Thanks.
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Thanks.
Well. First off this is one of those shows you have to experience before you retire from the circuit.The neighborhood is one that everyone might dream to live in.Turn of the century brown and graystones, the center courtyard,private gardens. A beautiful setting for an urban show (all 6 of them).
The organization is so well done, it almost runs itself.The Southern politeness is wittnessed everywhere.People ask how you are, and patiently wait for a answer. Yes ma'ams and no ma'ams the the order of the day.Load in and load out takes patience, but it just plain works.
I had asked a few vets what to expect. First, they said, you will end up on the inner court.Just the way it is, gotta pay your dues. Don't expect big sales, you will see less than half the traffic the outer parts receive.Well sports fans, the sages were correct on all accounts.
People did flow thru, and sales for Friday were typical for a three day show (Always call it "Booth fee Friday"), but right off the bat it was distressing to see the difference between the crowd inside, and the ones outside. Maybe a grass is always greener thing,but really felt like a gut punch.
Saturday, things were rolling nicely, had $5K in my sites, when the sunny forecast changed to rain. Now, inside is grass on grass, outside is booths on grass with pavement.It turned cold, the rain came around 2 or 3pm and it became a ghost town.Good bye $5K.
Sunday, well hope springs eternal but the cold temps and no sun didn't help things much, and we ended up a bit less than $2500 for a three day show. One meduim sized piece, the rest all small stuff.Damn.This covers show expense, food, the room but no profit. Translates into a lost weeked from a financial perspective. So I began my reflection on what I had experienced.
I was unprepared. My work takes a specific type of buyer. I don't do art that makes you smile, I need you to think a bit.I need a bit more of an urban adventurer, folks here pretty traditional in many respects (and this is just fine by me). For me to find my audience, I need that large cross section of bodies coming thru, inside we just didn't have it, and quite possibly the demographic is all wrong for me.
The show peeps said there was no power, and had I studied the map it would have occured to me that being placed in a North/South orientation with a tree canopy on two sides meant it's gonna be dark baby, and when your work is of the same nature, it's like trying to show bats in a cave setting.My work just didn't pop, so no moths to the flame for me.
Then the epiphany of sorts. No matter where I walked (my son spells me at the booth when I become frustrated, walking burns it off for me) there were no people in booths other than the didgerredoo dudes, or the "funny art" set ups. I am of the opinion the show is so large,that folks have the mindset they are going to see it all and walk and look without stopping. Kinda like shooping for a car by driving down the street and looking at all the dealers stock at 30 MPH. I did my usual unofficial count of 50 people walking by (do this several times every day), counted packages.Less than 10% had stuff, and what they did have was small. Got a bit better by the end of the day Sunday, but not much.
I have to say, before this comes off as overly negative, I loved the town, respect the show promoters and adore the people (just wish they'd open the purse strings up a bit). Had a fine time meeting and talking to folks, Nels set me straight with dinner advice (Irish Rover's hands down the best pub I have been to, and I love pubs).I was set up across from the historical society booth, asked for some gritty points of interest, and at the end of the show the director asked me to do some interpretive photography of the area, guided tour and all. Looking forward to that.
I have to also admit, the end of the court where I was set up felt like the tail of the dog (could use another reference but this is a family show).There was a "beads for Autism" booth. Excellent cause, but art show stuff? The iced tea sponsor right across.The dude was catatonic by Sunday after 3 days of begging people to try the stuff. Next to him, Costco.Then the historical society. Guy selling photographs of KrispyKreme donuts with miniature people climbing them. Hand made kites at the end(at least I think they were hand made). Don't mind paying my dues, but man, I felt like I was at the local farmers market. Started off feeling pretty damn good with folks congradulating us on making the cut. By the end, wishing I had gone to Cottonwood instead.
Scottsdale, Arizona
Outdoors at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
200 artists
Deadline: October 12, 2010
www.zapplication.org
In a community renowned for its devotion to the arts, Scottsdale has one arts festival that rises above them all. Now one of the top-ranked arts festivals in the country, the award-winning Scottsdale Arts Festival features 200 jury-selected artists from throughout North America, top-notch live music and entertainment, fun activities for kids and families, delicious cuisine and much more.
Scottsdale's glorious spring weather complements the beautiful park-like setting of the Festival, creating a wonderful environment that attracts more than 30,000 residents and tourists.
The Scottsdale Arts Festival is produced by the nonprofit Scottsdale Cultural Council and proceeds from the event support the programs of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.
Up to 190 artists will exhibit in the 2011 Festival, including the invited 2010 award winners.
The professional staff of the Scottsdale Arts Festival provides an outstanding experience for exhibiting artists.
· A strategic marketing campaign targets local and visiting art consumers through media partnerships in print, radio, television as well as direct mail, visitor guides, concierges and social media. The average attendee is a married, college-educated professional between the ages of 30-65 with annual income of $50,000 - $150,000.
· Local hotel partners offer special discounted rates for exhibiting artists and their guests.
· Dedicated hospitality and volunteer booth sitters also are available to assist artists.
www.ScottsdaleArtsFestival.org for more information or call us at 480-874-4644.
did in July. They also have a Boulder Creek Festival a few blocks away from this site which is very
successful as well Memorial Day weekend in May.
The Fall Festival is a bit more than an arts/craft show as it includes entertainment all weekend, lots of kids activities and about 40 artists/vendors. It is juried and includes electricity with the $225 booth fee. This mall is a street turned into a walking mall with lots of restaurants, boutiques, art/crafts shops, and very special shops catering to just about anything. It is well known and well attended however, the tourists are mostly gone with fall coming on and school started. This was the third show
I did in Boulder and it was the slowest of the three. I would still do it again for a fill in since I live in
CO til that last weekend before I come back to Florida.
The promoter, Downtown Boulder, Inc. is well seasoned for this type of event and are good about
taking water around to the artists all day. They also provide scones and juice in the morning to get
you going. It is easy to set up/tear down as you can drive on the mall to get close to your booth.
The hours are long on Saturday since you can only set up Saturday AM but the show runs from 11 am to 10pm Saturday and 11am to 6pm Sunday. Parking is free on the weekends downtown and lots of
it .
Take care.
This past weekend we took our Mixed Media Framed art on a big road trip to St. Louis (about 6 hours away from us). To the Historic Shaw Neighborhood Art Fair. This is a organization that has had some big internal changes this past year. It was our first year at the show. Set up is easy. The booths are placed in the boulevard (in the grass) of the neighborhood. You can pull your car right up to your booth location. We arrived at 5:00 on Friday, with quick check in and friendly volunteers. Our neighbors, Tom and Linda were wonderful. We packed up and were out of the area very quickly on Sunday.
We had very good sales, making it the second best of the season. St. Louis has been very good to us this year and we will return again next year.
Melbourne is a friendly Atlantic coast town near the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral. This festival is part of a weekend celebration where Main St. is cordoned off so folks can grab a streetside cup of Budweiser and stroll the local shops, restaurants, and music venues, It's a nice idea, and there are lots of fun restaurants in the area, but the expanse of bank-owned empty properties is a telltale sign that the economy is tough here and getting worse: The space shuttle program has only months to live, and it can't be a good sign that the space agency laid off the legendary "voice of NASA" and cut ties with a major contractor only three days ago. The volunteers and show director are friendly, and the weather was sunny and dry, but there's no getting around the nervousness about the local economy. Crowds started very slowly both days but built steadily in the mid and late afternoon (a sign that the patrons are there as much for the other festivities as for the art).
But the sales weren't there, for the most part. Although the show's quality and mix was quite good and the show offered decent-sized category awards, most of us worked very hard for the few sales we got. I was selling notecards and 11x14 mat sizes to scrape by, until finally selling a large canvas late in the day on Sunday to keep the show from being a loser. I spoke with about a half-dozen artists and all said the same thing: better sales on Saturday than Sunday, but disappointing overall.
Finally, logistics: Load in/out was a snap; you could pull up very close to your booth location. Artist parking lots were noted on a detailed map provided in the artists' mail packet, that was only only for setup. After a futile search for an "artist parking pass" I realized that we, like the browsing/buying visitors, were on our own from then on. It wasn't hard to find free parking on a nearby street early on Saturday and Sunday morning (or to pay $5 in one of the designated lots), but the organizers should have called out this detail. It was also disconcerting (and potentially dangerous) to have folks walking through the streets (enjoying Friday-evening festival activities) while we artists were driving vans and trailers around and setting up our booths.
In sum, not the best kickoff to the Florida show season, despite the best of intentions. It's always nice to visit the area; my mom and dad lived here during World War II. and there are great wildlife photography venues nearby. But until the economy rights itself, I'll come with my cameras and leave my Trimline at home.
You are all welcome to join me at the NASGA sponsored annual sea glass festvial held in Hyannis, MA this upcoming weekend.
Here are the details:
North American Sea Glass Festival: October 9th & 10th
10am to 6pm on Saturday
10am to 5pm on Sunday
At the Cape Cod Resort and Conference Center in Hyannis, MA
$5:00 admission
over 50 sea glass artists, displays, lectures and a "Shard of the Year Award" with a first prize of $1000.00
My booth Sea Glass Jewelry by Danielle Renee' will be at booth #2. Please come by and say hello!
This is a grueling show to do. Friday hours until 10PM and then Saturday from 10 – 10 and Sunday from 10 – 5. It is worth it if the money is good. Unfortunately it wasn’t this year. There is ongoing entertainment which pulls potential buyers away from the booths. It didn’t seem much of a problem in 2009 but this year there were long stretches of time with no one in my booth and very few people walking around. Even counting the people crowding around the entertainment, the crowds seemed much smaller.
The person next to me seemed to do well with many small purchases but most people I talked to reported almost non-existent sales. I did less than half of what I did last year and just barely made expenses.
Aside from some issues regarding my booth space and layout in general the show seemed well organized. The weather was perfect, maybe just a tad warm but not the oppressive heat that Florida can deliver this time of year.
I am a little worried about my next two shows that are in the same general area.
Most likely I won’t be returning next year. I hope to be moving out of the area and this show is not worth traveling for.
40 Questions Craft Artist Blog Series – Question #33
Nothing probably irks craft artists more than after going through the jury process dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's than finding a re-seller who also made it through and sets up next to you. What do you do? Say something to the promoter? Pack up and leave? Sell that day but vow to never come back? Granted, you feel something needs to be done, just what road to take... This is why I am talking about this questions today because it is something that needs to be handled delicately. (Picture is from the "Oil Painting Village" of Dafen, China)
Question #33 How should I approach promoters when it comes to spotting re-sell at their events?
First, know the rules of the event. Every show is different and more than likely ran by different promoters/show organizers who set their own rules – some strict while others very lenient. This means read the fine print. Does the application say “homemade only art and crafts”? Or does it say “All art must be made and sold by the artist and the artist must be present during the duration of the show”? At the same time, notice what is said on the application regarding what actions the promoter will take if they spot re-sell at their event. Knowing what the promoter expects and how they intend to discipline those who break the rules is key to knowing how to proceed.
If you do see re-sell and no one is doing anything about it, when it clearly states that something will be done, here's what you should do... First, make sure what you suspect is re-sell is actually re-sell. It is almost like accusing someone of stealing – you must have some sort of proof or you could be opening yourself to much more than you might be prepared to deal with. Just imagine if someone accused you of re-sell when you are a true artist, it can easily cause quite a stir! If you have proof – say you saw them at other shows and were asked to leave for passing off re-sell – this is grounds for bringing it up to the promoter. At an opportune time, for you and the promoter, take him or her aside and talk them. Don't just attack them, but GENTLY tell them. It is better to assume they have no idea this person is a re-seller and mention that to them... “You might not know this , but I think the person in booth # ___ doesn't make their own work. I am only bringing this up as a concern, both to you as a promoter who I am “assuming” you want to maintain a great reputation for high quality of art and crafts, but it does bother me as I do play by the book and it doesn't sit well with me that this person who isn't playing by the rules is able to sell at the very same show. What you do about it, I truly understand is up to you, but in my good conscientiousness, I felt it necessary to bring it up to you.” If you bring up concerns to a promoter – whatever the concern is – in a polite, calm and concerned matter, more than likely the promoter will be respect and take action as well as thank you for bringing up the concern. Good promoters do rely on the help of others, such as good Samaritans, to be the eyes and ears for them because they can't be everywhere all the time.
Now what if you bring up a concern and the promoter could give a rats behind? This is a sure sign that despite your good intentions, this promoter just happens to be having a bad day, too busy to be concerned with a matter that seems low on the totem pole at that very moment, or is a plain and simple jerk. The best thing here is still be a better person, do what you have set out to do – sell your work to as many people as you can and at the end of the day leave and don't look back. In other words, do not go back and patronize that particular show again. It is just one of those lessons you can't learn any other way, but by experience.
What if you can't say anything at the show, what other options do you have? Fill out their questionnaires – they do read them! You can find a staff member and ask if they can get the promoter to come to your booth and talk to him/her then. One of the other options I recommend is send a business letter stating your concerns after the show. Sending a business letter might be a better option as it is a professional form of communication and you can state your concerns without being interrupted. Doing the very same thing via an email may work, but easily hastily written and can easily get deleted too. The letter must be professional in proper business letter format, proper grammar usage, and free of spelling errors. In the letter, start off by stating what you liked about the show, then follow by suggestions you have for them. The letter shouldn't be a “nasty gram” hard hitting and full of emotion right after you state “dear Mr./Mrs. ___”, but genuine and professional. The last thing you want is to come across as a prima donna and better than everyone else – you will never be taken seriously if you choose this direction. All in all at the end of the day, both the craft artist and the promoter are both human . We all make mistakes (as promoters can only judge a person's art by what they submit for jurying for example) and we all have feelings which can easily get hurt and ultimately you could be blacklisted from his/her events as well as their friends.
There are good promoters out there that are consistently getting better and better with each show. Then there are those out there who are more concerned with filling a show just for the sake of having a full show to show customers they offer many “vendors” to shop from. Sturdy bridges need to be made with both artists and promoters as we both are in the same boat – we both want to have successful shows. Sharing the knowledge craft artists have by stating when you are in an environment with like minded craft artists, everyone benefits – attendance grows when more high quality art work is offered, the quality of shoppers improves too, and more and more artists will want to apply as well – everyone wins. If no one raises their voice to promoters with regard to re-sell, then they will assume everything is fine and continue doing business as usual. Do realize you can only lead a horse to water, but with open minds and talking about your concerns with promoters will help to build better bridges and better shows... The next question will deal with how to spot re-sell at art fairs – this is great for both show coordinators and craft artists . Stay tuned! - Michelle Sholund, www.quickcraftartisttips.blogspot.com
Why does the St. James Court Art Show Exist?
- How is the show run?
- How are the artists chosen?
- Here’s how the judging process works:
- How does the show make its money?
- How is the revenue spent? --- (really important for artists to know this)
- Economic Impact on the community --- (over $10,000,000 yearly)
"When you come to the show, know every dollar you spend goes to help an artist pursue their passion and add beauty to the world. It also goes to make Old Louisville, and our region in general, a better place. Most artists at the show make their livings from touring nationally with
their art."
Read it to truly get a grasp on the economic importance of this long-running art show: www.insiderlouisville.com
Any members here going to be at St. James?
October 15-17
Rock Financial Showplace
Novi, Michigan
200 artists
Saturday - 10 am-6 pm
Artist Reception:
Saturday - 6 pm
Sunday - 11 am-5 pm
Artist Reception:
Saturday - 6 pm
Sunday - 11 am-5 pm
Due to late cancellations we now have a few spaces open for the Great Lakes Art Fair.
Do you live near? We are working to establish a good solid indoor regional
event that you can keep in your art fair schedule twice a year. Wouldn't it be great to have a nearby show that you can count on? We have excellent exhibitors for this date but need to fill out the show. No jewelry and glass - other categories are open.
The advertising is rolling out and includes a WXYZ-TV Ch 7 TV sponsorship, Magic 105.1 radio sponsorship, numerous newspaper ads and stories across the region, plus a very cool social networking campaign to bring in new buyers for fun with their friends.
Midwest area art stars will be there (Tom Hale, Sonny Dalton, Cynthia Mann, Linda Chamberlain, Joe Cyberski, Robert Bridenbaugh, Shawn Messenger). Why not you?
Help us build a fine event that can extend your art fair season.
Booth fee: $400, includes electricity, 12 x 10 space with five feet behind; drive up to unload and load.
While it is fresh in your mind contact: Kristina Jones, Events and Marketing, Rock Financial Showplace -- 248-348-5600 ext. 236 or email info@greatlakesartfair.com
Do you live near? We are working to establish a good solid indoor regional
event that you can keep in your art fair schedule twice a year. Wouldn't it be great to have a nearby show that you can count on? We have excellent exhibitors for this date but need to fill out the show. No jewelry and glass - other categories are open.
The advertising is rolling out and includes a WXYZ-TV Ch 7 TV sponsorship, Magic 105.1 radio sponsorship, numerous newspaper ads and stories across the region, plus a very cool social networking campaign to bring in new buyers for fun with their friends.
Midwest area art stars will be there (Tom Hale, Sonny Dalton, Cynthia Mann, Linda Chamberlain, Joe Cyberski, Robert Bridenbaugh, Shawn Messenger). Why not you?
Help us build a fine event that can extend your art fair season.
Booth fee: $400, includes electricity, 12 x 10 space with five feet behind; drive up to unload and load.
While it is fresh in your mind contact: Kristina Jones, Events and Marketing, Rock Financial Showplace -- 248-348-5600 ext. 236 or email info@greatlakesartfair.com
Special for Fall:
- Art fairs are always looking for ways to enhance the event both for artists and the attending public. This Fall the show will open on Friday at 12 pm and close at 8 pm. We will be returning with the hugely successful Friday Ladies Night Out promotion that drew over 2000 women to line up for entry on Friday! It also allows for some Friday setup for artists.
- Robust marketing campaign planned with media partners
Location:
| hauling home the goods! |
The Rock Financial Showplace is located in Novi, Michigan, situated in Western Oakland County, one of the nation's most affluent areas. Although 2009 marked the first year for the spring and fall Great Lakes Art Fairs, the Rock Financial Showplace is familiar to patrons as a premier indoor venue for specialty events.
Attendance:
Over the past decade the Rock Financial Showplace has been host to premier indoor art fairs each year during the months of April and October. Attendance figures from these fairs have averaged in the tens of thousands.
| Fiber artist Sharon Snoeyink |
- custom Great Lakes Art Fair discount coupons
- e-mail blast content
- free tickets, postcards and other collateral materials to distribute to their patrons
- drive up to your booth to unload and load
- artist hospitality area and reception
- artist gallery
Call Kristina Jones today for the rest of the story: 248-348-5600 ext. 236
Sept. 26-27,2010
Hamilton, OH
Booth Fee: $100.00
Jury Fee: $25.00
I loved the location of this show, the artists weren't cramped, we had tree lined "streets"- (they were golf cart streets). Plenty of trees and permenant sculptures behind and around the exhibitor spaces which made for a beautiful setting. Parking was close and people were there to shop. Set up was completely painless since there was room to bring your car right up to your space and get back out on Friday all day so noone was there all at the same time.
My sales were close to the 10x's the booth fee, so that rule of thumb worked for me. Sales were about the same on Sunday as Saturday so don't panic if Saturday doesn't do as well as you think it should. Another jewelry artists did better on Sunday than Saturday. If you do metal sculpture, you will do well at this show! People were walking all over the place with those things. (they were cool!) The photographer next to me did well and I think she would consider coming back, forgot to ask her. The water colorist on my other side did great work but didn't seem too happy with his sales. His stuff was great so that was unfortunate. I think the biggest thing with shows in this climate is to make sure you have a lot of options for people to look at. If they feel you don't have a big enough selection, they will go to the next booth. I found that demonstations work fantastic at shows, especially for a jeweler. Men don't always like to get stuck in our booths, especially if the show is heavy on jewlery (which is most of them), but guys like to see how things are made and will stop to look at least for a minute which is a minute more than you would have gotten. I'll be back to this show next year.
We had until 5 PM, when the show opened to the public. The public were there more like 4 PM and we were told to expect early birds. The weather was perfect on Friday, and the crowds were there all night.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the buying energy I experienced through the whole weekend. Many people had seen my work at Brookside in the Spring, and sought me out here. It seems to me that Kansas City folk use these two shows to shop for fine art. I wonder if the gallery scene is lacking, and these shows fill that void? I could be wrong about that, not really knowing the city.
Saturday started sunny, but with a warning of rain. This came around 2PM and stuck around until early evening. While Friday night was crazy busy with wall to wall people, Saturday was not dead. The rain kept some away, but there were serious buyers out in the rain. Works on paper are not good in the wet, but I sold 4 drawings (wrapped carefully) which I have not done in the rain before.
Sunday was beautiful again, and while most the big decisions were already made on my work, I noticed a lot of activity in the booths with smaller 3-D items. I saw quite a lot of artwork being carried around.
Breakdown was really easy, what with the wide streets. There was no system for being completely broken down before retrieving your vehicle, 'though artists did it this way. It seemed to flow well in my area.
I talked to my neighbors, who said they had an okay show, so my experience may not be typical. But while not my best show, it was my best "Original only" show. Price sensitivity seemed low as well, unlike every show I have done on the East Coast.
Look what past participants are saying!
"The seminar gets an A+. The mock jury (alone) was worth the fee."--Mike Brown
"This was the most valuable time I have spent in the development of my business. As a new artist, I appreciate the resources you provide."--Judith Foster, Jeweler
"Thanks to all I learned at Boot Camp, I now have a 'killer' set of jury slides!"--Donald R. Boudreau, 3D-wood
"This was the most valuable time I have spent in the development of my business. As a new artist, I appreciate the resources you provide."--Judith Foster, Jeweler
"Thanks to all I learned at Boot Camp, I now have a 'killer' set of jury slides!"--Donald R. Boudreau, 3D-wood
Now for the real stuff-my dear artist friends, what do you want? Sales! What do you want your customers to do? Buy! Do they have to buy? NO. Do they want to buy? Maybe. It's clearly a buyer's market now. Not a seller's market. Does this community have the means to buy? Maybe if they are not overextended. Will some of them buy? If you have want they want/need for themselves or their family/friends.
I saw paintings, sculpture, small bags, just about any size of purchase go down the street. Qualified customers, just not as many as needed for most of us. Was weather a determinant? You betcha. Undoubtably when there are bitter winds blowing down the street and it's chilly out people contract. Can't control the weather. Along with musicians who often continue performing in the rain, this is our platform: the outdoors. That puts us in a problematic state that you either have to accept, dodging raindrops as you go through the show season, or realistically make the decision to get out. Of course grumbling is what most of us do!
Have you noticed how sales associates are relating to their customers lately? I have noticed that they are super friendly lately, seemingly really interested in 'me.' This is the paradigm for selling now in the recession environment. It's all about them and their family/friends and their wants/needs, not about us. If you haven't grasped this and continue think your art is going to sell itself, you will be disappointed. Adopting a persona of genuine interest in your customers, engaging them in a non-threatening way, keeping patient, knowing your market and whether the public will have an interest in your work along with having fresh new work is a start in this new business climate.
Everything has changed. Have you changed to adapt to it? Learning what to do is the challenge. The POTENTIAL is still there. Fortunately people love ART! It lifts their spirits, gets their imagination going, and gives them, actually does give them a reason to spend money over and above spending money in other venues. Realizing that one basic fact, if you love what you do, gives you a lot of mileage on going forward. Yes, people are cutting back. So give them a reason to spend. Be passionate about what you do. Keep positive even if sometimes it's impossible. Search for solutions as they are always there. Continue to have fun and enjoy your art, your work, your expression. This could be the Golden Age of Art as we are transitioning to a new era of global awareness and communication!
