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You should have been with me in New York City! Last week a triple dose of fun:

• Book Expo America - the tradeshow for the publishing industry at the Javits Center where I met favorite authors Barbara Kingsolver, Richard Ford, Alix Kates Shulman, Richard Ford and Joyce Carol Oates and SO many more and scored so many free books I couldn't lift my luggage into the overhead on the flight home. If you love to read this show is nirvana. Visit the link above and hear Dan Rather's presentation.
  
  Barbara Kingsolver presents her Bellwether Prize for Socially Conscious Writing
  
  My son, Scott Fox, was a presenter at both expos and was signing his third book Click Millionaires (my excuse for being in New York)
  
  
• Blog World & New Media Expo - the world's largest conference for bloggers, podcasters and online content creators. I was on a panel moderated by Scott Fox titled "Making Money from your Favorite Niche Market." The other panelists niches were Walt Disney World, Security Guards and Backyard Chickens!
  
  I know some of the members here are bloggers. There are some excellent links at the Blog World site that will give you tips on growing your blog: http://www.blogworld.com/ Also, read the article about Social Media for small businesses that have no time for social media.
  
  (Testing out the new Trek Desk on the expo floor -- supposedly sitting at your desk is as bad for you as smoking! Who knew?)
  
  
• New York City. Need I say more? It's been a long time since I've been there. What great energy everywhere. It's a marvelous city. We saw a Broadway show, had another birthday celebration for me (Manhattans in Manhattan), walked the new High Line Park through formerly desolate neighborhoods, saw the space shuttle on the Intrepid.

This photo is for my granddaughters - in addition to Elmo everyone seemed to be near Times Square that evening!

Have any of you been in New York recently? Was anyone at Lincoln Center last weekend? Would LOVE a report on that one and probably should have stayed a day or two more for a visit.

Here's a link to an interesting article about a study that purports to show the positive impact of arts on the community.  Although this article (from the Ft. Myers, FL News-Press) takes a local slant, if you read the story you'll see that this is a nationwide study.  

Here's a link to a 24-page summary of the report findings.  It's a very quick read!

This is Kathy Coons writing, not Don. I am standing on my soapbox!

We were at the Smoky Hill River Festival in Salina, KS last weekend. As bored artists are wont to do, conversations ensued. The favorite topic is of course, "Why can't I get into shows anymore?" Well, the conjecture seemed to revolve around, "It's Zapplications fault!" There is a rumor (I call it a conspiracy theory) that Zapp offers shows the opportunity to have Zapp jury the show for them. They pay extra for this service and that the bigger shows do this, i.e. Cherry Creek, St. Louis, etc...This presents a very real chance for unfair bias, or vendetta's against certain artists or styles. This is why established artists are not getting accepted into shows that they routinely or at least occasionally used to be invited to.

Does anyone have any solid evidence for this? And why would a show do this? More importantly, Why would Zapp risk their reputation by doing this? I guess it could cut down on the promoters expenses by not finding, bringing in jurors, housing and feeding them. But it seems like the shows would want to change up jurors every year, and have a choice in who picked their shows.

I can imagine that this "jury" would get really tired of seeing the same images, over and over. They would be inclined to say, "Seen it, been there, done that, rejected."

So, if this is the case, do we need to get a new body of work images as well as a new booth slide every year! It is quite a challenge to come up with a new set of jury quality work, have the pieces professionally photographed and go to the expense of framing them. And then finding a place and appropriate light to set up your entire display, set it up, photograph it, tear it all down, pack it up again. Hey folks, many of us are retirement age. This is a lot to ask of a greying population of artists!

Why do the applications rarely tell artists who the jurors are? I think that is a fair question. Why would a traditional painter apply to a show with only contemporary museum quality jurors? I would think shows would want one experienced art fair artist on their jury. Don't they realize that the reason shows are in business is to provide the public and the artists a chance to meet and buy art goods for their home? Most people want a good mix of art to choose from. Not all Realism or Nonobjective art. 

So, has anyone else heard of this?? Anyone have any proof?? If it's not true, then we should quit speculating. If it is true we should be uproarious with our hearty disapproval.

Their web site announces "View the juried works of 183 of the regions’ best artists and craftsmen, sample fine cuisine and select wine tastings, enjoy live entertainment and take a walk through history along the brick lined streets of Colonial Annapolis, Maryland."  Wow!  Sounds great!  Sign me up!  Oh.  Wait.  I just got back from there.  The reality of it is the event kind of sounds like you'll be on the lush, green grass of a stadium but instead you're on the hard, rocky surface of one of the stadium parking lots.  It would take a good two pound sledge and a great amount of brawn to put in a stake, as a lot of people found out.  As for the power some of us paid $25 for they hung some outlets on one end of the fence so if you happened to be 100 feet away from them and only had a 25 or 50 foot extension cord you were pretty much out of luck unless you happened to be close to the booth of a computer engineer who had a long enough power cable and enough space on adapters to help out his two neighbors.

Before I talk about the "183 of the regions' best" let me say that I really don't care what you sell as long as you make it.  But there are shows I won't do because I know the atmosphere pretty much guarantees I won't sell very much.  Why show up if you know you're wasting time and money?  But a juried show with 183 of the regions' best and a wine tasting?  Well, you're not going to find any marshmallow shooters there, right?  Sigh.  Let's just leave it at there were several people there that one would not associate with the hype they were handing out.  One big tip-off was the home improvement company tent set up over in the wine tasting area.  Another as the surprising number of first time attendees there.  Oh, and any time you get a name tag that says 'vendor'....  Need I say more?

I'm sure you all may want to hear about sales.  I saw a *lot* of wine going by.  I heard more than one person comment on wishing that maybe they has saved back some of the money they spent on wine to buy other items.  After that were general crafts and precious little art.   A couple of the locals seemed to be doing OK but I certainly wouldn't recommend traveling any distance to this show.

To leave things on a more positive note, the Annapolis area is beautiful and the people were very nice.  If you want good seafood in a relaxed atmosphere where the locals go head for Mikes Crab House where I got a seafood platter with great taste and a hunk of fish hanging off both sides of the plate.  Double T's Diner has good breakfast and while they emphasize the 50's style they don't push it like some places.  And they serve scrapple with lost of their breakfast dishes. 

I have been making jewelry for a long time and just starting to do shows.  From research and visiting the shows I want to do, I made some changes to my booth to make it more professional.  However, I lost something in the translation!  It needs something on the walls and some signage.  I also have a problem with my tent...how do you get the sides to be nice and taut?  Or do you just cover them? help/input/comments would be greatly appreciated.  Be honest, I can take it!

      Last weekend (June 2-3) I did Farmington's Art on the Grand for the first time. It was a lovely town and seemed like it would be a lovely art fair. They had live music…nice live music, artsy live music. Classical in the morning, folksy in the afternoon, and jazzy in the evening. That was perfect…it was backdrop music and was the perfect volume to enjoy and still be able to talk to your customer. The crowd was nice, lots of people despite the threat of rain. Not a lot of bags going by though. The booths around me did not seem to be doing a ton of business but no one complained of not making booth rent. Except me. I did not do very well, but I have a bit of a niche market when it comes to my art. Some places I do really well….others..not so much. I'm still learning where I fit. I might do this one again though…It was a pleasant art fair and I want to see what it would be like without the threat of rain hanging over head.

    The rain threatened us all weekend. The forecaster's called for it in every newscast on every channel. The weather channel app on my iPhone said rain for every hour all weekend long. But the radar app on my iPhone showed it all above us,which was good, but I'm not so sure the other reports didn't keep away potential art fair goers though.      

     Saturday and Sunday both were bright, mild temps, and sunny (with the exception of a brief shower Sat. at 5pm) but it was windy……REALLY windy. I'm not good at guesstimating but the artist next to me said probably the gust were between 15-30 mph or more. My little  EZ-up was shaking. But I've got a Flourish stabar for my mesh walls and that seemed to help a lot. Others around me were not so lucky. We saw an entire jeweler's booth moved piece  by piece down the road. We thought they we're packing up but it turns out they were trying to find a spot more sheltered from the wind.

     Two tents over they had an EZ-up with the kind of weights that you slide the tent feet into…...they weren't fairing so well. By mid morning Saturday they had someone fetch them those large round 15-20lb weights from someone's weight lifting gear. By the afternoon they had also added 3gallon jugs of water. On Sunday they were just sitting, one on each of the front legs of the tent, and hanging on to it….live weights if you will. 

     The worst was the ceramics artist kitty-corner from me. She had a trim line tent. It weathered the wind's buffeting well except for the back tent wall was blowing in and out buffeting her shelving units. Early Saturday it knocked a piece off the shelf.  The Artist next to me ran over to catch the other couple of pieces he saw rolling around that looked like they were next. She moved her shelves inward and away from the walls in an attempt to keep them safe from the flapping walls.

It seemed to do the trick….for awhile.

     An hour before close on Saturday the sky really began to darken. And the wind….blowing strong all day…increased it's force. As the rain started we got a HUGE gust of wind come through, like 50 mph. I heard a horrible sickening crashing sound. I looked across to see the ceramic artist's entire back shelf pitched forward on to the ground. People were running in to help steady her tent. Which was good because seconds later a second HUGE gust ripped through and her two other shelves would have gone the same way if people hadn't been there to catch them.

      My EZ up with it's mesh walls swayed about a bit but it held up. The framed pieces I had hanging on them buoyed out away from the panels with the winds a bit  but stayed in place. They were double hooked and I think that helped.  I didn't have to let my sidewalls down until the rain came through so the mesh walls let the wind pass right through. And the stabar unit really helped the rest of the tent remain stable and weather the winds.

     Her Trimline had held up but her sides were just buffeted and billowed in that wind.  In the end that's what did all the damage, those billowy side walls. She lost about 75% of her stock. She had a show to do in two weeks time and her full compliment of stock was on those shelves. And she was not insured. So she lost her stock, she lost her ability to do the next show and thus any booth/jury fee's she'd paid out for this show as well as the next one.  Not to mention hotel, gas, food, etc…if she wasn't close to home.

    It really made me think. I don't have insurance either. Can't really afford it. If my stuff came crashing down in those winds I would have only to replace frames. Insurance might cover that but insurance can't replace my work.  And if my work got wet I'd be screwed….I don't have replacement art sitting at home. Oh, I've got one or two "hole-fillers" for when I make sales but that wouldn't be enough if I lost stock like she did. And I've prepaid for a lot of shows for this year already. About one every two weeks….that's not a lot of time if I had to replace work. I have a full-to-part time job and other obligations besides my art. I'm already burning both ends against the middle. 

    My goal for this year was to swing my art out of the niche market it's in and be a little more salable to the average art buyer. But now I think I've got to readjust that goal and make sure that having a backup of artwork is one of my priorities as well.  I'll look into insurance. I might buy a better tent. But I definitely need to have "backup" art at home.  I can always get a tent in time to do my next art fair….but I won't be able to do that art fair if I don't have back up art work. Mother Nature can only make a fool out of me if I let her.

It is never fun when a show has to cancel for any reason.  Today the new show Peachtree Hills Festival of the Arts  in Atlanta was canceled because of all the rain forcasted for today.  We did have yesterday though and I had some AFI members ask me about this show so I can write a bit of a review.

This was the first time for this show.  AFFPS puts this show on and like I have said many many times they are excellent to work with.  They are all about the artist.  I am very excited about this area.  ADAC is right there and supports the show.  That is where artist parking was.  Many art galleries and a few restaurants in the area.  They had a fancy wine place, a fancy restaurant that was too fancy for me after a hot day working and a great restaurant/pub with misters and the best grouper sandwich or salmon blt and of course cold beer.  There couldn't be a better place to go after a long day working a show and it was just a few steps away from my booth.  A real neighborhood in the middle of everything.  I think I actually want to move to this area one day.  The houses aren't huge but have lots of character.  They remind me of the houses in Ann Arbor near the painted rock.  30 somethings mainly, a good market for me.  

Set up was on Friday from noon till 8 and you could drive up to your booth.  Nice and easy set up.  There were not many artists, maybe 100 and good quality.  Booths were on the street across from eachother and there was a sidewalk behind the tent with a fence on the other side.  Perfect for leaning you stuff up for set up and break down.  I had enough room behind my booth to set up propanels on my 5' awning to create an extra room.  I think everyone had this much room in back and we all needed it because there was not any extra room between booths.  It was tight.  There was some craft but that was in a different area from the art.  It was a very nice Art show, mainly about the art, not too big and not too small and not a ton of dog walkers. 

The crowds were not huge on Saturday but did seem to pick up later in the day.  It was a nice day for June in Atlanta and advertising was great.  There was an electronic billboard right on Peachtree directing folks to the show.  I set up some appointments for Saturday morning because I figured it wouldn't be crazy busy and I am glad I did.  Sales seemed slow for most on Saturday.  Before closing staff came by and told us they may have to cancel Sunday due to weather.  We were told we would get an email in the morning.  Some folks packed up, and some even left.   I went to the pub for dinner.  Sure enough Sunday morning around 9am we got the email.  It was suppose to rain all day and just get worse.  We were allowed to drive up to our tents so our work wouldn't get wet.  All very civilized and went smoothly.  It is never fun to breakdown in the rain, but if you have to, this is the way to do it.  

I will be back next year.  I am excited about this area, and I have many clients who live there.  Until it becomes better known having a mailing list would really help.  It is an easy show for the patrons, not too big, easy parking and easy for people to get their art back to their cars.  If you have to travel for this show you might want to let us locals build it a bit, but for the local artists who do well in Atlanta's ITP market this is a show to watch. 

I am not at the show, but my wife is as an exhibitor.  We have talked back and forth over six times, Sat. and Sun.

One new, bad , development by the show promoters.

They have managed to put a large live music stage up at this show, that is new.  Unfortunately, most of the music coming from it is so loud and raucous, that it is hard for an exhibitor to have a conversation with a patron.

For many yesterday, sales were off.  Ellen sold one small piece for under $300.  This is a hard show to break into with a high booth/parking fee that is over $600.

Again, exhibitors are being used more as shills to get a crowd there that buys beer and food and not a lot of art.

That is not to say some exhibitors are having a great show.  But what about the other 200-exhibitors.  OLD TOWN how far you have fallen.

Will give a full report on Monday.

Los Angeles, California - May 8th, 2012 -- Market stalls at Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles (CPLA), a transformation of two enormous World War II-era warehouse structures into a hub of arts-based activity, have been leased by over 75 craft-artist partners as the June 29 opening date approaches for phase one of this major new attraction.
 
By opening weekend, Crafted’s independent artists are expected to number over 100, representing diversity in the hand-crafted world. Every artisanal tradition will be on display: one-of-a-kind jewelry, ceramics, knits, leather goods, up-cycled stationery, sauces, hand-carved wood, accessories, extraordinary snacks and confections.
 
Criteria for craft-artists to be included in this curated mix of crafts are rigorous. Products must be hand-made in Southern California and impeccably crafted. No imported articles will be available.
 
CPLA will be open Friday through Sunday. In addition to colorful shopping opportunities, visitors will be able to enjoy live music, daily demonstrations, gourmet food and entertainment for everyone. It’s a major new weekend entertainment option for Los Angeles families and visitors, with free admission and convenient parking.
 
When it expands to its full build-out occupancy with 500 artists displaying their work in 135,000 square feet, CPLA will become the nation’s largest year-round indoor crafts market.
 
“The tremendous response we’ve received from the craft artist community has exceeded our expectations,” said Alison Zeno, CPLA’s executive director and general partner. “There’s great enthusiasm among craft artists for the opportunity to have a permanent home in a beautiful, spacious setting.”
 
“This project represents a new way of thinking about arts and crafts.  We are proud of the part we are playing to bring original creations to the public in an accessible way." said Wayne Blank, the powerhouse behind Bergamot Station and majority partner.
 
Crafted is a key element of the new L.A. Waterfront at the Port of Los Angeles. The L.A. Waterfront project will cost an estimated $1.2 billion including a waterfront promenade, new parks, a new recreational marina, and the installation of the historic battleship U.S.S. Iowa as a visitor attraction. The development, rolling out with the June 29 opening of Crafted, is a world-class waterfront experience for Southern California residents and visitors from throughout the world.

I am looking for information on this art show.  It is held in San Jose, CA in September.  Does anyone know if it is going to be held this year?  Any of you west coasters know anything about it? 

Recently, I read a blog on AFI about the perils of:

1) Donating your works for charity.

2) Giving a piece of your work for raffle at the Art Fair you are attending.

3) Well, let's not enumerate on… the post was against GIVING AWAY your ART for any reason because it lowers its value.

Why? The jist of the post was that it’s BAD for BUSINESS!

Yes, I have the concept correct, unfortunately. Artists need to be savvy business women/men with cost sheets of realistic pricing, trend analyses, web maximization, facebook advertising, search engines that keep you in the forefront, gadgets that slip on your iPhone to scan credit cards... and on and on and on.

The theme of the post was ANATHEMA to me (nothing personal to whoever wrote it.) and I feel honor bound to represent artists to the best of my ability. While I’m polite to a fault, truthful about costs, and I’ll avoid conflict at all costs - I’ve never told anyone this before and am reluctant to now - that post forces me to take a very public stand:

Every show I find a way to give a piece of my work… to a charming child, a harassed mother, someone with a light pocketbook but the right eyes, a lovely aging beauty…

Isn’t the greatest gift an Artist can give ONE that is personal, rare and God-given: your own art? I think generosity is a civility I see and read about here on this blog daily.

So I am asking YOU.

I am the Director of Global Outreach for the Rainbird Foundation, a non-profit committed to the end of all forms of child abuse with no child left out. If you would like to participate in an act of generosity that would delight the recipient and contribute to the financial stability of this great organization, join me in contributing a piece of your art to them. I’ve never met a more deserving group of people, and their work will go far with our support!

IF THIS APPEALS TO YOU, FIND OUT MORE @: www.Rainbirdfoundation.org

OR CONTRIBUTE A PIECE OF YOUR WORK AND MAIL IT TO: RAINBIRD FOUNDATION, W311S7433 Arbor Drive, Mukwonago, WI 53149

Please, price your work. It will be sold in the Global web store.

Starting sometime early next year, I am looking to feature an artist a month in the store. If you are interested, write me at AFI.

With gratitude,

Linda

I'd like to hear from anyone who has started using the card reader that plugs into your iPhone to process credit cards.  I'd like to hear both the pros and the cons.  Have you found it to be efficient?  Have you gotten any static from customers as a result of not providing a hard-copy receipt?  Have you managed to reduce your credit card processing fees?  Anything you might have to offer would be greatly appreciated.

Have you ever been asked to fix another artist's work?  I've only done it a couple times.  My blog entry today is about adjusting another artist's work.  It's also about how I used to draw at all my kids' sports games.  Sometimes I worry that they'll look back and think of me being half there, distracted by my constant need to work work work.  Isn't it hard to balance art with family?

http://pencilenvy.blogspot.com/2012/06/bad-sports-mom-gets-hug-from-lepoleon.html

Cincinnati SummerFair last weekend was the beginning of  back-to-back shows in June. Big show, some 300 artists on meandering paths in Cony Island right on the River. Immediate confusion coming in, as I feared my GPS was taking me on an "adventure" when I crossed the bridge from Ohio into Kentucky. Can't be right...but heard a  voice in my head, "Trust the GPS Thomas". I  forged on, and sure enough  the highway curved back into Cinci, right to Coney Island. Happy I was.
During setup I got to watch all the cowgirls and guys make their way to the Lady Antebellum concert. Big thunderstorm interrupted my setup and the concert, so I hid in my (new, sturdy, well anchored, waterproof) tent for an hour until it let up, listening to the screams of concert-goers streaming back to their cars (to get their raincoats? cause the concert paused, then continued). The main complaint I read about with this fair was how hot it normally is. Not a problem this year, thanks to the rain.
 Friday; I think they got visitors got their moneys worth. Common to see them checking their maps, making a plan on where to go next, so as to not miss anything. A bit of concern when I saw so many walking around with beers, often in what seemed a really big cups: they pay to get in, then pay for alcohol, for food, will there be anything left for arts and crafts? Worst two fairs I have had were festivals mixing these elements.... This means, time for the Bag Check: Lots of people walking around with bags, a good sign sales are happening. All OK.
 I didn't sell as much as I expected (that guy Paul, when I told him I was going to Cinci said "you're going to make a lot of money!" -more on him later) Suffice it to say it didn't meet my (or his for me probably) expectations; I didn't sell a large number of pieces, but I did sell some higher-priced pieces which made up the difference.

 My biggest attraction was something I wasn't selling, but a sign I posted (because of Paul):

I had to put this in my booth after what Paul said.

 I swear, thousands pointed this sign out to whomever they were with. Only one mom replied to her son, "yes it does". There was no 'kidding' in her delivery. Some thought I made the sign and wondered where I found the license plates: Smiley Face: its a picture a friend posted on Facebook. But I am going to make it into a ceramics piece (cause that's what I do) and sell them by the thousands. When patrons  talked to me about it, I told them The Story:  "This guy comes up to me at Indiana Artisan, last March, raves about this piece:

Paul said it was the best piece in the show. That's like a major award.

 He really loves it, stands there a long time, then leaves, saying he will be back. He comes back at the end of the show, more raving, even says it is the best piece in the whole show (gosh, blush). hand on his chin, he then adds, 'but I just don't have anything green in my house anymore'."

You know how it is when you say the same thing over and over to people who come into your booth, the tag lines, the hooks, the conversation starters? Clearly this is one of mine. The patrons love it. But when I got tired of it, I began to add to it, telling them the guys name is Paul, and, See, over there? (point),  by the Tilt-a-whirl?,  well he's right there! Why don't you go over and ask him if he STILL doesn't have green in his house, o,r is he sure he doesn't have ANYTHING green, or, wouldn't this bowl then GIVE you something green, or, funny and I thought you were Irish...You get the idea, and patrons make their own suggestions too.. I like Paul. I'll see him at Woodland, do the same thing. Smiley Face. He's probably getting business from it.

I could tell every time the photographer next to me made a sale. He would unfold a bag and pop it open with both hands with a large snapping sound. Heard a-lot of those, so I think he did quite well.  They had a record 10,000 on Saturday alone. So, 30k for the three days? Possibly.

 At break-down I looked at where the jeweler tent to the left of me had been , you could see how much traffic had been there. Looked like a cattle drive had taken a detour through the booth. The photographer said the jeweler shouldn't have been there because it was "beads". I stayed out of it. She was nice, she was juried in, she there. Art Fair can be a misnomer; it isn't always art or fair.

It can be one thing to get into bigger shows, and another to sell well at those same shows. I spent some  time  looking  at ceramists/potter's booths. At some, I was amazed, nay, awestruck by the floor-to-ceiling inventory (have I even made as much as they are displaying in a year??) .  Beef up inventory, yeah. Checked out the Ceramics prize winners . Exact opposite. Like a gallery, with, seriously, maybe 10-15 pieces on display, closer to what I do. Both probably did well.

Organizers did a great job, helping setup,take down, providing amenities; a breakfast bar where they charged a nominal fee- (really was cheap, probably just covered expense of food), award banquet featuring two, count-em , 2- 10.00 coupons to redeem with the food, beer/wine vendors. Large Holy Trinity bourbon chicken, rice and beans got both my coupons. I saved the second one for lunch the second day. And J.D, he didn't have to, but he used his left-over money from his turkey wrap to buy me a corn-on-the-cob. Buy one of his pots next time you see him, will you? Say Thomas sent you. Say the same to Paul, he'll know what you mean. maybe we can get him to go green.

 I was quickly reminded a couple weeks ago that summer has fallen upon us as I sat in my booth In New Paltz while the heat and humidity started to become unbearable. I was unprepared since after all it was still only May.  Usually I’m more prepared for those 95 degree days with my ryobi battery operated fan (from home depot), spray bottle and an ice pack cooler with a towel inside to wipe off. So as I was reading some of the older post I came across a great blog started by Jacki Bilsborrow last July that had some great tips by readers on how to stay cool during the outdoor summer shows. Based on the unusually warm winter we had here in the Northeast, I’m predicting a few very hot shows this year so get ready.

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/how-do-you-stay-cool-at-art-sh

The 45th annual Summerfair was held at Coney Island this past June 1st - 3rd.  Over 800 artists applied for one of the coveted 305 spaces. Accepted artists represented 31 different states.   Set up was held Thursday afternoon with Friday morning set up available.  Set up is relativley easy for most of the spaces as you can drive right up to your space. Show hours are:  Friday - 2:00 - 10:00, Saturday - 10:00 - 8:00 and Sunday 10:00 - 5:00.  The gate fee for art fair customers is $10.

There are 10 art categories for applicants.

Categories                        # of accepted Artist     approx. % of exhibitors

Mixed Media 2-D & 3-D               24                                     7%

Ceramics                                      42                                     13%

Drawing/Printmaking                    15                                      5%

Fiber/Leather                              36                                     12%

Glass                                            28                                      9%

Jewlery                                        54                                    17%  

Metal Sculpture                           36                                    12%

Painting                                        29                                     9%

Photography                                 27                                     8%

Wood                                           34                                    11%      

The show began Friday with below avg. temperatures and a chilling wind.  I believe the temps never reached 60 and was cold and damp all day.  Cutomers did attend but never reaching the typical Friday numbers.  Sales were sparse for most with a few stating they did have a good day. 

Friday night was the Artist/Awards banquet located at the Gourmet Arts Food area of the fair.  Each exhibitor was provided with  (2)  $10 food vouchers to spend as they wished at a variety of food booths.  Susan had the barbeque chicken and I settled for the amish noodles and chicken with mashed potatoes.  After a long, cold day, the warm meal was much appreciated.  Summerfair awards $11,000 in prize money with $1000 for Best of Show.  Category awards were for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Honorable Mention.   All award winners are automatically accepted into the 2013 art show event with their jury fees waived. 

Saturday was an awesome day, both weather-wise and for sales.  Art show customers came by the droves to view the art and spend time in the picture perfect weather with temps. reaching the lower 70's with brightly sunny skies.  It was a welcome change from Friday's chilly weather.  Susan and I noticed many art customers carrying around their purchases.  A wood puzzle artist accross from us was busy all day with customer purchases.  A Florida artist with beautiful rope/hanmmock chairs and swings did very well.  We had a steady stream of interested customers that made Saturday our best sales day and helped us have a nice Summerfair show.  It wasn't a home run this year but it was a double and we will take that. 

A wildlife photographer located at the entrance to the show was busy all day and another wildlife photographer had a very nice day/show.  A jeweler I spoke with had a decent Saturday and a "ok" show.  One potter I spoke to had a good Saturday and did well overall.   On the other hand a landscape photographer along with a glass artist and painter struggled for most of the show including Saturday.

Sunday was another picture perfect weather day.  Although art fair customer numbers were not quite as good as Saturday, the show was busy.    Some artists had a great Sunday while others did mediocre.  I would guess that there were approximately 20,000 - 25,000 customers that attended for the 3 days. Just received an e-mail from  Summerfair stating that they had 25,000 paid customers walk through the gate.

Like most Art Shows, the Summerfair layout has it's good (high traffic) locations while others are in what I would call a "lesser traffic flow" area.   There are plenty of shaded spots and lots of sunny spots.  One just has to reference the booth layout map and figure out what location would be best for them. 

Teardown is not too bad.  The staff stages the vehicles/trailers outside of the show in the parking lot and then lets them drive into the booth space area around 30 minutes after the end of the show.  There is a staff member that is waiting for each vehicle who will stop you and help you get to your booth location.

The Summerfair staff was very friendly and helpful.  They made themselves available by driving their golf carts throughout the show all 3 days and trying to resolve any problems that occurred.  I do know they relocated one artist that had issues with his space and both the artist anad the staff were happy with the result. Overall the jury does a nice job of selecting artists and the quality of the show was very nice.   One small perk I enjoyed was the  Summerfair VIP Concessions.  It was located on the 2nd floor of Moonlight Gardens and offered the artists discount prices on drinks, snacks, bagles, fruit etc.  How often is it that you can get a .50 soda and/or Dorito snack bag at an art show event?

Both Susan and I like exhibiting at Summerfair. Over the last 3 years we have established a nice following.   It is the only time we exhibit our work in the area.  Also my mother lives in Loveland, 25 miles or so from the event so it gives us a chance to catch up and visit with her and a nice place to stay. 

I originally discovered AFI when I was starting to search for shows outside the Pacific NW and discovered a lot of good information on this site.  I was particularly interested in all the information on improving images for jurying and improving the booth image, etc. as we were discouraged last year on continued rejections from shows we really wanted to participate in.

So, we signed up for the Virtual Jury process offered by AFSB, net result, we needed a new photographer and bigger “Wow” pieces, not just our bread and butter best sellers.   So we proceeded to design some new pieces, hired a new photographer, we revamped our booth and hired Larry Berman to edit our images and drastically clean up our booth shot.  We have one show we need 7 images for so in the end, between the new photographer, the virtual jury and the photo editing we spent over 1K in preparing for 2012 applications.

End result? We’re still sorting that out.  However, I tend to be the overly analytical person in this partnership while my husband is the total opposite and he had a good chuckle when he looked at part of this post.  I’ve already driven him nuts with my verbal analysis and ongoing conversation so I thought I’d share the results with this community in hopes that someone might be able to offer a unique perspective or some feedback.  If I’m spending 1K, I want to know if it was worth it and given a 16 year work history in the CFO organization of my day job, an MBA in Finance and a work career in which I’ve had “analyst” in my job title for over 20 years, I tend to overanalyze everything!!  And yes, my husband is snickering over this part of the post:) 

For the first time ever we were only waitlisted for one show this year, all others were outright acceptances or rejections.  That in itself was a great change, we usually have 4-8 waitlists that leave us wondering, agonizing and trying to decide if we needed to change travel plans at the last minute.  Unfortunately the one that we were waitlisted for was a show we’ve done for 4 years in a row and has been in our top 5 shows every year.  So that didn’t feel very good as it is an early season show and was one of the first shows we submitted our new images to the jury. 

As the acceptances / rejections continue to arrive, here are our final results:

• Shows we applied to for the first time: 5 declined, 11 accepted, a little better than our normal average of about 65%
  • A little more disclosure on this, of the 11 we were accepted into, I truly believe 5 of them were “jury by check”, but they were back up shows if we didn’t get into our first choice.
    • 2 of the shows we were accepted into, we had been told were very hard to get into, so that left us feeling relieved and able to back out of 2 of the jury by check shows.
    • 2 of the new shows are already completed with dismal to mediocre results which made us question our decisions for show scheduling.
• Shows that declined us this year after previously accepting us with our old images: 1 – ouch, that didn’t feel right
• Shows that waitlisted us after previously accepting us with the old images: 1 - ouch
• Shows that had previously rejected us
  • And still rejected us: 7
  • 2012 accepted for the first time: 2, Yay!! Both of these were shows that we’ve been wanting to do for a while, however, both will replace solid, fairly reliable 2 day shows with 3 day shows and will result in an additional trip out of town.  So, until we see the show sales results, the jury is still out, so to speak.
• Shows we’ve previously been accepted at on a regular basis and still want us back:)  7
• Shows we’ve previously been accepted – but never consistently on a  year to year basis:
  • 3 shows, 2 accepted, 1 rejected
• Pending – still have one left to notify for a December show, but fully expect to be accepted, although I should never think that anything is an automatic in this business.

So, we applied to 37 shows for which we know the results. 15 declined, 22 accepted, shows we’ll actually do: 17, some were apps for the same weekend and a couple shows we declined because we couldn’t put together a road trip that made sense, only getting into 1 out of 3 shows that were a 13-15 hour road trip away didn’t make financial sense.

We started the year with a disappointment after not getting called off the one waitlist we were on, we now have 2 shows on our schedule that we’ve tried to get accepted into in the past that are highly rated that are leaving us with high hopes.  We also have 3 other new shows that we applied to for the first time that we have high hopes for, plus our regular schedule of favorite shows that are “tried and true”, so we’re hoping the rest of the year will be stronger than the start of our year.

Was the $1K worth it?  We think so, we feel like we’ve gotten into a few better, more promising shows.  However, getting waitlisted for the spring show we have done for 4 years and getting rejected from a show that we were accepted into last year left us feeling a little perplexed when we felt like we had a better jury submission.  In the end, sales results will tell us if it’s worth it, we’ll continue to track the results and come back to this question in December.

Not sure if this helps anyone, but thought I’d share our journey through the process of trying to improve our images and “up our game”. 

Mine is a little different from Lebens.

I just spent a hour and one half writing this and then lost it all before I could save it.  That's life.

I am gonna give you pluses and minuses, you draw your own conclusions.

HERE ARE THE PLUSES:

Over 300,000 attend.

Held on a beautiful riverfront in downtown Columbus, OH.  Well advertised.

Easy staggered setup, most can have their vehicles in front.

Three days to sell, Friday-Sunday.

If you have low-end price points, art/craft to sell, you can make a lot of moola.

They give you electricity.

Nice awards and breakfest

Nice break areas and restrooms.

The best Artist Market Director ever, Patty Matthews.  She is available, she listens, she responds.

NOW THE DRAWBACKS, THERE ARE SOME SERIOUS ONES, MOST OF THEM WILL NEVER BE CORRECTED.

Overly long show hours.  From before noon til 10 PM on both Friday and Saturday.  That means you can eat dinner at 10:30 PM, yipee!

Most sales stopped at 6 pm or 8 at best.  Both nites I did about $250 in sales after 6pm.  Show needs to end earlier.  The show will never do it, can you hear the concessionaires howl?

Trouble with show layout.

It runs across two bridges over WIDE SCIOTO RIVER, then along the river front on both sides. Then there are two dead-end spurs with a single rows of artists on them that go off this great circle that the herd follows.

Guess where I was? Second from the end of the show, or the beginning, depending on your direction of coming or going.  People rush by ya to go see the show, forget sales.  People on the spurs lost 40% of the crowds, yet paid the same high booth fee of $500.

Tried to tell overall Show Director, Scott Huntley, about this, but he doesn't want to hear it.  He does not understand the concept of "show-flow" like we artists do.  Anybody on a dead-end row knows what happens.

Booths on the bridges get blown all over, every which way by high winds.  Good luck tying down tarps in the back, good luck trying to sit back there.  It causes a lot of stress to the artist psyche.

Weather at Columbus will always be iffy.  I have done the show more than 20 times since the 80's and can count on one hand when we had easy good weather.  It is usually very warm and humid, or it is very windy and rainy.  This year it rained most of Friday with chilling winds that went right thru you.  It killed sales for most of us.  I made a whopping $435 that day.

They tell ya you will have electricity and they tell ya you will have ample storage behind ALL BOOTHS.  NOT! 

If you are one of the lucky ones, say about every 14 booths, you get stuck with this giant metal cabinet which everybody plugs into for electric.  It measures about 4-foot high, 18 inches wide, and three feet and a half wide.  It doesn't move out of the way.  It is right behind your booth.  I hit the trifecta.  I got the cabinet, I got a fire hydrant, and a metal sign post, all behind my booth.  So much for ample booth storage.  Curiously, nobody ahead of time at the show mentioned this situation about the boxes.

The show map is useless, it doesn't really show any booth configurations.  Go to St. Louis Art Fair's site and look at how a professional show does a map layout.

Preshow communication with art show staff is very iffy.  Forget about getting a return email or call from show coordinator Shana Scott.  She doesn't return anything.  Finally got a hold of Festival Director Scott Huntley right before show start.  He was very helpful.

Show costs are dreadful for average return of sales.  Realistically, it costs close to grand to do this show if you are traveling for eight hours or more.  Some exhibitors did five figures or better there this year, they were the lucky ones.  A number did in the $5K-$7K range, but most did under $4K like Leben.  He was happy, I wasn't.  It was my worst Columbus ever.  Last year we could blame poor sales on the Sat. nite destructive storm.  This year I will blame it on being on a dead-end spur.

It is mostly a low-end sales show.  Not a lot of big sales going on.  This is a very traditional crowd.. Good luck if you have contemporary work.

There, I will let you draw your own conclusions about this show.  Personally, I think it is too big of an investment of time and money for the return, for the average exhibitor.  We do not need to be there 28 long hours trying to sell to a beer-swilling crowd after 6pm.  Guess what?, the show aint gonna change.  They have their grand plan and tough luck if you don't buy into it.

NOW SOME DESERVED KUDOS TO THOSE WHO HELPED ME AND SAVED MY SHOW AND MADE LIFE QUITE BEARABLE UNDER TYING PHYSICAL CIRCUMSTANCES.

Just so you know, I have been diagnosed with a faulty heart valve which cause fluid backup into my lungs, feet, legs and a few places between my legs.  I can't walk or lift anything.  It is getting repaired.  That said, show people helped me lot, I had booth helpers to set up and tear down.  I made it thru, barely.

So Patty Matthews, the Artist Market Chairman, was a life-saving angel, I can never thank you enough.  She is the best.

My setup angel Karen Holtkamp who came all the way from Cincinnatti with buddy "weatherman" Joe and completely setup and stocked my booth on Thursday in under three hours.  They were true life-savers.

Kudos to Nicole Vanover, an emerging artist there, who was slated to help me tear down and pack up.  Ended up, I did not need her, but she was there for the calling.  Mahalo plenty--that is Hawaiian for "Thanks a lot."

My hat goes to artist Patty DeMaria who sent her son Tristan to help my wife Ellen Marshall set up and tear down her booth.  Then he came over helped me pack up my booth on Sunday nite.  We were out of there in two hours.  Tristan you are a life-saver, and a quick learner.

Thanks to "Uncle Dick" Cunningham, stalwart South Florida photographer who came over to help on Sunday after packing his own cube truck.  He killed them at the show, I am so happy for him.

Well, health prevents me from doing Hinsdale, just cancelled.  I see the Pulmonary Specialist next Wednesday and get a diagnosis and a course of action.  I am ready.

Let's hear your comments about Columbus.  If I lose this post, I am going to shoot myself.  No alcohol for two weeks now, cold turkey, it is no fun.  Aloha, Nels.

I've been looking forward to doing this show, as I finally got invited after a few years of applying. The show is put on by the Yellow Breeches chapter of the PA Guild of Craftsmen.

Boiling Springs is a little south of Harrisburg, about 2 hours 15 minutes away from my home, and I decided we'd just leave really early in the morning to get there for the 6am set up. We headed out at 3:30am, and got there  as everyone was pulling in down a somewhat narrow one way street with booth spaces marked on both sides. The show had a cadre of volunteers that was amazingly helpful. They made sure all artists were parked as unobtrusively as possible for traffic flow, then one or two people jumped in and helped unload...amazing!

We were nervous because we were towing our trailer, which gives us about 3'more width than our SUV and neither my husband or I are incredibly adept at precise manuevering. But after unloading, other volunteers got my husband quickly turned around further down the road and parked facing the fair, so as the show ended, all artist vehicles were poised for exit.

The literature had wisely mentioned to bring shims, as our space was partially on the road and partially in a driveway and partially on a berm. If we hadn't had shims, there's no way we could have gotten our tables level...this was a drastic drop and difference in heights.

My husband and I agreed since the weather was so lovely and there was no wind, we would use our pop-up tent rather than taking the extra half hour to put up our Trimline. BIG mistake, as the wind kicked up around 10 am, and the entire tent was rocking and lifting, which tilted our table-top shelves that we chain to the tent for stability, and kept dumping my jewelry and displays off. 

We spent about 1 -1/2 hours trying to hold onto the shelves before finally taking one down and putting all my work tightly packed on the table top. It didn't look pretty, but left one of us to write up sales while the other held on and talked to customers. 

The customers come early, so even though the show starts at 9am, plan for people to start looking by 8:30. The crowd was friendly and savvy, and our sales were as good there on Saturday as another show that we've been doing for 6 years. There seems to be a lot of customer loyalty to the show, with customers telling us they come back every year.The show closes at 4pm.

The volunteers really made this show a pleasure to do, with offers for booth sitting, water, and all the help loading and unloading. It was a good first year for us there, and we hope to be back in future years.