where they dedicate a space to sample your art so that people can come view it at all times.  They may carry 25 or more artist/crafters.  You also supply them with a catalogue of some type, sort of like the one on my website.  That rep has what they call "subreps" that go around to the stores to present/sell your work.  The rep writes up an order and faxe it into you.  The store will either set up immediate payment upon shipping or net/30.

This is the first time I had a chance to view this site since my last post.  I have six kids and I really just don't have a lot of time, but I will start looking at it more to answer any questions or to help in any way.

There's an update to this image inconsistency situation. ZAPP has provided me with with new information about how monitor jurors see the images. Unlike in the past where the jurors saw the enlarged images exactly the same size as we did in our profiles, they now see them enlarged on a black pop up window at 750 pixels long dimension. I've rewritten the article and changed my recommendations to continuing to upload images in the original 1920x1920 format.

There is a new button in our application previews called "Preview as Juror" which shows the images enlarged equally sized on a black pop up window. This is exactly how the monitor jurors see the images.

http://bermangraphics.com/blog/zapp-preview-as-juror/

My recommendations is that if you upload images in the original ZAPP 1920x1920 format, your images will be seen by projection jurors exactly as you uploaded. If you upload non square images, ZAPP will square your images at 1920x1920 by adding black borders and resaving your JPEGS. The more detail you have in your images, the greater chance of them being degraded because they are modifying your JPEGS and resaving them.

And the inconsistent size pop ups we see in our profiles. That's a bug in the system and they will be fixing it in the future. But rest assured that the jurors do not see your images that way.

How the jurors actually see the images for ZAPP monitor jurying. The previous and next image arrows appear when the cursor is hovered over them. The I for information appears when the cursor is hovered over the middle of the image, and clicking on it brings up the image description in a semi transparent overlay.

Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100

Congratulations to our newest Community Leaders Diana Ferguson, S. Brian Berkun and David Bjurstrom, who were chosen by the membership to be recognized for their contributions to the community for all their generosity and helpfulness to the members. These exceptional members can be recognized by the "AFI Red Dot" on their profile photos.

Diana has been a member since 4/09 and has contributed lots of good information besides being our resident Facebook expert. Brian has been a member since 3/09 and is specially recognized for his good coverage of Western art fairs. David is relatively new, but is ready to go with solid information that cuts straight through all the musings. It is people like these who deserve a lot of good karma for their generosity.

Thanks for your votes.

I just got back but I'm not going to report on the Annual Ridgway Rendezvous again, it doesn't bear repeating, for that review look it up in Reviews! For those of you that are an interested audience and perhaps not artist/crafts people, or perhaps you are, what I want to comment on is the emotional toll of doing shows, which is quite different from the physical abuse! (Hope you’re knees are feeling better Scott). As much as I, and I'm sure others of you out there, prepare for lowered expectations, or simply just enjoying doing a show for the sake of doing it, (do we?) it eventually creeps up on me...the let down and disappointment associated with not meeting some sort of expectations (didn’t I just say I lower them?) that must be there unconsciously.  The first day was easy despite low sales, I met and greeted, talked about my work with enthusiasm, shared freely. Felt good about just being there. On Sunday a different me showed up, I didn’t have as much enthusiasm, I even met a simple question with sarcasm later in the day (“Did you take all these?” “No, I hire people to do it for me” “Really?”) Sometimes I can even psych myself down and manage to pull it off quite well but other times its like an insidious little parasite that bores in through my skull after the fact poisoning my psyche only to squish out sideways in an emotional assault that I take out on myself later. That's the hardest part, taking it out on myself, not realizing that it is just a show. Poor performance can be explained by, it's an election cycle, the economy, or a myriad of other possible explanations; did I set the calculator the way I usually do? Did I write the date on the receipt too soon? Did I forget to ask my Spirit Guides for help? Dang, I forgot that one!

Such was the case after this weekends experience at Ridgway. It wasn't a great show last year, in fact it was a poor show, but I thought it worth doing if for no other reason than being in a beautiful part of Colorado and going to the Orvis Hot Springs several times while there. Apparently I was fooling myself into believing that lie. It could have been worse. The winner of this years Best of Show experienced that. She had beautiful mixed media pieces of woven fabric, ceramics and fused glass, probably a little too high priced for this crowd. And, although she probably received high praise for her work, don’t we all, she didn’t sell anything. This really isn’t a diatribe about sales, or the lack thereof. For me at least, it isn’t ALL about the sales but rather the satisfaction that comes from doing what I love and putting it out there, taking a risk on myself, yet I’m still my own worse critic.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not whining about it and I’m definitely NOT looking for consolation, just trying to gain some personal insight, appropriate cathartic release (before I kick the dog/cat/wife, no I wouldn't do that!) or even open up a discussion of how we manage to pick ourselves up time and again to do something we love even in the face of not realizing the "Do What You Love and The Money Will Follow" protocol. It’s nice to receive the praise for the work yet it seems no matter how many people genuinely compliment my work, I am my own worse enemy when all is said and done. My hypnotist tells me that I am a great person (at least subliminally) even the spirit guides tell me they love me (telepathically) but why don’t I love me? I was supposed to have kicked that one out of my subconscious a long time ago, and at times I have conquered the negative affirmation machine, or at least I thought I did, but the little devil just seems to come back around to plague me. Is it part of the angst we as artists are loathe to suffer or my own cross, light dome, display panels, etc. to bear? I know I’m blessed to be doing what I love, Do I love it? or maybe I am insane like Einstein said, "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." after all I spent over thirty years in a parallel universe doing what I had to do to get here full time!

Okay, I feel better, the catharsis kicked in or was it the Aleve? Maybe writing about my experience will help some other poor soul or newbie to realize that it isn’t you, your work, the clothes your wearing, what-ever, that it will all be okay, the sun will continue to shine and it WILL rain, somewhere, and in a week or two you can start all over again! I know I can, I know I have, after all, I choose to do this! What was that Einstein quote again?

Social media is a good place to market your artwork.  It's also a great place to waste time and find out more than you really wanted to know about your friends and acquaintances.  Overall, I think that the annoyances of Facebook are a small price to pay for the free exposure and connections you can make.  On the other hand, I spend WAY too much time on the computer. 

What are your thoughts on Facebook and other social media?  Obviously, the more specific it is to your area of interest the better (like AFI). 

Here are six reasons why I've had some trouble with Facebook.  How about you?

http://www.pencilenvy.blogspot.com/2012/08/six-reasons-i-hate-facebook.html

Okay, I'm going to go and draw now.  Happy selling!

Wendy Zumpano

www.pencilportraitcards.com

No, the Doctor that bought all of my collage at the July show did not re-appear, AMEX in hand. But it was a good show for me regardless. We had rain on and off, including one short-lived monsoon that we had early warning for, so there was time to zip up and secure the rig. At this show, since most of your customers are actually living at the site, rain is seldom a problem for attendance.

A few of my regulars stopped in and asked "no cards?" Nope, not this time, but I have these: and I gestured to the collage. It worked often enough that I believe the net profit was similar. And the relief of not having to spend precious hours making them was profound. I think I'm on to something. This is not to say that I won't drag out some trinkets for the next 2 weekends. Maybe the little collage magnets that are more fun to make and sell for $2 more. Since they will be a small addition to what I am making now, there won't be the pressure to make tons of them. But the important thing is that I won't experience what I did with the cards. I had more than one customer hold a small matted collage ($30) in one hand and a card ($5) in the other, ponder for a while and put the collage back, buy the card. I could read their minds. (I could frame this and it is almost as nice as that bigger one). Hard to frame a little magnet.

I'm learning different things at each show. Like, have several matted pieces available that have the same quotations on them as the framed pieces and with different colors. Don't laugh. Seems like a no-brainer but I'm new at this particular item. "The back wall sells the booth" a friend tells me. Well, if the back wall doesn't reflect what you have several of, what are you selling? That light bulb over my head almost burned my retina.

My next two shows are proven winners for me and I hope that holds true. I need to pay for our vacation. It could mean the difference between Holiday Inn and sleeping in a rest stop under the bug lights.

Guess I better get back to work.