Blog

May 19 & 20 

Oak Park, Illinois

Art in the Park

Historic Mills Park

presented by the West Suburban Artists Guild

80 Artists

Deadline: March 15

(late applications will be accepted if a category is not filled)

Set up: Sat. 6am-10am

Show both days: 10am-5pm 

Please join us for our  juried fine arts show, showcased in the heart of historic Oak Park.  We  are looking for handmade unique items designed by exhibiting artists  only.

Highlights: 

• on the grounds of Pleasant Home, a National Historic Landmark, in the Frank Lloyd Wright district of Oak Park, IL
• two days
• overnight security provided
• $1,000 in prize money
• children's art table area
• live music
• food vendors 
• free artist exhibitor
•  breakfast on Saturday 
• Booth fee $150; Jury fee $15   

         Mill Park is located at Pleasant Street and Home Avenue, 3 blocks north of Madison Street and 3 blocks east of Harlem Avenue.

For more information, visit:  www.westsuburbanartistsguild.orgfor photos from the previous show and this year's application. 

Questions: Mary Meike at troutt7@comcast.net 

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Looking for even more 2012 art fairs? You'll love this new website that includes events around the country brought to you by the big promoters and the small arts groups  

www.CallsforArtists.com  

Hi All,

We currently use a Nurit 8000 wireless terminal and are coming to the end of our agreement. One of the providers we have checked out is 1st National. On a side by side comparison with a recent settlement statement it looks like we could have saved $30 + for the same amount of business by going with them. That is just one month's worth. We were wondering if anyone uses 1st National and would like some feedback about service, fees et. Also, they want us to go to a Verifone VX610 wireless terminal, anyone use it? Any information from real world experiences would be helpful in making our up our minds. Sqaure is also an option but we are not completly comfortable with the process at this time. Thanks for the input.

Well, Naples National was certainly the big dog this past weekend, and even I looked forward to hearing how everyone made out (feel your pain, Jon; good work on your sales and post, Nels).

Not everyone could take a ride at the Naples merry-go-round, of course.  And for some of us, that meant taking the ride up I-95 to Stuart, for Howard Alan's 22nd installment of the Stuart Art Festival.

This is a quintessential old-style Alan show.  Street setup starting at 5 AM Saturday, with tents facing each other on narrow Osceola Street, which passes for the main drag in downtown Stuart--which, by the way,  has more narrow streets, blind alleys, and high-risk, death-defying traffic circles than anywhere I've ever traveled. 

Making sense of the weekend's sales was no less confusing:  I talked to probably 20 artists, and it was a mixed bag. One large-scale mixed-media artist from Delaware, with price points over $2K and a minimal number of small reproductions, and fresh off a Best in 2-D award from Barry Witt's February Bonita Springs show,  gathered lots of compliments but zeroed on the weekend.  But another large-scale 2-D artist made two huge sales on Saturday alone, making it his best show of his season.  "Pelican Steve," who like me had a prime spot just inside the show entrance, put it to good advantage and nearly sold out his wood sculptures.  Most folks I spoke with who had done this show frequently said their sales were at, slightly above, or slightly below, their take from the last two years.  So it seems like if you do this show consistently, you'll build a following, but that it won't necessarily make you rich.  Compared with Naples, for sure it was a smaller pie to share.

There was a LOT of photography at the show (I didn't count the artist list, but I'm betting shooters outnumbered jewelers at this one.)  Lots of wildlife and landscape photographers, including the estimable Mr. Steve Vaughn and Tim Kiusalass, who creates awe-inspiring large-scale, beautifully-framed landscapes and displays them in a beautifully designed booth.  Steve and Tim joined me for a great dinner on Saturday night where we swapped lies and neatly solved every burning issue in the art show business (email Steve for details on the forthcoming book). 

I had only nine sales all weekend, with a total take of about $1600, and I felt lucky indeed to eke that out.  Three sales were pretty big 'uns, including a custom order for a large canvas that accounted for half the weekend's take.  But the rest were all single-item $30 sales.

The show was well organized and ably run by the HAE staff.  And the crowds did come, as they usually do at an Alan show.  But it didn't seem like there was a lot of buying energy around.

The Treasure Coast area (which includes Hobe Sound and Jupiter) is pretty well saturated with shows, and it might be the time of year when buyer's fatigue is setting in. There are some beautiful, high income golf course and gated communities not far away from the show venue.  But I'm not sure they attended this show: Many of the locals I talked to over my three-day stay told me that they avoid downtown congestion and parking hassles. And many of the very nice folks who came through my booth were elderly retirees who'd lived in Stuart many years, not new-to-the-area homebuyers.  (My two largest sales, tellingly, were to seasonal snowbirds.)  

In addition, there was a discernible mixed vibe from the downtown merchants. Although the show definitely puts feet on the street, some merchants are unconvinced that they make their way from show to storefronts.  Alan mitigates this by having frequent breaks in the rows of tents to allow access to the shops and restaurants, but in an already-touchy downtown economy, some merchants fret about their regulars losing parking to the show patrons, having their signage blocked by tents and the sidewalk blocked by artist storage.  Accordingly, the show layout moved the tents forward into the street a couple of feet, so that artist storage is on the street-side of the curb, not on the sidewalks. That solves one problem, but creates another, making the already-narrow streets a bit tougher to navigate.  (It also makes it a good idea for artists to make sure they store their work off the ground in case it rains.  Which, during Saturday morning setup, it did--but luckily, not for long.) 

This show isn't nearly as expensive as a Coconut Grove (hotel rooms could be had for $75 a night), and the booth fee is at the lower end of Alan's shows.  But as gas rises toward $4 a gallon, the nearly 400-mile round trip blew the budget I'd laid out only two months earlier, when a gallon of gas was "only" $3.30.  All told I spent about $750 on the weekend, plus massive but futile tips to cute waitresses. So although Stuart definitely served as a "paycheck show," on the whole I'd rather have been in Naples, only 30 minutes' drive from my home.  

 I've got one more shot in Stuart: I'll be returning on March 24-25 for Stuart ArtsFest.  Sponsored by the Martin County Arts Council, it's located only a quarter-mile or so east of this week's affair.  It will be interesting to see how the two shows compare. 

Can't wrap up this post without sharing a pretty funny Saturday-morning slice o'life:   I had just finished up with a customer when I heard three women arguing behind me.  Wondering if they were upset with my neighbor, or with me,  I stepped back to see what the commotion was about.  Two women who ran the restaurant were berating the owner of the shop next door, gesturing and pointing at the wooden signboard the shop owner had placed in the street, complaining that it blocked access to their restaurant.  The shop owner's explanations weren't calming the situation, and the women continued yelling at her to move it.

Then, the lady saw a man walking past the sidewalk sign.  "Sir! Sir!," she said, and he stopped, startled.  "Did you have any trouble walking past this sign just now?" 

Nonplussed, he said, "Well, no, I didn't. "

The shop owner threw up her hands in triumph.  "Hah!!" she said.  "Didn't think so! THANK you, sir!"

The man, bewildered, stepped away and into the front door of the restaurant for breakfast.

She looked at the two restaurant owners, who were still barking at her, and gave them a tight-lipped smile.  "I'm just going to let you two shout among yourselves," she said, quietly.  "The sign stays!" 

And so it did. 

" First off I want Jon Leben to know I feel your pain.  Florida is really tough for most of us this year.  There is no consistency going on in sales.  I want him to be able to go back to hometown, and my summer home, Saugatuck, Michigan with a big wadful so he can eat and drink to his heart's delight at Wallys, Phils and the EPC Cafe.  I am pulling for you John.

I have been lucky to do this show at least 15 times or more over the years.  I did it back before Naples blossomed into bigtime.  Used to be only one restaurant on Fifth Avenue to get dinner at.

Consistently, it has always been one of my top-grossing Florida spring shows, usually $5K or better.

Now segue to this year.  I do the downtown New Years show, run by the same organization, the the Naples Art Association, and I do a blistering $710.00  I was devastated.  Year before, same show, over $4K--WTF!

So I slid down I-75 last Friday with great trepidation.  So far shows in Florida, the six I have done, have been less than stellar.  And I got new images out there from the Florida Keys, it is not the same old, same old.  That is not my style.

Got there in time for our late Friday setup.

Here is how they do it.  John touched on it lightly--I am going to give you a little more meat--especially if you have never done it and are thinking about it.

A little aside.  A few years back, Greg Lawler's Sourcebook quoted this show as having an average per booth sales total of $7500.  Higher than anybody else in Florida.  I know, I know, you can have one or two artists do $40K and it skews the whole average.  But the point was, you could make a lot of moola here with the right stuff.  The people here have disposable income--what a concept--and, a lot of them spend it on art to decorate their winter homes.

OK back to the setup.  This show is held one block off the main drag of commercial downtown which is South Fifth Avenue. It is both in a lovely treed park and on the the street facing it.

Everybody gets good storage space behind their booths, most get room enough to hang work on one outside wall.  That's what you get for your $450 booth fee.  They provide free food, ample booth sitters and a very well-organized show run under the capable hands of on Mrs. Marianne Megala.  She is the major-domo.  All decrees run thru her.  She has to put out numerous little artist-fires all weekend long, and she does it well.  She has excellent volunteer support who take care of garbage, artist direction and traffic control.  The show runs like a well-greased machine.

Before you all think I am putting on my "Cheerleader's Uniform" listen closely.  There are serious flaws to this whole system.  Easily correctible, but time will tell.  Mrs. Megala does it her way, or you hit the highway.  But she is fair, she doesn't play favorites.

The artists on the street are setup with backs to the curbs or fences with a wide width for patrons to walk between.  Many long-timers consider this "Position A" in the show for sales over spots in the park.  Many ask for it, few get it.

The park is lovely, although shaded, work can look real dark in your booth depending on the light.  My good friend Luciano, a great photographer, loves to be in the West end of the park, doesn' hurt his sales one bit.  His oppposing countepart, John Galbo wants to be out on the sreet front and center.  They both make serious moola.  So go figure.

Here is my criticism about the park.  There is an area we all call the "Circle of Lost Artists."

These people die in this spot.  One noted photographer who does gripping dark images of Ireland, and its graveyards, made less than $300 in there on Saturday.  There is a narrow lime-stained border on the grass that leads you there.  Most people miss it.  I have been there before, it is not pleasant.  It needs to be gone.  They pay the same booth fee as the rest of us, and yet they get a fraction of the crowd.  It just does not work.  Hello Marianne are you listening!

This year especially, you needed big expensive pieces to sell.  The $50-$250 price range was deader than a doornail.  I sold six biggies, $450 each which accounted for seventy-five per cent of my sales.  It was my best show this year.  Over $4K.  That is the now "good" for a lot of us.

Now lets have some fun.  I am gonna tell ya about individual artist experiences as seen though my good buddy Webbie's eyes.

Many of you newbies don't know about Webbie.  I have written about him for the last three years.  He is a hearty show-goer, much like our Geri Wegner, who gets around to a lot of shows.  He has a keen wit, and knows the ins and outs of our biz, he tells it like it is.  He is fond of drink, and hangs around with questionable characters like Munks' Bill the Cat.  When I saw him Saturday, he was fresh out of rehab and full of himself.  So put yourself in the moment as he strides up Eighth street to the front of my booth.

THE RETURN OF WEBBIE

I could tell by the stride and the glide it was Webbie coming my way.  He had on a colorful Aloha shirt half unbuttonned and proudly festooned with his leftovers from the morning breakfest.  The orange piece of Lox attached to his collar was nice touch.

He gleefully bellowed out to me, "Hells bells if isn't Nels."

"Long time no see-um Webbie," I replied.  "Where have you been, it has been a long time since I saw you last."

"Nelsie baby, I keep up with your daily blabberings on Facebook.  See ya posts on AFI, although not as many as you used to do.  Just got out of rehab in Key West and decided to dry out at Holly's Flying Broom Factory (Holly Ollinger).  Bill the Cat and me tried out one of her newer brooms but I cant seem to get the girth to lift ratio right.  Keep crashing in the dang Des Moines cornfield.  The cat might have to go."

"Well buddy," I replied,"What good observations do you have about this show so far?"

"Thought you'd never ask bubba.  First off, I think it is pretty clever that the show committee was able to slide a little GPS device in all your artist packets.  They know if you are in that parking garage or hidden behind the Post Office.  They want ya all out in that field past 41."

"Hmmm.  So that's how they found me."

"Another thing Nelsie baby, you are across from one of the most 'Baby-Licious Artists on the circuit--C.L. Cunningham.  I think me and her need to find out about my "Hunk of Burning Love", whadda ya think?  Do I have a chance?"  "Webbie, C.L. is a very refined woman, you better set your sights elsewhere."

"Who else have you seen of note?"

"Well I saw photographers Larry Humphry and Patrick Whalen getting ready to have wienie roast in the "Circle of Lost Artists.  Humphry aint selling much and Patrick even less.  So they were gonna burn a few canvases and roast some marshmellows and wieners.  Kind of like a Euro-Irish Wake with the trimmings."

"Then I went down the street from you and saw the Marquette Marauders--Barely Bernstein and Patrick the Dragon. They can hurl day-old pasties at each other all day and the lovely Rona will be in the middle as the ref."

"Barely-Bernstein was down to 12 pieces, how does he expect to make any money?"

"First off it is Barry, not Barely, and he sold a bunch at the get-go at Ft. Myers show.  This is all he has left."

"Yeah, but they are pretty dark.  Cant he run those babies thru PhotoShop.  Maybe crank up the saturation and hue about 75 points.  He could call it "Photo-Raku without much Ado" it would be killer."  " I said, "I will tell Barely, I mean, Barry, that next time I see him sleeping on the curb in Ybor."

Then Webbie gave me a big grin.  "I just figured it out, all your Lakeland Photo buddies are not here this year, you got the bathrooms to yourself."  "Well, if you must know, they are down in Key West on an "Artist Working Vacation."  They will do quite well I am sure.  But it was nice of them not to hog into my show this year,"

Then Webbie really grinned.  " I gotta hand it to the Seslars, they are pulling off a righteous "Gary Slidel right now."  (Authors note.  Gary is a noted photographer who gets in the best shows in the country, wins big awards, sells mucho moola, and is married to an awesome wife--Rita--the guy has it made--when are you going to retire.  He is also known for his tireless sales techniques which result in mucho sales, so I guess this is what Webbie was alluding to.) "So",Webbie, what were they doing?"

"They were doing a Coconut Grove technique.  They had all the Europeans corralled in the rear of their double booth.  They wouldn't let them out til they forked over their Gold AMex Cards.

Patrick was writing chits like crazy and Lynn was letting them out with precious little pieces of paper.  It was awesome."  Might be lesson there for all of us.

"Also I saw that Chow-Chow girl across from you selling like crazy."  "Webbie, I think you mean Christine Reichow."  "You say Reichow, I say Chow-Chow, all I know is that girl was wrapping pieces all day long."

"Anything else you want to add, Webbie?"

"See ya Nelsie, I am off to to the Key West Show tomorrow.  I hear there is alot of  tearful discussions going on there.  Something about this incredible hunk of burning love, and crying in the streets.  I gotta see this.  See ya down the road Nelsie."  

And then he was gone.

FINAL OBSERVATIONS.

This is still a great show--but not for everybody.  People this year either did real good or barely made expenses.  There wasn't a lot of middle ground.  
They love Florida imagery big time down here, especially the birds and the flowers.  There are a lot of competing shows going on down here all the time.  You have to work harder for your dollar.

The people are rich and they want the uncommon.  Barry Witt, the director of the Bonita shows, summed it up succinctly for me in  a recent conversation. 

"He said,"Nels, these people have money and they have taste, but they don't want the same thing that 10 other people are going to buy.  Yes you want precious little things in their appropriate place, but you need the show-stoppers out there to entice them."  I think I paraphrased him pretty well with that.  If not, we will hear from him shortly, because he monitors this site regularly.

That doesn't mean that only "Florida-Style" sells here.  People with good abstracts, uncommon clay, glass and sculpture do well here.  But you have to resonate success to click with these Mid-Westerners.

All I know, is I would take two Naples shows over a handful of other Florida shows anyday.

By the way, Barely Barry and I are taking donations for money, we hope to collect enough to give an annual "Cheer-Leaders Outfit Award" at Christmas.  Either sex is eligible.  Want to contribute?  See Barely, see me.  God Forbid, don't give it to Connie, she will just use it to buy IPhone Lessons on EBay.

Whew, and Aloha, Nels.  I think I smell fish burning--gotta go.

This was discussed on one of Larry Berman's posts. I'm going to try and summarize what I gleaned out of the workshop, and what is applicable to most artists.

It was a long workshop. It started off initially with the organizers expecting 25 artists, and it grew, and quickly swelled to over 190 artists submitting work. Very much to the credit of the organizers, they agreed to address each and every artist. It started at 9:00 AM and was slow to get started, as was expected, while the judges got used to the public forum and personal critique and start picking up steam. Instead of the one hour lunch break, the judges got twenty minutes, and soldiered on with a few potty breaks tossed in until after 8:00 PM. I stayed there until about the last three or four artists were reviewed, and then the judges talked one-on-one to the few remaining artists that needed some additional help. For the artists, who weren't present, a webcast was available and IMing allowed questions and clarifications to be put to the judges.

Much of what has been preached in these forums about cleaning up the booths and consistency of work was hammered home by the judges.

Consistency of work doesn't mean all identical pieces or same subject material, but it does mean that all the pieces need to be in the same style. Two bodies of work or occasionally three bodies of work would be evident in many of the  submissions. All B&W photos of a waterfall, a couple of flowers, and a meadow are not the same body of work, even though someone might think, "They're all outdoors shots of nature, and they're all in the same style; i.e., Black and white". Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Many repeated examples of it does drive it home that the pieces need to be strongly connected and not tenuously connected by a wish. A comment was made by one of the jurors that they don't want to see examples of luck in getting some pretty pictures. Wood workers, as an example, were in for the same reasoning. One artist had a couple of outstanding tables and wood sculpture. The two different bodies of work could be enough to block them from going past the first round. They want to see a unified body of work whatever the media. One of the  painters had some plein air work that had the consistency of subject material, where water was a unifying theme, but the style of brush work was sufficiently different from piece to piece that it would be difficult to make it into the second round. There had to be consistency that linked everything together.

One of the comments I picked up was that a strongly consistent body of work  would stand a better chance of going forward than some outstanding work of higher caliber that was not consistent as a unified body of work. It may not have been spoken in that fashion, but that was the distinct impression I picked up. It has to do with the vision and direction of the artist. It's hard to understand the direction and vision of disjointed work, but the unified body of work is what will grab the understanding and appreciation of the judges in the brief moment of time they have. If they have to stop, think, and ponder what you're doing as an artist, you're done for the day as it were.

You can't slack off on the artist statement, contrary to what some of us have thought. For the photographers, you can skip the part about what printer you're using as part of the statement. I heard that quite a bit and it's irrelevant. If there is a part about materials, place it there. If anyone uses something recycled or repurposed, that seemed to register highly with the jurors. If you draw on influences from whatever movement or an artist, place that in the artist statement. Whatever you can say in the materials statement or artist statement that will make it easier for the judges to understand what you're doing and understand your vision, the better off you'll be.

The much maligned booth shot turns out to be a much more critical piece of the puzzle. It can make or break your entry at the get-go. Don't slack off on it, ot you'll be wondering why you're having to apply to so many shows just to get into a few. The issues that have been preached ad infinitum really are true. Here's the mantra I heard the entire day; Simplify and  unify.  I don't care if it seems false advertising, it's the same thing you do when you want to sell a house; stage the damn thing. If you don't get past the gatekeeper, it's all academic. Here's the big secret about staging the boothshot; it gives you an opportunity to submit more of your work and show the breadth of it. You want the jury shots in there, or you're screwed. No visible jury shots and they wonder what you're selling. No one says the jury shots have to be front and center, place them on the side (still visible) and get some more work in there on that back wall. Now you can have 4 to 6 more pieces with which to impress the jurors, and yes the work in the booth slide is visible.

An awfully high percentage of the booth shots were just not good, and more than once (actually many times), what was good competent work would have been knocked out because of an atrocious booth shot. Different work from the jury shots would seem like a no-brainer, but it happened many times and that would have been enough to be knocked out in the first round. The judge's comments were frequently, "You don't need to show or hang everything you've ever done in the booth shot".

Keep the booth simple, keep it clean, and get the frou-frou plants and tables out of there. You're not selling plants or casual tables with a guest book on it. That stuff can go back in during the show as far as I can tell, but they don't want to see it in the booth shot, and particularly as frequently the artwork was blocked by the extraneous stuff like that.

Gridded walls came in for their share of grief in the comments. Not because of what they were, but because of how they were used. Fabric artists seemed to get the worst of that, as only two or three shots of their booths made effective use of the display. Most wearable fabric booths had clothing on hangers packed in tightly, and the grid walls would obscure the work. The most impressive wearable fabric artists had their work hanging flat and straight on to the viewer, and would hang a piece of the gridwall more like a retail display. Show the work, not the grids.

Potters seem to have a problem with the work all merging into one undistinguishable mass. Arranging pedestals in descending order from the back corners forward seemed to be a good visual method of seperating them out away from each other. Jewelers seldom had display photos across the back, and those are relatively inexpensive to have printed.

A key issue in booth design was to make sure the booth had a visual rhythm to it. As the jurors pointed out, you're spemnding large anounts of time and money on your work, don't blow it with an amateurish display, Some of the booth shots had 2D work sitting on the ground, and that received a fair amount of scorn as it looked like a trunk sale or yard sale. Place the same amount of thought and art design into the booth as you do your work.

The salient points of the booth shots are to get in close, crop out the ceiling as much as possible, show all the walls as best as possible (no corner shots), light it well, no open back walls showing the landscape behind, keep it clean and neat, and minimal.

Much of what has been said about the jury shots themselves is what we've been hearing around here. Gradient backgrounds, don't use a white background, and keep all the jury shots in the same lighting style and make sure they match. Don't get too fancy wit the Photo Shop lighting effects to the point where the lighting becomes the focus of the shot.

I'll add more later on, but this gets the gist of what went on. Again my hat is off to the organizers and jurors for a job well done.

cfe_12-13_web.pdf

Gifts of Art - Call for Entries

Dear Artist,

Gifts of Art is currently accepting proposals for our September 2012 through August 2013 exhibit year.  One of the first and most comprehensive arts-in-healthcare programs nationwide, Gifts of Art brings the world of art & music to the University of Michigan Health System.

Our nine galleries display 50 exhibits a year.  They include 2-D and 3-D spaces that are viewed by approximately 10,000 people a day, or about 3.4 million people a year.  This makes our galleries some of the most widely visited indoor, non-museum exhibit spaces in the state.

Entry Requirements
Selections will be made from online submissions or submissions by mail.  Emailed JPG images or in-person submissions will NOT be considered.  Individual artists must provide a minimum of 12 professional quality images.  Group shows must provide a minimum of 24 images. Only submit images that reflect the proposed exhibit.  Successful exhibits have a cohesive focus, theme or feel.  All submissions must also include a completed Exhibit Proposal Form, a reference sheet and a resume or CV.  A biography is optional.

  
Submissions must be received by May 15, 2012. 
All forms are available on the web at: www.med.umich.edu/goa

Selection Criteria
In selecting artwork, Gifts of Art’s primary mission is to create a more comfortable and calming atmosphere within the often stressful environment of a hospital and to provide a positive distraction for our patients, visitors and staff.  We take into consideration the medical and emotional sensitivities of our viewers.

Submissions must be received by May 15, 2012. 
        Final notifications will be mailed by July 16, 2012.
      
        To receive the proposal form in hard copy, please contact Gifts of Art
        or download them from our website. 

        A PDF document of the Proposal Form is attached to this email.

 Questions?
  Call Gifts of Art at 734-936-8829, 734-936-ARTS (2787) 
  or email GOA@med.umich.edu
  www.med.umich.edu/goa

Kathi Talley

Visual Arts Coordinator, Gifts of Art

University of Michigan Health System

734.936.8829 desk

734.936.6266 pager id 30402

734.936.9431 mott workroom

734.998.2396 fax

NI-5E06, NIB

300 North Ingalls

Ann Arbor, MI  48109-5470

kmtalley@umich.edu

www.med.umich.edu/goa

Our first show of the year was February 10-12 at Springtime in the South at the convention center in Savannah, GA hosted by Carolina Shows Inc. The crowds were there - as usual for a show put on by the Hunt family.  Thankfully it was rather cold outside so folks might as well come to a fun indoor event.   It seemed to be feast or famine from what I observed.  The booths across from and next to me did not seem to fare so well.  The metal bird hangers were seen passing my booth on a regular basis.  There were lots of folks carrying purchased items.  I was really happy with sales (photography).  My matted prints (16x20  and 11x14 size) made up the majority of my sales but it did not hurt that a couple of my larger ticket items also found happy homes.  I had several repeat customers from my participation in Christmas Made in the South.  Friday sales were good.  Saturday great.  Sunday some of my be-backs came back.  I went home well in the black with a smile on my face.  And lots of inventory to print in preparation for my next show this coming weekend at Craftsmen's Classics (Gilmore Enterprises Inc) in Columbia, SC.  Which reminds me...I better get back to work! 

I have tried searching the blog posts for discussions about woodworking art at the shows and I was not able to find anything. I notice alot of artists here are photographers, painters, jewelry and numerous other categories. but no wood art.

I was wondering why I do not see more woodworkers and wood artists at shows. Most shows seem to have a huge number of all categories ...except woodwork. Are most wood artists not interested in doing  shows?

I am a wood sculptor creating jewelry boxes and furniture and have started doing shows during the last 2 years after retiring... What I have done so far in the way of shows has been well received and finiacially rewarding.

What, if anything, have you noticed about woodworkers at shows?

Thanks!

Greg

www.FineArtBoxes.com

SCOTT AMRHEIN OF WISCONSIN NAMED BEST IN SHOW WINNER AT

33^RD ANNUAL NAPLES NATIONAL ART FESTIVAL

Naples, Fla. (February 25, 2012) The Naples Art Association at The von Liebig Art Center announces Best in Show and Awards of Distinction winners for the 33^rd Annual Naples National Art Festival. The show drew more than 800 artist applications, and about 260 artists from across the United States exhibited at the 2-day festival held on February 25 and 26 in Cambier Park and along 8^thStreet South in downtown Naples. More than 15,000 people attended the show.

Judges for the show included Jane Manus and Michele Valencourt.  Originally from upstate New York, Valencourt received her Bachelor’s degree in Art, Art History, and Literature from the State University of NY at Brockport. In 1995, she became executive director for the Arts & Humanities Council of Charlotte County. She became the first Executive Director for the Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda in 2001. Through the arts center, she has led efforts to create the Fine Arts Festival, Peace River National Arts Festival, and opened a state of the art pottery studio and art technology lab.

Jane Manus is an international sculptor working in metal. She was born in New York City and received her BFA from Rollins College and the Art Institute of Boston. She had her first solo exhibition in 1976. Her sculpture is included in the public collections of the Harn Museum of Art, The Lincoln Center/List Collection, New York; The Georgia Museum of Art, the Sagamore Collection, Miami Beach; the Cornell Fine Art Museum; the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami; The Butler Institute of American Art; the Flint Institute of Art, Michigan, The Cleveland Clinic Collection, Cleveland; Vero Beach Museum of Art and multiple others.

“People have this idea that fine art has to always be very serious; I love to see humor in art,” Valencourt said. “There were some very joyful, whimsical pieces of artwork in this show.”  The judges said they were very impressed with the high quality of work at the Naples National Art Festival, as well as the balance of types of art on view. 

After carefully reviewing all show booths, the judges evaluated work based on artistic merit, craftsmanship and technical competence.  Scott Amrhein, a glass artist from Sherwood, Wisconsin, was selected to win Best in Show. Both judges independently favored Amrhein as their choice. “The best always rises to the top, and I could not get him out of my mind, even after looking at all of the other works,” Valencourt said. Manus agreed. “His work is just fantastic.”Amrhein combines natural and man-made materials to create kiln-formed glass vessels presented on copper or concrete pedestals. He uses a variety of copper and silver applications to produce color and depth in the glass.

Best in 2D was awarded to John Costin, a printmaker from Tampa, Florida. “His work was technically exquisite; a beautiful rendition of Florida birds. He has really mastered representing the anatomy of the birds,” Valencourt said.

Albert Benedict, a sculptor from Whitewater, Wisconsin received the Best in 3D Award. “I loved the originality and humor in his work. Plus it was beautifully crafted,” said Manus.

The following artists won Awards of Distinction in 2D artwork: Painter Lin Seslar of Evergreen, Colorado; Printmaker James Nemnich of Indialantic, Florida; Printmaker Michael Wommack of Langhorne, Pennsylvania; Printmaker Gillian Kemper of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Photographer Michael Bryant of Atlanta, Georgia.

The following artists received an Award of Distinction for their 3D artwork: Jeweler Lauran Sundin from Concord, New Hampshire; Jeweler Christiane Hampel of Naples, Florida; Wood Artist Marilyn Endres of Driftwood, Texas; Ceramic Artist John Herbon of Saint Ignace, Michigan; and Sculptor Nnamdi Okonkwo of Fayetteville, Georgia.

The annual art festival serves as a significant fund raiser for the Naples Art Association, a 501c3 non-profit organization. Funds raised from this event are used for children’s scholarships for the organizations summer art classes as well as for annual programming and exhibition.

Naples National is my third show in a seven show Florida tour for this Midwest artist. After disappointing sales at Artfest in Ft Myers and Coconut Grove in Miami, Naples bought just under $1200 in sales. Its like Groundhog Day (The Bill Murray movie), All three of these shows hovered around the $1200 level... not enough to pay for all the expenses these shows cost.

On the plus side, the Naples National show was like the direct opposite of the Coconut Grove show (which Barry reviewed so expertly). The park where the art fair was held was easy to find and well marked. Registration was easy and load in was well organized. Traffic monitors were working in all the areas of the show, allowing cars, trailers and vans into the show grounds only when a space was open near each artists booth. I was in the park so I had to dolly in from the street over loose ground cover of wood chips. (The chips made me wish I had an SVU for a dolly.) I was in a pleasant shaded area near the bandstand. Parking was provided in a big empty lot about three of four blocks from the art fair but the show had buses running constantly between the art fair and the parking lot for artists. Pack up and load out was equally well organized with monitors handing out vehicle passes after we had our stuff all packed up and ready to load. There was pleasant (mostly) entertainment from the bandstand, a sharp contrast to the frenetic hawking by the Verizon booth at Coconut Grove.

On the minus side, although I enjoyed the shaded location of my booth, it was part of an odd configuration. My booth (#140) was in a circle of booths inside of a bigger circle of booths. That made for confusing traffic patterns. In walking the show I noticed a lot of near random placement of booths in the park that would give fair-goers a navigational challenge to visit all the artists. The better location (although unshaded) was on the street adjacent to the park where patrons could walk up one side of the street and down the other side, and see all the artists. I'm thinking my odd location added to my low sales totals. The street was always crowded while the park had way fewer visitors.

My next show is Las Olas in Ft. Lauderdale next weekend, a show I have mixed feelings about. I'm hoping the younger crowd in Ft Lauderdale might respond to my work with better sales totals, but I dread that early morning setup. I'll spend the week before the show in Punta Gorda where the hotel bills are not so dear. This Florida trip is costing me more money than I'm making.

September 8 & 9
Chicago, Illinois
Intersection of Broadway and Belmont
Sat.: 10am-6pm; Sun.: 10am-5pm
175 max. artists

The Lakeview East Festival of the Arts is Chicago's premier fine art and fine craft festival showcasing over 175 juried artists.  Lakeview  is located on the north side of Chicago, near Wrigley Field, north  Halsted and Lincoln Park in a very diverse, culturally rich community  with unique boutique stores, cafes and restaurants.

The Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce has hosted this event for the past six years.  More than 40,000 attendees are expected to attend this year's festival.  The festival is set on Broadway Avenue just north of Belmont Avenue.

This festival has a strong marketing and media plan and hosts an annual artist reception.  Other  amenities include artists reserved parking, vendor fee permit waived,  Saturday night Artist Party, and a full breakfast served Saturday and  Sunday.

For more info: please click here

Organized by Erin Melloy of EM Events, a  well established promoter of art shows in Chicagoland.  EM Events are  held in partnership with local business organizations bring close  interaction between each community and its' local art fair and ensuring  you loyal patrons.  

For more information about EM Events please contact: 

Erin Melloy - 630-536-8416,  emelloy@emevents.com or visit www.emevents.com 

Find more shows looking for artists: www.CallsforArtists.com

Connie Mettler talks with Cindy Lerick, director of the Saint Louis Art Fair and Stephen King, director of the Des Moines Arts Festival.

What we'll be talking about:

• Their background
• Mission of their events
• What is a non-profit and where does the money go?
• How do they decide on a booth fee?
• Jury information
• How they pick jurors
• What the jurors are asked to do
• How about that booth shot?
• much more...

This will be live and we may be able to take questions. But if you have a question you would like me to ask them please comment below or email me: info@artfaircalendar.com.

At 5 pm Eastern time click on this link to listen live: http://www.artfairinsiders.com/artfairpodcasts

If you can't make this appointment the podcast will be available at that link any time.

Thanks to Katrina Gallegos from the Coconut Grove Arts Festival for sending me this list of the winners:

BEST OF THE BEST WINNERS
BEST OF THE BEST
Ray Jones

BEST BOOTH
Mark & Carol Reynolds**

BEST POSTER DESIGN
Marilyn Liedman

Here's my favorite article about The Grove, featuring an image by Beau Tudzarov: http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/shortorder/2012/02/coconut_grove_arts_festival_fo_1.php

Their website: http://new.cgaf.com/

JUPITER— The 2012 ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival presented by Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center

The winners were selected by three judges who scored each artist and awarded a Best in Show and a first-place winner in each of the 13 categories.

Judith Wood of West Palm Beach has won Best in Show with her mixed media jewelry.

• Marvin Bower of Boonsboro, Md., in Fiber – Wearable
• Jayne Demarcay of Abita Springs, La., in Jewelry
• Shelagh Forrest** of Gainesville, Fla., in Photography
• R.C. Fulwiler** of Lakeland, Fla., in Digital Art
• Peter Gerbert of Dade City, Fla., in Painting
• Barrie Harding** of Dunnellon, Fla., in Wood
• Corey Johnson of Royal Palm Beach, Fla., in Mixed Media
• Edward Loedding** of Brandon, Vt., in Drawing and Printmaking
• Don McWhorter of Carrollton, Ga., in Ceramics
• Richard Ryan of Bourbonnais, Ill., in Glass
• Alex Santamarina of San Francisco, Calif., in Metal
• Jean Yao of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., in Fiber – Nonwearable

More about ArtiGras: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/feb/21/artist-judith-wood-takes-home-best-in-show-20424/

Their website:  http://www.artigras.org/

In Altamonte Springs, FL, a new show appeared: Uptown Altamonte Art Expo

Their winners:

Best of Show:  Laurie Coppedge (Photography)

Awards of Excellence (4):
    Robert Hyde (Sculpture)
    Patrick Pierson** (Mixed Media)
    Rolly Ray Reel (Mixed Media)
    Peter Smith (Mixed Media)

Judge’s Choice (3):
    Julie Kessler and Judy Lee (Mixed Media)
    Tamra Martin (Jewelry)
    J. Brown and D. Hair (Painting)

Merit Awards (10):
    Leland Williams (Mixed Media)
    Diana Ahrens (Mixed Media)
    Michael Myers** (Mixed Media)
    Marla E. (Painting)
    Jim Sprinkle (Sculpture)
    Jeff Eckert (Printmaking/Drawing)
    Jeffrey Waller (Mixed Media)
    Julie Anstaett (Jewelry)
    Thomas Lott (Jewelry)
    Frank Castelluccio (Sculpture)

** Members of ArtFairInsiders.com - congratulations!

June 2 & 3
Deerfield, Illinois
Deerfield Festival of Fine Arts
Deerfield Road and Park Avenue
Presented by: Deerfield Fine Arts Commission & Village of Deerfield

Debbie Netter is proud to announce the 10th Anniversary of the Deerfield Fine Arts Festival.  Ms. Netter, President and founder of D & W, has 20+ years of organizing events and knows how to make it less stressful for everyone!

Held in town, busy city-like atmosphere
- Approximately 125 artists
- 10th year festival
- Median home price - $825,000

Top reasons to consider this show: (not in order of importance!)

1. Well run, organized and fun!
2. Attentive artist hospitality including booth sitters, hot and iced coffee both days, continental break fast both days, indoor restroom facilities, bottled water delivered to you frequently throughout the show, discounted hotel rates, overnight security
   
3. Booth fees for all shows remains at $300.00, and jury fee, $35.00. Larger booths and corners available for an additional fee
4. Wonderful attendance from a higher economic buying crowd
5. Advertising intrinsically placed to capture the high to middle economic crowd
6. Easy load in and out
7. Promoter who cares and will implement your suggestions
8. Apply easily on line through Entry Thingy
9. Smaller show means less artist competition
10. Juried and judged by industry professionals

What artists say about D & W Events, Inc.:

Prologue:

Up until 2005 or 2006, the Coconut Grove Arts Festival was, by far, the best show in the country.  From the minute you got there you were treated warmly, with respect. AND, the show was a dream.  Everyone sold well.  They used to bring in the supporters/sponsors on a trolly at 8 AM on Saturday morning and those people had pre-committed dollars to buy work and they used tickets to purchase the work.  They got to see the work in a slide show and they would race to the people who's work they wanted, so, they could get the best pieces.  This was great for the artists.  I always did around $2500.  And, those buyers would come back throughout the show.  One year, I had my best show ever and it wasn't even 10 AM.  The show hadn't even started. Needless to say, they got rid of that program.  Around the same time, they tripled the show fee, started charging the gate fee, and started expanding the corporate booths.

The skinny:

I called the day before the show started and I was told to arrive after 2PM, park by my space, and check in before I started unloading. I arrived around 2:15, down 27th ave where I have always entered the show and I'm told by a smarmy 20 year old bee-atch in a green security shirt, that I have to turn around, drive a half mile, make a right on a non-existant street and come back through, even though my booth was right beyond the barricade. Of course, I can't find this entrance and I finally went down Darwin Street, ironically and appropriately named and talked the cop into letting me in which brought me past the bee-atch and right to my space.  Unloading was easy because they left us alone and artists are good about leaving room, etc., except for the cars, beer trucks, and carts zooming through. Apparently, artists needed credentials to get into the site but anyone off the street could get in, no problem.  One of these days someone is going to get run over unloading their vehicle. You can double the risk on load out. It gets worse every year. Setup is stressful enough without the added tension of worrying about getting run over.

The artwork at the show was superb, even the photographers.  The credit for this belongs to Lilia Gracia.  She picks the jurors and oversees the judging.  She has held this job for a long time and does not get paid.  If fact, Lilia and the artist liaison, Katrina do a phenomenal job. They are the jewels of this show because they know the shows reputation is built on the fact that the artists are top notch.  I was proud to be in this show. If they ran this show, in total, it would be the show it once was. No other show would come close.

Every location, in this show, has it's problems.  The first thing I noticed was that the food booths and the beer concessions were closer to the artist booths.  I felt like my space was being invaded. As far as my work is concerned, beer and greasy fingers do not mix with my work.  On more than one occasion, I've had a drunk break a piece or a greasy fingerprint ruin a piece.  However, I consider myself lucky where I was in the show.  I could have been near the Verizon stage.  In the past it had been the Verizon booth, which has expanded every year since 2005-6.  Now it has morphed into the Verizon stage.  It is the most obnoxious thing I have ever experienced at an aft fair in 30 years of doing shows.  They constantly hawked their crap, playing hip-hop so loud that it rattled the work in the booths near the stage.  Of course, they get the 4 most prime booth locations.  I know one person who lost a $1200 sale because the customer couldn't take it anymore and fled the scene.  The person who decided that allowing this obviously has no regard for the artists. There is no rationale for Verizon creating this spectacle.  I'm thinking of dumping my Verizon account because of it.  I'm sure they lost more business than they gained. Other fun things included people driving around in carts continually beeping their horns for people to get out of their way and beer hawkers that would be more at home at the ballpark than at an arts festival.  I guess they needed to be employed during the two months after football season and the start of baseball season.

In spite of this sales for some people were great.  In fact, there was no middle ground.  You either grossed over 10-30K or you did less than $1500, with a number of people zeroing out.  If you had the right work you did a bang up business. I know someone who sold everything except one piece.  3-D wall pieces and jewelry did really well, from my conversations. It's really hard to tell what percentage did well.  I'd say not more than a third.  And, it changes from year to year.  I spoke to someone who had sold only one small painting this year, who did over 20K last year.  Of course, if the show wasn't trying so hard to get rid of the real buyers and replace it with beer drinking partyers, everyone would do well, like they did prior to 2006.

So, who is responsible for the conditions of this show, that has changed since 2006 from artist friendly to beer drinking partying friendly? I put the blame squarely on the current management team that coincidentally took charge in 2006.  I was told they will be there as long as they want so don't think conditions are going to change anytime soon, unless we do something about it.  Of course, that will never happen.  I was told that for anyone who wants to give up their space near the Verizon booth there are 1000 artists who would gladly take their space.  I can't argue with that one. I wouldn't give up my space and I was promised that I could say anything here and not get blackballed from the show.  The elimination of the strong sponsor program, the increased number of beer hawkers, the food booths being on top of the artists, the rudeness of the so called volunteer security, the rudeness of those people driving those carts, and last but not least the out of control aggressiveness of the Verizon booth all took place after current management team took control of the show.  

I'm sure that the CGAF association is happy with the job management is doing because they are making a lot of money.  And, I'm sure they are all patting themselves on the back deluding themselves into believing that they have the best show in the country.  The only way they can believe that is by ignoring the artists because 99% of them would echo what I have written, here.  In fact, I'm just reflecting what I heard from others.  A little thing happened the other night which I found to be so telling, from the artists perspective.  After the awards dinner, around 6 artists were going to another artists room at the Residence Inn, to have a shower party.  They were taking showers in this persons room because they were staying in their vehicles.  This is a very common thing at this show.  I'd say over half the artists doing the show sleep in their vans. Now how is it that the artists participating at the show that is supposed to be one of the best in the country have to stay in their vehicles because they can't afford a proper place to stay? If it were my show, I would be embarrassed by that fact.  Yet, if you read the coming press reports in the Miami papers will be extolling the success of the show and grossly inflating the amount of money spent of the artwork. You will never hear about the conditions of the artists that do the show.

I never give a review or make a criticism without giving solutions to the problems that I have talked about.  And certainly, it would only take minor changes to make this show the model for all shows, that it once was.  First of all, train the security staff to direct people to the proper entrances and paths to the booths and make sure they welcome us and treat us with respect.  Secondly, move the food booths and beer tents back 20 feet. Give us some room. Third, tone down the Verizon stage.  There is no reason why they can't lower the decibels and get their point across.  Make them play music that is complimentary to the artwork.  Hip-Hop? Come on!! Make the show classy again. Get rid of the schlock. Fourthly, bring back the trolley with the buyers.  Fifth, how about more wine booths instead of beer tents. Sixth, keep the vendor trucks out of our way during set up and take down.  Make it safe for us instead of dangerous and make no mistake, it is dangerous.

Epilogue:

Every corporation reflects the style of the officers that run the operation.  I think it's time for the CGAF to get back to being a sophisticated event instead of the shlock fest that you are so desperately trying to become.  Try creating an atmosphere that is commensurate with the artwork.  Lilia and Katrina are doing their part.  It's time for the rest of you who run the show to step up to the plate.  You think that the way you are doing things is maximizing your income.  I can assure you that if you went back to taking care of the artists and making this the sophisticated event it should be, that you will dwarf what you make now.  I guarantee it. 

Coconut Grove was my second Florida show after a disappointing Artfest in Fort Myers (and not getting in off the wait list for Coconut Point last weekend). So, I've been here three weeks now and have another five shows to do before I can head back to home in Saugatuck, Michigan. As I mentioned in earlier posts I've been a bit anxious about committing all those dollars to booth fees, travel expenses and hotel bills. And now, after another disappointing showing at Coconut Grove ($1200 total for three long days), I'm pretty bummed out. These Florida people just don't buy my work.

The show itself is big and busy. Lots of people. Lots going on. It was a tough show for me to do. I arrived at 4pm as instructed by the info I got from the committee. I was told that the streets would not be available for setup until that time. I found, however, that many artists arrived late morning and were already setup by the time I got there. I also had a very hard time finding the registration area. There were no signs posted and the directions in my packet were confusing. When I registered I was told that the artist's parking lot was full. Apparently I was supposed to sign up for parking ahead of time. I never received any communication from the committee about that. I finally found a public parking lot, but couldn't leave my trailer over night, so I had to drive it 20 miles to Hialeah, where my hotel was located. In my opinion, this is one of the least "artist friendly" art fairs I ever did.

On the plus side, the volunteers in my area were very helpful. Since I was doing this show alone (something I don't recommend), I made use of the booth sitters several times. Hot lunch all three days. Pretty good breakfast all three days, and an artist dinner on Sunday... some good perks. The weather was great, for the most part, with the exception of some pretty heavy winds on Sunday afternoon. Many of the artists around me had good shows, so, I guess this could be a good money-maker for some artists.

My next show is in Naples next weekend. I'm trying to maintain a positive attitude. Looking forward to a good show. I could use some healthy sales.

I’ve seen a lot of posts lately from artists with the same concerns as mine.  Extended deadlines after artists have already been rejected.  Exorbitant late application fees.  Calls for Artists issued after certain categories are full without disclosure of the categories that are open, if any sometimes.  The number of available spaces and applications per medium not fully disclosed.  Unknown jury members.  Shows trolling artist websites prior to ‘blind’ jurying.  Sneaky Buy/Sell crap.  Application and booth payment deadlines almost a year before the show date.  Advertised award amounts that are never given out.  Unfair refund policies.  Rising booth costs, rising application fees, rising expenses, dwindling returns.   Shows that are all about the spectacle of a festival not about the art.  Blacklisting artists because of their outspokenness.  And the many other dirty little secrets that prevent artists from reaching their full potential.

Many artists wring their hands and lament there is nothing that can be done about any of this, it’s always been this way, you have to learn to fight within the system, blahblahblah.  Not me.  I want to make a difference.  I PLAN to make a difference.  It is my future and I will fight for it.  If you want to make a difference also, The Corner Booth (http://www.thecornerbooth.proboards.com/) is a good place to start.  Don’t come there looking for advice on tents or weights or good photos.  Don’t come to hear Cumbaya and violins playing while a show’s selection of bagels is lauded around a website.  Come for spirited dialogue about the really important stuff I mentioned above.   Call out the shows for their behavior, good and bad, and be specific in your examples.  Strong opinions are needed, both pro and con.  Your opposition will be just as valued as your approval.  Don’t miss out on the companion site http://nationalartistsadvocacyinstitute.wordpress.com/ if you haven’t gone there yet.  Lots of amazing ideas there.

One concept formulated on TCB is if artists know more about the shows themselves, they can make more educated decisions about which shows to participate in.  TCB has undertaken its first project to gather and analyze statistical show information obtained from polling a number of prominent shows.  Much of the information requested is currently available somewhere already, either on the shows’ sites or one of the online entry systems.  But the heart of the survey, how many spots are really available and how many applications are received per medium, is what artists really need to see.  And what many shows don’t want the artists to see.  Broad Ripple and Krasl are two known shows that already share this information with their applicants.  TCB just wants to make it available for everybody, and about as many shows as possible, hopefully all of them. 

The goal of this first survey is not to pass judgment, not to organize a boycott, not to embarrass or humiliate an organization.  It’s simply an attempt to get valuable information into the hands of the artists.  Knowledge is power.  Let’s get some.  No more just blindly throwing jury fees at a show hoping they’ll stick.  To be sure, we should all have the confidence to think our art is the best and we can beat out 21 other applicants for a show’s 5 spots.  But what if there were really only two spots?  Now how about 10 spots?  Don’t you just want to KNOW what you’re up against?  More surveys are in the works.   There are just too many issues to try to address all of them in one poll. 

I’m hoping what comes out of this effort is a little more disclosure and transparency from the shows.  I don’t care if a show has 300 booths, and gives 298 of them to its preferred artists.  AS. LONG. AS. THEY. TELL. ME.  I don’t care if a deadline is extended, but I do want to know why, what categories might already be filled, and how many applications they’ve already received in my category.  I want to know who their jury members are, and what other shows share those same jurors.  I want to know they jury out and/or kick out buy/sell crap because they are knowledgeable enough to do so.  I want them to value my art, not feel so threatened by my opinion that they blackball me.  I want all of these things and more.  I want it to be about the art, not the side-show.

Thought I would lend another voice to the recent Artigras show.

Geoff Coe did an excellent review of how it is structured,run and all the things that make a show easier to do.  I agree with him on all points.

What I want to talk about is the all-important subject of sales going on there.

First, I have lot of experience with this show.  First did it when it was on RCA Victor Blvd in the late eighties.  It was smalltime then.

Then in the nineties it moved to the PGA Gardens Mall.  It really took off here. Sales were outstanding for just about all of us.  Sure, it was no Grove show, we weren't making those kind of figures.  But it sure was a great alternative if you didn't get in the Grove.

Then the McArthur Foundation sold off all of the land around the mall, which was used for all-important parking for this show--artists and patrons alike.

Hence the move to the present location at Abacoa near Jupiter.

It is a clean, new community built up from scratch.  But the demographics at Abacoa are nothing like what we saw at the Gardens Mall.

We started to see much more low end sales for just about everybody.  We also saw sales going in a more conservative, almost commercial direction.  Good luck trying to sell much of "Art from the Heart."

Which brings us to now.

This year's show was the worst Artigras I have ever seen.  In my days at RCA Victor Blvd, with less crowds, I did much better.

Most artists did not even make $2K in sales.  Your nut for this show is about $1K.  As always, there were exceptions--I'd say about ten-percent of the 280 exhibitors had a real good show (Say $4K or better)  but for the other eighty percent it was terrible.

Yes, we had big crowds on Saturday and Sunday, but most were just walking and looking.

Mondays are always a drag at this show.  If you make more than $500 you are doing really good.

All I saw for sales were lowest common denominator images and really drekky, hum-drum subject matter images go by me, most of them on canvas, most of them photos, and most of them cheaply priced.

This crowd has no taste.  All they want is drek, drek and more drek.

I don't see this changing in the near future.  I have seen my sales steadliy decline each year for the last five.  I always have lots of new images to sell, trouble is, I don't have lots of new buyers.

I know Geoff is happy with his sales, so is Steve Vaughn, but I know many others who are disgusted.  Look for a lot of old regulars to drop out next year.

BTW, on another important note, I hear the Grove, greedy little grubbers that they are, is planning on increasing the booth fee up to about a grand.  They increased exhibitors this year to almost 380.  

What this will do is drive out even more good artists with original work, who can't sell enough to top their overhead costs.  If they go to a grand, then with everything else tacked on, like parking, meals, hotels, gas, cgs--an exhibitor will have almost $2.5K tied up in breaking even.

Sorry folks, this is a bad trend, plus now lesser shows will raise their fees, the thinking being, "Well if the Grove can get a grand, why can't we get $450 where we used to get $275."

Our industry is going down the tubes fast, folks.  A business model that has rising operating costs with diminished revenues is not one to emulate.  It is surely not for the faint of heart.  It only inspires the most commercial to truck on.

Just wrapped up my fourth art show in my young career and had a great time going back to my home of the past 3 years, Miami Beach. Hotels were expensive in the area so I commuted 35 miles from Fort Lauderdale (25-30 minutes on I-95) and parked in a local garage for $15 per day. The booth & application fee of $500 was less than Coconut Grove and I assumed since I am just starting out that I wouldn't get into Coconut Grove so I only applied to St. Stephen's. Especially since I haven't gotten into some shows I thought I would be guaranteed lol

I was shocked to get in and after walking around the show on Monday, I felt more confident about my work moving forward. The show was busy but from what I heard not as busy as previous years. The facility was very nice and I had a booth in the courtyard near the side entrance of the show. The artist's around me were superb so I felt pretty good being able to learn from them and pick up a few pointers that I can use moving ahead.

Sales were strange. I made the booth fee on the first day, had $0 in sales on Sunday (was 87 and seemed like fewer people) and then left with a modest profit on Monday, so I was pleased considering I was in the hole after my first two shows and broke even with the 3rd one. Also, optimistic because my next 4 shows cost a total of $600 in fees and will provide 12 days of exposure. I'm pretty confident that I will be profitable by the end of the next two and have paid for all start-up costs associated with joining the art festival circuit.

I took a peek at the people heading to the main Coconut Grove Show and figure that I would have sold more if I were in that show vs. St. Stephen's. Next year, will apply to both and see how that goes.

Hope everyone had a profitable weekend, since it was the "biggest of 2012" thus far!