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I'm a promoter in the Chicago area, Debbie@D & W Events.  I'd like to educate both myself and upcoming jurists/judges so we can all be on the same page.

We have another jury coming up for our inaugural ARTumn Harvest at Deer Park Town Center, September 15 & 16, and I'd love to hear from anyone who has hints, tricks and information about buy/sell artists.  There are obvious buy/sells, like earrings in palm tree shapes that say "Made in China" and massive quantities of embroidery selling for $45/piece.  

What about the subtleties?

How about inlaid wood that the artist designs but has a small shop that builds product?  He supervises and it's original designed work.  Two pieces would never be the same due to nuances in the wood, cutting etc.

Where can we draw the line?

Any and all help/comments are appreciated as this will only improve the quality of an over saturated Chicago market.

Thanks!

Debbie

dwevents@comcast.net

I am director of a 7 artist show in Ann Arbor during the art fairs. It is located at E. William and Maynard, at the base of Tower Plaza,The Harmony Hollow/Tower Plaza art fair.Smack dab in the middle of the whole giant art fair and geographically in the center of the State Street Area art fair,with their fair going in all four directions from our corner.On private property,adjacent to the sidewalk,with shade,electricity,and security. On the safe side of Tower Plaza,not where all the booths have blown down in past years. I have been doing art fairs as an artist since 1979, and directing this one for 15 years. 2 spaces available for this year, 1 at $600 and 1 at $400, Call Bradley Cross for more information, 734-645-8969

I know many of you will be traveling all over the place this summer to shows.  I thought this piece of info may help some of you travelers. 

The bridge crossing over to Louisville, KY is being worked on right now.  Everyone had to funnel into two lanes to cross the bridge from Indiana into Kentucky.  We crossed it on a Sunday and had a good half hour delay.  I just thought some of you might like to know about this little piece of info.

I bet the delay will be much longer during the week and especially during rush hour.  I will be crossing back over the bridge on Friday.  I will let you know what it looks like during the week. 

On Sunday, the crossing didn't look as congested if you were traveling in the direction from Louisville to Indiana.

I hope this helps.

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This is a newbie question... could someone tell me what type of pen is used for signing/numbering canvas prints.  I've seen Windburg use some type of a red pen that looked like a felt tip but that would smear if it gets wet.  Is there such a thing as an oil based pen?  Any help would be appreciated.

Jim

July 5, 9 am ET, please join us as we discuss they perils of buy/sell to the art fair business with solid information and support for art fair organizers to help them greatly reduce the incidence of this occurring at the shows. Guests will be Carroll Swayze, an artist who has spent over two years researching the issue and putting together a paper documenting the problem with many useful leads and Carolyn Edlund, executive director of the Arts Business Institute, blogger at ArtsyShark.com, a jeweler who ran a production studio for 20 years and who has been "in the trenches" at large wholesale shows will share her experiences.

We're gathering additional data that will be presented also. If you know someone who can speak authoritatively on the topic please have them contact me: info@artfaircalendar.com.

This show will deal only with buy/sell issues. A second show is in the works dealing with dealers and reps of small businesses, drawing the line (or not) on production studios and partners splitting shows.

We welcome your input in the comments below.

I know that I am not speaking for every patron but I noticed some interesting things happening last weekend at the two art festivals I went to.

There you are, beating yourselves up trying to make wonderful pieces of art that talentless people like me will want to buy.  Well, I am pretty sure that at this point, there is no real formula for success, it is a crapshoot so make what you love, display it as nicely as possible and bear with us civilians while we wander through an art festival, hoping to find that special something that we can't live without. 

My cousin cannot wear rings very easily, they bother her fingers.  But, somehow, this weekend, she ended up buying three very thin stack rings.  She had no intention of buying rings at the festival.  These very cool rings were laid out on a table in front of the jeweler's booth, easy for anyone to try on.  Maybe that is what did it, easy accessibility.  This delightful man also showed her a thin twisted silver cuff.  My cousin wears link bracelets, others get in the way.  Well the bracelet fit perfectly and the jeweler made her an offer she couldn't refuse.  So maybe it was price that got her to buy all these things that she normally doesn't wear.  

We were walking past an oil painter's booth.  I am totally color driven when buying most art.   I saw this abstract, saw the price and decided to buy it in about 35 seconds.  The price was right for me and it was already framed so all I had to do was hang it when I got it home.  (the fact that I have about 8 unhung pieces is irrelevant).  While talking to the artist, it turns out that he is from  Florida.  Asked him if he has shown in south Florida and he is pretty much a fixture at all three Las Olas festivals.  Basically, this means that I have walked past his booth atleast 10 times in the past 10 years but never noticed him before.  This was a case of his placing the right picture in the right place for me to notice it.

Clear as mud isn't it!

I am  a fan of Layl Dill, an AFI member and polymer clay artist extraordinaire.  What she is able to do with this clay is amazing.  She goes way beyond making the canes and then using them for jewelry.  Check out her website: http://www.claysquared.com/index.php/layls-silly-milly-art   and see for yourself.  

I bought a light switch plate for a  bathroom with a sealife theme.  I took the plate out of the box and went to install it.  I noticed the white screws stood out a little and thought about painting them.  As I was throwing out the box, I noticed a little plastic bag with screws that matched the light plate.  She had thoughtfully  included them to 'finish' off the piece. 

A couple of years ago I bought a bracelet made of amazing beads.  I fell in love with the colors and had to have it.  As I tried it on, I noticed a little silver tassel hanging from the end of the clasp.  A nice touch that isn't normally found on commercial bracelets.  

I have a 3d piece and the figure is on the lid to a small box that makes up the base.  An added touch that helped sell me the piece.

These are the things that customers notice when they are buying your work.  We like buying things that aren't found at Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel  etc.  

Whether it is a new type of wire for an earring, an extra design on that ceramic piece or something special added to that watercolor, these thing are noticed and appreciated.  

Look what I woke up to this AM, a new Atlanta art show on my front lawn!

Hi Friends,

Can anyone recommend a decent/good Florida show I can do in December? Unless something unforeseen happens, I'll be doing a show in November and since I'll be traveling from Tennessee,  I'd like to add one or more shows to help make the gas spent more profitable. Last year, I did Market Days in Tallahasse, and it had a lot of buy/sells. It was great for some, but not great for me.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Subject, hotels. A couple of things have come up and I wanted to share them with the group. David Haun posted on apps he uses which prompted this posting. Recently I went into a Days Inn, or something of that class hotel. The person in front of me on line walked up and was cited a rate. I walked in with my Hotels.com booking and his rate was actually lower than mine. I was perplexed. The counter person said they often have a rate cheaper than hotel.com since they make a bit more on the room? Next, we walked into a similar hotel at midnight in West Virginia. I paid a $100 per night rate, higher than I was anticipating. When I checked the bargain Priceline last minute discount app and the hotels.com app. both offers were well $20 above what I paid?

I use hotels.com because you can shop hotels and still get credits toward any hotel room. I have friends on the circuit who use La Quinta for example and build up points toward stays at a particular hotel.

Comments???????

Are You a Morning Person

How much do you get done before 9:00AM?

 There was a segment on the Today show yesterday about how people have less stress in their lives if they are early risers and can get a lot done before 9:00AM. What was interesting about it was that by the time the Today show had come on at 7:00AM, I had already done a ton of stuff around the house. I had watered the flowers (expecting mid 90's temperature), walked on the tread mill for a half hour, set up an interesting still life I had been thinking about shooting and taken some new pictures of my puppies, and probably answered a few forum/blog posts on AFI.

So here I am at 5:30AM preparing to post this as a blog.

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

September 22
Reinbeck, Iowa
Reinbeck Art Festival
Downtown
9am - 5pm
Presented by Reinbeck Community Development Board
Number of exhibitors: 20-40
Deadline: July 3, 2012 - extended, call for details

For years, locals have noted how many artists seem to live in and around Reinbeck, a northeast Iowa community close to Waterloo and Cedar Falls. As an outgrowth of community development, the idea of an art festival was envisioned, grants obtained, and now we are proud to present the first annual Reinbeck Art Festival-"Art Without Walls." Artists will find a welcoming and friendly atmosphere and an audience that supports the arts.

It is a high quality juried show by three jurors: an art professor, an arts professional, and a community member. The location is Downtown Main Street,  near a small park that will host the musicians.  Children's Activities will provide a fun and creative perk for kids. Artists and Festival-goers alike will be able to take advantage of the specials offered by local businesses surrounding the area, including the Broad Street Brewing Company, a new microbrewery.

Our media package includes a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ReinbeckArtFestival. We will be showing Artist Spotlights and Featured Businesses to check out closer to the festival. The event will be listed in too many online and print publication calendars to mention, as well as radio.

Artist Exhibitors won't go hungry with complimentary snacks provided, and booth sitters will be on hand to cover any breaks needed.

We are interested in a variety of media, including but not limited to ceramics, book arts, digital art, drawing, fiber, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, watercolor, and wood.

For an application please visit http://www.scribd.com/doc/95903960/94593032-Reinbeck-Art-Festival-Forms

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ReinbeckArtFestival

Contact Community Development Director Joyce Wild with any questions you may have: 319-788-6404.

OK, I am wrong about so many things, and I am everything I am accused of being.  

However, I haven't seen kudos to Virginia Beach.  Tiffany is doing great things with this show. I missed last year, but noticed several significant changes. For one thing, they have axed the funnel cakes. The new food vendors are local restaurants with great booths...sorry overpriced soda mug guy...

Also, they have moved the whole show up the boardwalk closer to the Hilton. Wow, this is unbelievable great. Made for a much better show.

Tif deserves Kudos, she has been going to Cherry Creek and other shows picking up new stuff. Great job to the whole staff.

After the disaster of Custer's Last Stand two weeks ago, I had my hopes up for a decent show at Amy Amdur's Promenade of Art last weekend, and it didn't disappoint.  I'm newer to fine art shows than most of you, and it's only my third year.  Of the smaller Amdur shows, this one seems to be consistently good.  Downtown Arlington Heights is very nice, lots of upscale restaurants surrounded by neighborhoods where there seems to be lots of general walking around, art fair or not.  My sales were pretty good, parking is easy in a large parking garage right near the show, just a block or two from everyone's spot.  Lots of my neighbors at this show are repeat exhibitors, most of whom have traveled quite a distance, which I take as a good sign.  Everyone seemed pleased with the crowd and sales.  Load in and out was fine as long as you could get a spot.  I was just late enough that I had trouble driving close to my spot, and one of the Amdur people rearranged my neighbors and helped me back in.  Very accommodating.  When the artist arrived in whose spot I was sitting, the same Amdur guy rushed over to help me unload my car so that she could get situated.  I was impressed.  In general, the Amdur people are very friendly and helpful and Amy has been very encouraging to me.  Crossing my fingers that the hot and steamy weekend predicted for the Gold Coast tomorrow doesn't keep the crowds away.  I'm considering doing my setup this afternoon in a bathing suit, because I have the feeling I'll be drenched before it's over.

Happy selling, all! 

Wendy

Having just joined this site, I haven't had a chance to figure it out yet.  I don't know where this text is going.  Maybe I'll find out if I get responses. 

I wanted to say something nice about the Crosby Festival of the Arts at the Toledo Botanical Gardens.  I've done this show for 6 years now and enjoy it every year......excellent sales, friendly customers and the show staff is superb.  The heat got to me on Sunday and I started to go down.  Luckily, the customer I was talking to was a nurse and she was quickly helped by the nurse on staff for the show.  I had recently had some heart problems so it scared the bejeebers out of me but I was in good hands.  The customer was monitoring my heart rate and the staff nurse was applying ice packs to my neck and wrists.  I was able to finish out the show and they kept coming by to make sure I was okay.  It all just proves again what I've always known....if there's a crisis, you can't beat being surrounded by "show people".

Cassandra

Every show we have at least a half a dozen people ask us for 'buy sell' kinds of jewelry pieces.  This week my favorite question was:  My mother went to Israel 30 years ago and bought me this star  with the word chai (life on it).  She got the large one, I got the medium one and my cousin got the small one.,    I lost it and I always go to these art shows hoping I will find this exact piece of jewelry.  Do you have it?

Kick me before sarcasm rolls off my tongue.  I politely said that the person who designed those pieces 30 years ago would not be happy to know that I, or someone else, had copied that design.  So, no, we don't have that design but we have 15 other designs that you may like.

No, she said, I've looked 30 years for this design and this is the design I want.

Or, last week the lady said:  My x-boyfriend gave me a star with a horseshoe on it.  When I broke up 25 years ago, I gave him back the pendant.  I always loved that pendant.  Do you have it?

We don't have it - perhaps you might cookie horseshoe, star and pendant and find it that way.  No, she said - she would keep on looking.  When we got to the room that night, I googled horseshoe, star, pendant and up popped a piece.  i don't know if this is 'the one' but it was easy to find.

We're not gong to have 'plain stars' that can be purchased on the internet.  Pieces are designed by me.  I want people to 'step out of the box' and look beyond that plain star ... alas, those who say - cute, interesting, nice, very interesting, very nice, different ... just don't get it.  

On the other hand, a blog was written about a new piece - Tikva - Star of Hope..

http://sherylaronson.blogspot.com/2012/06/hope.html

This isn’t a show review, because I actually wasn’t at the show. This is one I have done a few times before, but wasn’t accepted this year. After talking with artists I was really, really thankful that I was spared the experience this year, and I’ll definitely be waiting at least another year before applying again to see if they can pull their act together or not. What I heard was so astonishing that I was kind of surprised that no one else is talking about it (and I only put a few of the most important points because I was getting tired of typing). I would love to hear from more artists that did this show to see what they thought.

Pre-show communications to customers: FAIL

• The week before, I was in the Minneapolis area doing a show and heard more than one patron remark that they were surprised to hear that Stone Arch was happening, because the website still said the show was cancelled and they had not planned on going. This is mostly why I was curious as to how the show went and went around looking for people to ask about it.
• I know people in the area, and apparently the advertising that was done wasn’t very clear as a number of people showed up on Friday night (which was music only) and were very disappointed that the artists weren’t set up and open for business as well.

Pre-show communications to artists: FAIL

• YOU CAN’T CHANE THE HOURS OF THE SHOW AND NOT TELL ANYONE. (Edit - according to Diana below, this info was in the packet sent the week before to artists, it's just that many artists did not notice the change in hours and were surprised by them at the show) Artists found out only when they got their packets at the show that they had decided to extend the hours on Sunday to 7PM. Because there are so many condos in the area, they thought it would be nice to give those condo dwellers the chance to shop at the art festival after they got back from their weekend activities. (Because obviously the arts are so important to them that they can only fit them in between 5PM and 7PM on a Sun night.) A number of artists were caught having to get an extra night’s hotel room they had not expected. And it’s not like this is on streets with bright lights, this is in a park with poor lighting which is not somewhere I’d like to be working after dark. I can only imagine how pissed off I’d be to find out a last minute change like this.

General attitude toward artists: FAIL

• And now we are getting to the really astonishing part. An artist I spoke with was across from an infamous sponsor booth that was blasting loud rap music (which really doesn’t work for most art show patrons anyway!). This artist got them to turn it down briefly a few times, but eventually the volume would always get cranked again. Finally, he found a member of the show staff and asked if they would ask them to keep the music down. He was told that she wouldn’t (not couldn’t) do that, as the sponsor had paid to be there. WTF?!? When he pointed out that HE had paid to be there too, the response was that the sponsor was local and that local sponsors are what make the festival go. Huh. Kind of thought artists are what people came to an art festival to see, but maybe we should all just stay home and see how many people come out to see booth after booth of gutter people, newspapers, and health food drinks.
  
  Now, this is the subtle subtext for too many shows, that artists don’t matter and the sponsors can pretty much do whatever they want. But I’ve never heard of any show person actually SAYING it out loud. In a way, their honesty is quite refreshing.

Artist response: FAIL, FAIL, FAIL

• And this is mostly the reason I decided to write this up, even though I wasn’t at the event. The show did do a questionnaire at the end of the show, but the artist I talked to said that he didn’t fill it out and wasn’t sure that the other artists that spent the weekend complaining filled it out either. But he thought that so many people were pissed off that surely someone else filled out the form. Argh!!!
  
  When you find yourself at a show like this with multiple points of failure, take some responsibility and make the time to let them know why you are mad. Instead of deciding to never touch the show with a 10 foot pole in the future LET THEM KNOW WHY they won’t be getting an application from you again. These are all terrible mistakes, but the show staff isn’t psychic. And obviously the line “they should know better” is false, because if they did know better they wouldn’t have done things the way they did. The collective bitch-fest that seems to be the state of the industry these days won’t change anything. Calling shows on their behavior is the only way to let them know that way of doing things is not acceptable. Then you’ll either see a show that makes changes, showing they get it, or you’ll see a show that ignores you, showing that you are only as important as your booth fee (and if they can’t get that booth fee from you, they’ll just get it from some other sucker). Either way, you'll find out if that is an organization you really want to do business with in the future or not.