Florida is rife with spring art events, and even with all the focus on Gasparilla this weekend, believe it or not there was another event worthy of mention.
Bartow is about an hour or so east of Tampa. A sleepy little town that time forgot, there are the standard closed businesses and empty storefronts throughout the heart of downtown. The magic happens on Friday when the artists and crafters arrive and fill the streets. In addition to the seven blocks of arts and crafts, these folks also hold and antique fair at one end of town, a quilt show in the center courthouse, a flower show in the local bank, and a classic car show at the other end of the main street. There is a tent for children's activities as well as a local potter doing demonstrations. It's a family oriented event, but I was a good distance away from the children's section and didn't see much in the way of families with small kids.
What I did see were great arts and crafts. The local art guild screens very carefully, and while there may have been one or two questionable exhibitors, the quality was excellent from one end to the other. The guild supplies coffee and locally baked muffins each morning. Volunteers come around with water a couple of times a day. Boothsitters are readily available. The guild members are attentive and helpful and a delight to work with.
Prize money was generous and mostly went to 2D artists with only one jeweler receiving an award. I didn't note an AFI artists (probably all at Gasparilla), but I didn't get a chance to walk around much, either. This is an area of old cracker houses and farm houses that are being purchased on the cheap by young (well, young to me) people to "fix up." While they do have money to spend, they are very careful with their dollars. I didn't see a lot of $7.00 bags of kettle corn, but I did see bags of fine crafts and art.
Saturday was Chamber of Commerce weather, warm with a slight breeze, a bit overcast for me but fine for most others. Sales started early and continued strong all day. Sunday weather was worrisome for rain then wind but ended up another fine day with sales picking up where they left off Saturday. It was a great weekend for me. The acrylic painter (nature scenes) to one side also did well while down the street another acrylic painter hadn't sold much by Sunday noontime. The jeweler on my other side (really exquisite gemstones) was quite unhappy while across the street (more costume feel) had a smile. A fabric artist immediately across from the food court barely made expenses, and there were three booths on my street that actually packed up Saturday night and left (expecting bad weather?). Of the two hot glass artists, one was quite pleased, one didn't sell a major piece all weekend.
Maybe a niche market that happens to be my niche, this is one fantastic show!
