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Attend an Open Jury in Columbus, Ohio

Posted by Connie Mettler on January 13, 2010 at 4:32pm

Every time we get a rejection from an art fair we are puzzled. What went wrong? Here is an excellent opportunity to get some good insight into what is happening. Larry Berman is always telling you to do this and I absolutely concur. You will be amazed at what you learn, maybe just some tweak to your images, but most importantly you will see the competition in your category. If you live within a two hour drive of Columbus, you should be there. Here are the details: COLUMBUS ARTS FESTIVAL TO HOLD PUBLIC JURY PROCESS

TO SELECT 2010 VISUAL ARTISTS COLUMBUS, Ohio – A jury panel for the Columbus Arts Festival presented by Time Warner Cable will choose the 2010 event artists at a two-day public meeting Feb. 6-7 at the City of Upper Arlington Municipal Building, 3600 Tremont Rd. Panelists will review the hundreds of artist applications from across the country to determine the approximately 230 who will be invited to participate in this year’s event, produced by the Greater Columbus Arts Council. The jury will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sat., Feb. 6 and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sun., Feb. 7. To attend all or part of the jury, please RSVP to Amanda Teague, Columbus Arts Festival Coordinator, at 614-224-2606 or ateague@gcac.org. Each year, artists who wish to be considered for the Festival apply through ZAPPlication™, an online application tool, by submitting four digital images of their work and one image of their booth display. A jury panel, selected by the GCAC staff, conducts a blind jury process, where jurors review the artists’ images and technical statements without knowing the artists’ names or hometown. The top scores, allowing for a balanced show across mediums, are invited to participate in the Festival. The jurors for the 2010 Columbus Arts Festival are: - Dr. Annegreth Nill, an art historian and independent curator - Kelly Malec-Kosak, a jewelry/mixed media artist and faculty member of the Columbus College of Art & Design - Matt Reber, manager and buyer for the Wexner Center for the Arts - Eva Kwong, a ceramic and printmaking artist and adjunct faculty member of Kent State University - Tony Cray, a glass artist from St. Louis, Mo. Artists will be chosen in the following categories: Metal; Digital Art; 2D Mixed Media; 3D Mixed Media; Jewelry; Printmaking & Graphics; Photography; Fiber; Drawing & Pastels; Clay; Glass; Sculpture; Painting; Leather; and Wood.

A Walk Through History - the Roots of the Craft Show Business

Posted by Connie Mettler on January 13, 2010 at 4:07pm

My friend, Richard Rothbard, recently came on this article and forwarded it to me. It is a thorough interview with Carol Sedestrom Ross, founder of the American Craft Council, who started the first wholesale craft market in the U.S. in 1973 at the fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, NY. Some of you will remember the excitement of those times, but if you don't this is an excellent look back at how art fairs and craft shows came to be. Just in case you don't read all the way, here is an important quote: Carol's idea, "If I could just figure out how to start some craft markets we could have beautiful things made in our own country. Probably 90% of the 500 people who showed in that first fair I organised at Rhinebeck in the early 1970's had some other job. When I left Rhinebeck ten years later probably 90% of the exhibitors were making their living from selling their craft." Interview with Carol Sedestrom Ross June l998, Copyright © 2003-2004 Craft Australia In June,1998 Craft Australia co-ordinated the visit to Australia of Carol Sedestrom Ross from the USA. Ross is the founder of American Craft Enterprises, the commercial arm of the American Craft Council which brought contemporary crafts into the mainstream of American merchandising. This article documents an interview conductedwith Ross by freelance writer Jo Litson, with Beth Hatton in attendance. Jo Litson: It seems that since you first became involved there has been quite a radical shift in the way that craft is perceived in America and the way that it is being marketed. Carol Sedestrom Ross: I actually started my career as a potter and, in the 1960s, I was married to a man who was teaching ceramics at the State University of New York. For years he graduated talented young people who went on to get teaching jobs in other universities because at that time craft education was just burgeoning. Suddenly in the mid-60's there were no more jobs and yet all these young people were still coming through the schools. At the same time in America everything that was beautiful, well-made and unique was imported even though we had so much local talent. If I could just figure out how to start some craft markets we could have beautiful things made in our own country. Probably 90% of the 500 people who showed in that first fair I organised at Rhinebeck in the early 1970's had some other job. When I left Rhinebeck ten years later probably 90% of the exhibitors were making their living from selling their craft. So it turned around very quickly. Craft marketing in the US seems to have gone through three major stages. The first big interest on the part of the public was totally nostalgic - they couldn't believe that people they knew were actually making things. In 1973 we did an exhibition at Rhinebeck called Living With Crafts. We installed a range of crafts in a house on the fairgrounds used to demonstrate electricity, and held the display over for the Duchess County Fair. Jo Litson: Which is like our Easter Show in Australia? Carol Sedestrom Ross: Yes. I was sitting in the entrance to the house, at a Wendell Castle desk, and people would say to me: "Everything here is imported from Scandinavia". I would say: "No, it was all made in the 13 Northeast States" and they simply couldn't believe it. So that was the first stage of marketing crafts in the USA. I used to call it the thumbprint era, you could sell anything that had a thumbprint on it, people were thrilled with homemade things, lumpy and bumpy and not quite perfect. That period went away and during the 80's we had crafts turning into luxury goods. Jo Litson: Greed is good. Carol Sedestrom Ross: With this burst of economic wellbeing in America, buying unique craft objects seemed a wonderful way for people to speak about their individuality. They could own something special that other people didn't have. Being populist rather than elitist, I found part of that movement unfortunate, there was so much money available that craftspeople started to make "collector pieces" selling for $5000, $6000, $8000, whatever. There was a lack of grounding in that era. Instead of well conceived design with a basis in function there was a drifting off into this other kind of craft. Then of course the 80's crashed and burned and this huge group of people, who had been fairly used to producing 10 to 15 big pieces a year and selling them for large amounts of money, suddenly didn't know what to do. Many started to develop a less expensive, bread-and-butter line of production work. Everybody was concerned that this was the end of the crafts but actually I consider it the true blossoming of craft in the US because people are now having to be very accountable to their audience. They are having to stretch their creativity to produce a craft that fits into what is going on rather than necessarily a personal statement. They are having to be clever about how to make it work. We now have so many mass merchandise stores in America - Gap, Banana Republic, Crate Barrel, Pottery Barn. You can go into the central business district in any city and find exactly the same goods for sale. Most Americans cannot afford to furnish their entire lives with handmade things so what they do, for example, is buy inexpensive dinnerware and supplement it with special handmade pieces - salad bowls, coffee servers, those kinds of things. Mass merchandising has created a huge appetite for craft in the US. The only way that small stores can make themselves different to the chain stores is through craft. So galleries, gift shops, even big stores like Nieman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue are looking for those special items which no competitor has. This is what has brought craft from being marketed separately through its own circle of craft fairs. We now have almost 1200 craftspeople in our gift shows across the country. I don't know whether the same thing will happen in Australia. When I first started going to England about ten years ago the craftspeople there wouldn't hear of the idea of making your living producing craft. We now have about 80 British craftspeople coming to our San Francisco and New York gift shows and most of them are making their living from selling their crafts. So it may be possible in Australia too. Most of it has to do with what is going on in society generally as opposed to what is happening in crafts. Jo Litson: I am assuming that many practitioners don't want to get locked into too many production lines but then if you are really successful and there is a demand for your work there must be a compromise possible. Carol Sedestrom Ross: I had this conversation with a young man a few years ago. He was upset because a famous glass collector in the US wouldn't buy his one-of-a-kind pieces because he also did a mass produced line of wonderful goblets etc. So I said: "Let's have a look at this. Would you rather sell one piece to a collector who will put it in a closet or on a shelf in his apartment and show it to his friends so that maybe 30, 50 or 100 people will see it? Or would you rather make beautiful, useful objects which many people can buy, and in that way bring beauty into their lives?" It is quite a different perspective. Jo Litson: So the collector wasn't interested in somebody who was also producing. I suppose that is one of the difficulties for the crafts practitioners? Carol Sedestrom Ross: It is very hard to figure out. I am talking about craft marketing only. There is a whole other aspect of art/craft made by people who probably do something else, teach or whatever, and who produce and sell fewer pieces. There is quite a separation between the two. Some craftspeople were accused of selling out because they were producing multiples, of losing their way, of not being artists any more. It all boils down to how you define creativity. I think that if you are creative enough to make things that bring beauty into other people's lives, people who don't have thousands of dollars to spend, that is a wonderful achievement. Jo Litson: Craft is sort of halfway between mass produced and one-off work. Carol Sedestrom Ross: Maybe that movement is particularly American because we have such a huge population at mid-income level that supports it. Jo Litson: What have you come to Australia to do, will you be talking to craftspeople and craft organisations? Beth Hatton: Carol will be talking mainly to craft practitioners. Her tour is aimed particularly at advising people who are thinking about taking work to America because Craft Australia has been participating in the San Francisco Gift Fair ever since 1995. Carol will be giving craftspeople an idea of what they should be doing to develop their product for the American market. Jo Litson: Is it specifically for America or are her talks about developing their products for the Australian market as well? Carol Sedestrom Ross: I think both because I am going to be speaking a lot about how to present yourself with printed material or in a booth, and that can be anywhere craft is marketed. I am also going to talk about current trends. Since I first got involved in this I have become interested in how major sociological trends have driven the crafts. It was the Industrial Revolution that truly started the early Arts and Crafts Movement in Europe and the US. Was there a similar movement in Australia? Beth Hatton: Yes, English practitioners and teachers came to this country and influenced the arts and crafts in late 19th century. Carol Sedestrom Ross: The Arts and Crafts Movement eventually died in the US, I think because the public was not particularly interested in handmade things. It was the first time in history that you could buy mass produced things and use them and throw them away and get more of them. I think that artists are always the first to respond to social change so it doesn't surprise me that Charles Rennie Macintosh and William Morris and other artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement were the ones saying:" Wait, wait, we can make these things, too". But nobody was paying any attention to them, we do now but not then. That was a "pushed movement" then, in marketing terms, the artists were trying to push their ideas onto other people. What is happening now is what is called a "pulled" movement because the public is very tired of mass produced things and prefers handmade so it is pulling the movement forward. There is now a huge appetite for craft in the US. I heard a lecture last Friday by John Naisbit who wroteMegatrends. He is most famous for his "high tech, high touch" concept, that is, the more technology we have in our lives the more things we need to touch to remind ourselves that we are human. It was the industrial revolution which started the craft movement and now it is the technological revolution 100 years later that is really pulling it forward. Jo Litson: The more time people spend with their computers the more they need the other side. Carol Sedestrom Ross: In the craft movement we forget to look at what is going on in the rest of society. The crafts are part of these huge sociological trends that cause things to happen. I feel that I wandered into marketing at the right time. When I started the Rhinebeck fair, which was the first big craft marketing initiative in the US, I'd say to people: "I must be doing the right thing because it is just so easy." I seemed to know intuitively what was ready to happen, so it just grew and grew. Rhinebeck was held outside on a fairground in the summer time. It seemed to me if we were ever going ensure crafts as a profession we had to do a winter fair. If buyers were going to be confident that they had craft as a resource they had to be able to buy it at least twice a year. So in 1977 I started a show in Baltimore, Maryland for which I was able to find 275 exhibitors. It was the first time in the US that crafts had been marketed in the winter in the city in a trade hall. I was lucky because Joan Mondale (the Vice President's wife) had promised that if her husband's party were elected she would start a campaign for America's craftspeople. So after the inauguration I asked her to open the fair in Maryland for us. That really started it and Baltimore is still the premier event for craft in the country. Jo Litson: In Australia our major art galleries don't show much craft. We do have craft organisations such as the Centre for Contemporary Craft which is going into Customs House. That is going to be really major, it is right down on the Quay where all the tourists go and there will be a whole floor of craft, but generally we don't see much craft and what we see doesn't necessarily register with us as craft. So do you think craft fairs are crucial for practitioners to be able to show their wares? Carol Sedestrom Ross: Well, they were in the US. For example, Rhinebeck is only 90 miles from New York City, a lovely little Victorian village that people love to visit - location, location, location. Then, because we had two wholesale days and three public days, I was able to spin the public relations. I released to New York papers and magazines the fact that Nieman Marcus was coming all the way from Dallas and Marshall Fields was coming from Chicago as well as Bloomingdales and Bergdorfs and all the big stores. When these names went into the local papers then the general public wanted to go and see why the big important stores were going. Then I turned it round the other way and released to all the trade publications and big store magazines the fact that we had 54,000 people coming to see these beautiful crafts. So that was how I was able to get the spin going. We had over 500 craftspeople in the fair so it was well worth making a trip to see - it would have been hard to get the steam engine rolling unless I had this kind of focus. So that is why fairs are important. They have come to be part of the fabric of American life. I now read novels which refer to going to Rhinebeck or to "that wonderful fair at the Baltimore Convention Centre" and I think wow, I started all that! Beth Hatton: You're part of history. Carol Sedestrom Ross: Talking about a downtown area which is showing crafts, when I was a child my father used to travel a lot. Whenever he came home with Marshall Fields bags I knew that he had been in Chicago and when he came home with Bloomingdales bags he had been in New York. You can't do that any more with either domestic or international travel. So it is important that there is some place in Australia where you can buy Australian crafts. In San Francisco I go to small galleries to find things that were made or bought in San Francisco. Tourism and the interest in tradition and heritage are feeding the demand for crafts. Beth Hatton: The desire for the local product, something that is identifiably from the country. Jo Litson: Have you seen much of Australian crafts, to have any sense of them? Carol Sedestrom Ross: I haven't seen much yet, only what has been sent to the [San Francisco] Fair in the past three years, which is different enough to be interesting to American galleries. Tom Peters wrote in The Search of Excellence that companies originally competed on price, then they competed on quality and next, in the wave that is coming now, competition will be based on design. So what is happening in the US right now is that a lot of companies are hiring craftspeople to design for them. I have a friend in San Francisco (Susan Eslick) who is designing for six companies. Not only is she a ceramist but she can also do painted designs which is not a combination you often find in craftspeople. Susan was in our show SURTEX (Surface Textile) which we started 12 years ago for people to sell designs. They bring portfolios of designs for sheets, towels, record covers, greeting cards, wrapping paper, whatever. That show stayed at about 120 exhibitors for almost nine years but it has now burst forth to almost double in size. That says to me that the exhibitors must be selling their designs. The Olympics will have a major impact on Australian crafts. The State of North Carolina did an economic impact study a few years ago and found that in 22 counties of a mountainous area, the crafts contributed 122 million dollars annually to the State economy. So they decided to do something with that. They published Heritage Trails which was distributed through all the tourist areas, listing various little villages where there were people carving corncob pipes or making ceramics. After the first year those small craft businesses had increased anywhere from 15% to 46% in terms of dollars coming in. Tourists love to see how people live and make things in small villages - it is part of this current wave of nostalgia - we don't know what is out there in the future so let's go back in time. That is why there is a retro theme going on now. All these megatrends are driving craft. If it hasn't started to happen here yet it probably will. Customs House could be the beginning of a focus. Jo Litson: So when is the San Francisco Gift Fair? Carol Sedestrom Ross: It is held twice a year and the next one is in August. Beth Hatton: Craft Australia is taking 12 people over this year, we have been going for the last three years taking a range of crafts. Carol Sedestrom Ross: It is an international gift fair. We have 18 British craftspeople coming as well as handicrafts brought by various Asian governments which makes for a nice mix. Beth Hatton: People are now designing items on computer which can then by produced by the computer. British writer Peter Dormer spoke about this at a Craft Australia conference a few years ago. He saw computer aided production as a great threat to craftspeople making things by hand in their studios. Eventually it could do craftspeople out of a living. What do you think? Carol Sedestrom Ross: The computer is coming to life within the crafts in a number of ways. For example, some weavers are using it in their designing. A number of crafspeople in the US have their own web sites, so they can photograph a piece, put it on the computer and phone a collector interested in their work. Beth Hatton: So they are using it as a marketing tool. Carol Sedestrom Ross: Yes. There are people who are hoping to create sales directly on the computer in this way. Many people are marketing through television home shopping networks and QVC or whatever. A woman who makes collapsible baskets did a demonstration on QVC of how they were made. She then sold something like 35,000 in an hour. So there are different ways in which the computer is being used. I am not at all pessimistic about craft until there is a global disaster and nobody goes shopping any more. Craft in the US is no longer an alternative, it is very much part of the mainstream. Crafts have become the darling of the gift industry in the US. On the opening morning in our gift show the craft section is always the most crowded. Buyers know that they are dealing with limited edition, small quantity merchandise and if they don't place their orders early they could miss out. There is a sort of mystique around craft, you can't order 400 dozen in two weeks, you have to get there first to get what you want. So in 20 years we have come from way outside the lines of society to being right in the middle of things. Beth Hatton: So you don't envisage companies buying up images out of copyright such as Monet and printing them on everything for sale? That is what craftspeople will be competing with. Carol Sedestrom Ross: I know. But a lot of craftspeople are selling their own designs to these companies, it is another source of income for them. Truly creative people won't have to worry about that sort of production. Jo Litson: It won't be special any more if it is copied. Carol Sedestrom Ross: When I go to the mass merchandise stores I recognise ideas from craftspeople I know. But they are never the same - they don't have that same attention to detail, they are watered-down versions and the stores only do a big thing on them for six months. Some craftspeople say they don't want to be in a gift show because somebody will steal their ideas and I say: "If you want to keep your idea you have to put everything you make in the basement. Once you get it out into the world it's fair game". Anyway there aren't many really new ideas around any more, it is just the way that you interpret them that is original. Beth Hatton: Keith Richards says something like that, too. He doesn't claim personal ownership of his ideas, he thinks that there is a great pool of ideas in the universe and he just puts up his antennae and picks them up for his songs.

Art Fair Insiders News - 1/11/10

Posted by Connie Mettler on January 11, 2010 at 12:36pm

Warm greetings for the new year (especially to those who spent this weekend in Florida outdoors at Cape Coral, BocaFest and Beaux Arts freezing their little tushies off). I'm back from Los Angeles and ready to work with you in making 2010 the turnaround year for this art fair business. Are you with me? Last year at this time there were around 150 members of this site. As of today we are past 1800. (Thank you for joining!) I've been working with my 'braintrust' to come up with strategies to maximize the usefulness of this membership for everyone's good. Among us we must have a bezillion years of experience to offer one another and I need your help to make the site even better. Here's the plan: 1. Greeters. As people join I need some official "greeters" to welcome them. Some of you have clearly taken on that role already and I was just going to ask you directly, but maybe there are some others who also would be interested. Here is what you would do: when someone posts in the "Welcome" section of the discussion area you would greet them and encourage their participation. Everyone who does this would be entered in a drawing to win prizes, books, ebooks, consulting and other ideas I'm working on. 2. Featured Member. There will be a monthly featured member to reward those who have been instrumental in the continued growth of the site. All members vote by submitting one name each month via email. There will be three winners each month. The winners will be featured at the top of the Members page, and on a special Featured Members Awards page (being created soon). More details coming on this. Would you also like to be featured artist of the month on ArtFairCalendar.com? 3. Contests: There have been some terrific blog postings, insightful comments, show reviews and helpful discussions posted. We will be featuring them and awarding Ning gifts each week for the following categories: --Best blog of the week --Best show review --Best comment on a blog posting --Best new discussion --Best contribution to a discussion (did you see Linnea Lahlum's contribution to the "latest rejection" discussion?) No one is eligible to win anything unless they have a smiling photo of themselves posted in their personal profile. This is a social network and we need to see who we are talking to! Please get images uploaded. What else is new? As anyone online knows SEO (search engine optimization) is an important way to increase business opportunities on the Web. Recently I started two new Facebook fan pages, one for ArtFairInsiders.com and another one for ArtFairCalendar.com. I'd really appreciate it is you would go to those pages and click on "Become a Fan". Free to you and very helpful to me in keeping these sites alive and well and bringing you the news from Art Fair World. These two pages will enable us all to put the force of Facebook behind us, bringing new faces to our pages and new fans to the our art fairs. Please help me help you in this endeavor. Did I say Happy New Year? Very best wishes, Connie Mettler

Press release from the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair

Posted by Connie Mettler on January 11, 2010 at 12:30pm

Ann Arbor Street Art Fair names Maureen Riley as Executive Director

January 11, 2010 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Board of Directors of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair is pleased to announce the appointment of Maureen Riley to the position of Executive Director. Ms. Riley was selected following an extensive national search process. “Mo Riley is the ideal person to lead the Street Art Fair into the future,” said Royce Disbrow, Chair of the Fair’s Board of Directors, “she possesses a true passion for the arts as well as many years of experience producing arts festivals.” Previously Riley was Special Events Director for the University Cultural Center Association, which produced the Detroit Festival of the Arts and Noel Night in Midtown Detroit. A Wisconsin native and graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Riley moved to Michigan in 1994 to work as an Event Manager for Palace Sports and Entertainment. Ms. Riley and her husband, Gerald Bernhardt, are relocating to Ann Arbor from Rochester, Michigan. For the past fifty years the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Original, has embraced the mission of increasing public knowledge and appreciation for contemporary fine arts and fine crafts by creating opportunities that connect artists, the Ann Arbor community and the general public; culminating in a high quality juried street art fair. Continually ranked as one of the top art fairs in the country, the 2010 fair will take place Wednesday thru Saturday, July 21 thru 24, 2010 and runs in conjunction with the State Street Area Art Fair, The Guild Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, and Ann Arbor’s South University Art Fair. The Street Art Fair is located on North University and the area surrounding Burton Carillon Tower. The sixth annual Townie Street Party, which kicks off Art Fair week in Ann Arbor, will be held on Monday, July 19. See you at the Tower!

How cold can Florida be?

Posted by Connie Mettler on January 10, 2010 at 4:17pm

OMG -- I hope you are not doing an art fair in Florida this weekend! Here are two reports on the January 9 and 10 Cape Coral Art Festival: Visitors come out for fair despite weather Cape Coral Draws about 10,000 Does anyone have a report on Beaux Arts in Coral Gables? How about Dunedin or Boca Fest? How about some tips on how to stay warm outside when the weather has other ideas?

Call for Artists: Novi, Michigan

Posted by Connie Mettler on January 9, 2010 at 9:00am

April 23-25 Rock Financial Showplace Novi, Michigan 150 artists Deadline: January 15 Happy customers departing the Great Lakes Art Fair Friday, April 23, 3 pm - 9 pm; Saturday, April 24, 10 am - 6 pm. Artist Reception - Saturday, April 24, 6 pm; Sunday, April 25, 10 am - 5 pm Please join us for the Great Lakes Art Fair. The GLAF delivers an exceptional event experience for artists and their patron. A unique fusion of lush landscapes, tempting food, and an optimal indoor venue create spring and fall events that are rapidly becoming established as the Midwest's premiere indoor art fair! New for Spring: * Art fairs are always looking for ways to enhance the event both for artists and the attending public. This Spring the show will open on Friday at 3 pm and close at 9 pm. Our marketing will target these late afternoon and evening hours as a special destination for people to plan their evening around attending. It will be billed as a "ladies night out" with half price admission. This has been a very successful promotion at other events. It also allows for Friday setup for artists. * new marketing campaign planned with media partners Please visit our website www.GreatLakesArtFair.com for images of past events and list of past participants. The juried component of the fair will feature 150 local, regional, and national artists. Expect an elegant entrance gallery showcasing your art, delectable cuisine, relaxing entertainment, community partnerships and other fresh components, which create a wonderful regional marketplace for artists and their patrons! Our goal is to offer fine artists and their patrons an expansive marketplace that brings fresh energy to the regional artistic community.

This event has dedicated clients -- a determined customer at the GLAF arriving by medical transport! Location: 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 first year for the spring and fall Great Lakes Art Fairs, the Rock Financial Showplace has become familiar to patrons as a premier indoor venue for specialty arts over the past ten years. 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. Advertising & Promotions: The Great Lakes Art Fair believes effective promotion is as crucial to overall success as the selection of artists. Our mission is to deliver a high quality experience for patrons and artists that will assure qualified buyers, return visits and exponential event growth. The superior local media and marketing relationships enjoyed by the Rock Financial Showplace contribute enormously to the overall success of the Great Lakes Art Fair.

A multi-level marketing and publicity campaign to promote the GLAF throughout the region, including media partnerships in print, radio, television, direct mail and outdoor. There is also a strategic web marketing campaign aimed at building awareness of this new regional event. Ron Niehoff sells a photograph at the Great Lakes Art Fair Participating artists are provided with custom Great Lakes Art Fair discount coupons, e-mail blast content and other collateral materials to distribute to their patrons. Drive up to your booth to unload and load. Artist hospitality area and reception. We want you to help us build this biannual event into an event that regional artists can count on. Please join us. Apply today: www.zapplication.org Questions: info@artfaircalendar.com Visit the website for more info: www.greatlakesartfair.com ************** Looking for more art fairs for your 2010 season? Visit www.ArtFairCalendar.com/callforentries

Starting a new Journey

Posted by Terri Drake on January 7, 2010 at 11:38pm

Hard to believe that I will starting University on Monday! Seems like only yesterday that I was walking into an auditorium filled with people to not only receive my Associates Degree, but to watch as my son received his. No greater Mother's Day gift could I have asked for nor received. This time I am going for my Bachelor's. A few of the classes will be taken at the local Community College, while the rest will be online. The only time I will have to be "on campus" is to attend graduation, if I so desire.Work on my studio renovations are coming along nicely and, hopefully, by the time summer arrives, I'll be installing furniture, organizing and letting the creative juices out of their cage! Yesssssss!!!!!! I am trying to figure out a way that I can put up a web site that covers what I do, and presents it in its best light. Any ideas?Tomorrow I go to file my Business taxes for the very first time. This could prove to be very entertaining in that I have everything but the kitchen sink in my briefcase. I just KNOW I'm going to forget something. I never knew all the hoops one had to jump through just to try to promote the arts as a business or promote YOUR art as a business. I have lots of projects to do and people to contact regarding possible job relationships, but first I need a website in order to do some of the things that are wanted.I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, Happy Chaunaka, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!! May the year of 2010 find each and every one of you enjoying all the very best that life has to offer.Namaste - Terri at the Drake's Nest where a Giant River Otter has been playing in my pond.

Call for Entries: Kansas City, Missouri

Posted by Connie Mettler on January 6, 2010 at 10:20pm

April 30, May 1 & 2 Kansas City, Missouri 190 Artists Deadline: January 11 SHOW HOURS April 30, Friday 5p.m.-9 p.m. May 1, Sat. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. May 2, Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. The Brookside Art Annual, presented by Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City, celebrates its 25th year in 2010. Located in an eclectic neighborhood in the center of Kansas City, just minutes from downtown, the Plaza and the southern suburbs. This is the first art show of the year for the region and draws over 70,000 people. The focus of the show is on ART! This community loves art shows and it consistently ranks in the top 25 shows according to the Art Fair Source Book. AFSB says, "This is a very pleasant, national caliber event attracting an affluent, enthusiastic and knowledgeable clientele."

The Brookside Art Annual is produced by the Brookside Business Association, a non-profit organization of merchants working to promote and improve the community in the heart of Kansas City. Dominated by quaint neighborhoods, the Brookside neighborhood becomes the center of the Midwest art community each May. The Brookside Art Annual is known for its festive atmosphere, hospitality, convenience, and has become a must-attend event for artists and art seekers alike. Artist Amenities: * An Art Show, not a Festival! * Awards * 24 Hour Security * Booth Sitters * Artist's Lounge * Saturday Night: Dinner with wine delivered to your booth * Sunday Continental Breakfast * Artist set-up starts on Thursday afternoon * Parking next to show!!! * Advertised to entire metropolitan area; i.e., radio, e blasts, television coverage, newspapers and direct mail * Volunteers that want to make your happy!

* Electricity included in booth fee Apply now: www.zapplication.org For more information: www.Brooksidekc.org, or contact Donna Potts at dpotts223@gmail.com or 913-362-9668 **************************** Looking for more art fairs for 2010? Visit ArtFairCalendar.com's call for entries page

Thoughts for the New Year from Deborah Colter

Posted by Connie Mettler on January 6, 2010 at 6:37pm

My thanks to artist Deborah Colter for giving me permission to share her art and thoughts for the New Year: The Rooms of Our Lives We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives… not looking for flaws, but for potential. -Ellen Goodman

"Without a Doubt" 36" x 48" work on canvas As we come to the end of another year it seems only natural to reflect, to walk through the rooms of our lives looking things over. I always like to look back, to acknowledge events of the waning year and make mental notes of it all. In our house there has never been a desire for the crazy partying that seems to accompany this night. Instead, a nice dinner, a bottle of wine or champagne, my husband’s favorite home made clam dip and a fire. I have to admit, I have not seen the midnight hour on New Year’s Eve in quite sometime and that is really fine with me. 2009 has had its ups and downs- this decade has sure had its ups and downs! Making resolutions never worked well for me, it always felt very superficial and forced. I much prefer “not looking for flaws, but for potential”. I don’t expect to wake up in 2010 a different person than I am in 2009 - I can only continue to do the best I can “to rise above the little things”, and trust the journey… As I count my own blessings I want to thank you all for being a part of my world. May the new year bring us all Peace, Prosperity and Paintings! “One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things.” - John Burroughs

#1 art fair in the country: Belleville, IL's, Art on the Square

Posted by Connie Mettler on January 6, 2010 at 5:00pm

It's official! Greg Lawler's Art Fair Sourcebook has once again chosen the small town show across the river from St. Louis as the #1 show i the nation. Greg does a terrific job of gathering data from artists all year long and, in my opinion, has the most accurate rankings out there. So, congratulations to director, Patty Gregory, her hardworking committee and the 600 volunteers who make this a fabulous place for artists! "Art Fair SourceBook ranks art shows around the nation based on artist-submitted sales figures. The Belleville show is at the top with $7,103 in sales per artist at last year's show, after booth fees and other costs taken off the top...The runner-up art shows for 2009 are the St. Louis Art Fair at No. 2 and the Long's Park Art and Craft Festival in Lancaster, Pa., at No. 3," says the local online news, BND.com. Last fall Patty did a presentation at the NAIA show director's conference on how she created the event. Lots of hard work, excellent community connections, leveraging all her friends to bring in sponsors and volunteers, transforms the show into an artist's dream. Learn more about the fair at BND.com. Don't neglect reading the comments below the article also, always an interesting cross-section of supporters and curmudgeons. What's your take on this? Been to Belleville? What are your top shows?

international art fairs

Posted by Cindy Fallsen on January 5, 2010 at 8:00pm

What do you guys know about European art fairs? We are thinking about a trip in the spring. We have priced out hotels, airfare, lodging, International Health Insurance (we hear that it is a good idea, even if you have Health Insurance). What other details would you guys consider before making a trip? Are there any regulations for bringing purchases back into the country? Any tips or advice welcome.

Late December letter to fellow artists in Wisconsin regarding 2010 spring shows

Posted by David Hipwell on January 2, 2010 at 10:00pm

Barb: Happy New Year....Lots of things to say regarding the 2010 season.I did enter Plymouth, also Homestead, Illinois and Naperville, Illinois....you told me about Plymouth, Wisconsin in early June and am hoping for a $300 to $400 gross being that it is a second year show...Thanks for the heads up on that show, Barb...I read good things about the Naperville show run by the Women's Club on the artfairinsiders.com website that Bill Lang gave me. Homestead, I found in the Illinois directory. Only $120 entry fee, and 100 booths and good demographics according to wikipedia and to my friend, Terese who runs the Suitable for Framing gallery on Green Ave in Allouez. The only bad thing is that they have moved the show to a different venue in Flossmoor. Terese says that doesnt matter.I plan to do the Iola Wisconsin Winter Festival on Feb 6.....only $25 and a short drive.....if they have half of the 1000 to 1500 people attending.....I should be able to sell at least 5 or 6 prints.....lol....but you never know.I have entered the Whitnall Park H.S. in the Milwaukee area on Mar 13.....hard to say how I will do.....a spring show....which are less productive than summer and fall shows, moneywise.I am trying to find out if Diane Van Dreel, promoter, is having one day spring shows at East Towne Mall....she has not called me back ....so I assume she has no details yet. Know anything about this, Linda?I also may do a March show at Pine Tree Mall in Marinette, Wisconsin.... they have arts and craft shows....talked to Mare Hare, mall manager, and I am on the Mailing list. She told me they have an April show too...but I will be driving to New Orleans with Suzy in the middle of that month on vacation.....the cost for this two day show is low....only $55 last year.....but I do admit that attendance is low....still it is cheap and it is a spring show....so low attendance is understandable.I plan on doing Bayport High School in Howard, Wisconsin near Green Bayon March 3 (I found out later that the actual date is March 27 and will not go becasue it conflicts with the Oshkosh, "Wisconsin Althusa show).....I talked to the husband of the lady who is responsible...I expect an application in the next couple of weeks or will call again.March 27 and 28 I am doing the Oshkosh Althusa fine art show.....at a nice venue.....Hilton Garden Inn......they bring in lots of flowers and have free snacks and sandwiches for artists....I made $500 plus the last two years on a $90 entry fee....people vote on your art.... it does draw people....and that makes it OK!Finally at the end of April.....April 24 and 25.....I hope to do the 43 rd -annual arts and craft show the Unitarian Church in Deerfield, Illinois. They charge quite a bit....but my friends Jenny and Paul say they have done well there.....Ok that is my plan til the end of April, back to the easel.If you want more details, email meSee you soon, my friendsDave

Early December Letter to my fellow artists in Wisconsin regarding 2010 shows.

Posted by David Hipwell on January 2, 2010 at 9:54pm

My dear friends:I did the Whitnall Park school show in Hales Corner, Wisconsin on Dec 5, 2009 and it was sucessful.....sort of like Southwest High School show near Green Bay, Wisconsin in attendance, money, etc.....my "confidential" number was $516. Call Terri at 414 281 4438.It is run by the Whitnall Park Rotary and is on the web.I also have discovered that there is show at Waukesha Catholic Memorial High School near Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Dec 6, 2010.....I dont know how good it is......heresay says it is good....phone is 262 542 71012010 Plan next year is to try and do these two shows and drop East Towne Mall in Green Bay, Wisconsin.Whitnall Park also has spring show on March 13,1010 which I may do.I did not get juried into Arti gras in Green Bay, Wisconsin......at sometimes they have a jurist from UWGB.....these professor types tend to be more interested in the technical merits of art instead of the emotional end of it...very elitist also.....I have saved some more artsy slides for entering Artstreet in Green Bay, Wisconsin this summer. I refused to spend a bunch of bucks getting a great set of slides for Arti Gras. Barb did you get in?Instead, I plan on doing a the Iola Wisconsin Winter Carnival Craft show ....only $25 and close.....it is Feb 6,2010....Call Traci at 715 445 5505. Hurry if intested, Deadline is Dec15, 2009.Finally .....researching the Wine Festival (wine tasting) Craft show in Jefferson, Wisconsin on March 6, 2010.....Got 10 current vendors and am call them to find out if it is worth it. If interesed, call Edna at 715 723 3304.There is more stuff.....but want to check on it before telling you about it all.....Merry Christmas.....it was really a great season in 2009.Dave

2010 Starts Out With a Bang

Posted by geri a. wegner on January 2, 2010 at 5:56pm

Suffering from art festival withdrawal, I was able to feed my habit by going to the Las Olas Art Festival, a Howard Alan show in Ft. Lauderdale.We got there a little later than usual (10:20!!!!!) and I was amazed at the size of the crowd. It was in the low 60's but the sun was out and the sky couldn't have been bluer. When it is too cold for the beach, apparently everyone decides to go to art festivals.HA shows are a mixed bag of quality. This one was a case of a rising tide lifting all boats. Even the "not so good" looked better. There were a lot of artists that I have never seen before, a lot of favorites that I have and quite a few that are at all of HA's shows. This was a top 5 HA show.Price points were all over the place, including in some booths where everyone could walk happily away with a something.I did see people carrying bags so I wasn't the only one buying. I hope this is a harbinger of things to come in Florida for 2010.(we brought our new dog to the show, ironic since all I did was complain about dogs at shows last year, and she had a great time. It helps to bring a spouse to handle the dog so your looking and buying is not impeded by your four-legged friend. )

Hopes for 2010

Posted by Terri Drake on December 31, 2009 at 3:33pm

In 2009, I opened the Drake's Nest Studio, LLC in Ossineke, MI., a fiber art/photography studio. It is strictly by appointment and is a way for parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc., to "Make a Memory with" their child's art. I'm hoping that 2010 will find me doing more work in these areas and that my studio's renovations will be complete by that time.2010 will find me starting the year heading back to school for my Bachelor's Degree. 2009 found me working the Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival as a photographer as well as having my pictures of the 2009 Alpena Rodeo Kicker held at the Northern Lights Arena being put on their web site. I had pictures from the Lighthouse Festival published in the Alpena News as well as the Lighthouse Digest Magazine. Both of these events were a very humbling experience for me, as well as a wonderful learning experience. I am thankful for the people I met and the new friends I made.I hope 2010 will find me making my niche in the art world as a fiber artist and photographer. To all the wonderful artisans out there, Happy New Year and may 2010 find each and everyone of you enjoying all the very best life has to offer and doing that which brings you peace, love and happiness.Namaste - Terri at the Drake's Nest in snowy Ossineke, MI

Video of How Art Can Save the Mall!

Posted by Connie Mettler on December 30, 2009 at 11:06am

Earlier in the month we had some stories on this site about using empty stores to sell art for the holidays (and beyond, I hope). My friend, Donna Beaubien, opened one of these venues in Rochester, MI, at the Village Shopping Center, a "life style" mall. Here is a video of the gallery. I thought you'd enjoy seeing what a good job she did. View it on YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77vFjsLWjZM

Call for Entries: Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts

Posted by Connie Mettler on December 30, 2009 at 10:49am

July 8-11, 2010 Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts State College, Pennsylvania 44th Annual Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition 300 Exhibitors Deadline: January 29, 2010 Applications available online: www.zapplication.org Why should you apply to this festival? Here is what its director, Rick Bryant, has to say: --It is always ranked in the Top Ten in the Sunshine Artist magazine rankings --We bring roughly 125,000 people to State College over five days in July (the first day of our Festival is Children's Day, and our artists set up at the end of the day, so that they are there four days) --Show is in its 44th year and is on Penn State campus and the streets of the Borough of State College. Actually, we were founded by the State College chamber of commerce and Penn State's College of Arts and Architecture as a "town/gown" event -- Penn State alumni return for "Arts Festival Alumni Weekend," a time to renew old college ties, attend special programs, and, of course, the arts festival --We hand out over $17,000 in prizes --We also receive lots of support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania-not only the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, but also the Pennsylvania Tourism Office --Our festival features the outdoor show, an indoor gallery exhibition, a celebration of Italian Street Painting, performing arts on three indoor stages and four outdoor stages --The Festival will be the cover story in the summer of 2010 issue of Pursuits magazine, the official magazine of the Pennsylvania Tourism Office, with a circulation of 400,000 Where is State College, PA? Visit this link. Our take on it:

If you are sincere about your career at the art fairs, this is an event that you should seriously consider for your participation. The best reason is that your work will be seen by a clientele who comes from across the country for this annual reunion at their alma mater. The exposure to a new audience could lead not only to success here but it will broaden your art fair experience. Lots of Easterners attend, a great cultural mix. For more information about the Central Pennsylvania Festival of Arts visit their website and apply now! **************** Find more art fairs for your 2010 art fair season: www.ArtFairCalendar.com/callforentries

Love and Laughs for the Holiday Season!

Posted by Connie Mettler on December 28, 2009 at 11:30am

Your Holiday Present - a bunch of laughs!

Take a look at this video, a bunch of funny clips all rolled into one. Then would you please tell me why I am sitting here laughing out loud? Is there something wrong with me? www.UTube.com/funnyclips

Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, Columbus Festival -- And the Winner Is...

Posted by Connie Mettler on December 23, 2009 at 10:17am

Maureen Riley!! -- Ann Arbor Street Art Fair Leah Alters!! -- Columbus Arts Festival After a lengthy vetting/application process at the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (see this blog post with more details) the former Director of the Detroit Festival of the Arts, Maureen Riley, will be named to the position of Executive Director at the prestigious art fair, effective January 1, 2010. Maureen, a Detroit area resident will be moving to Ann Arbor soon, told me, "I’m extremely excited about joining the team that puts on this prestigious art fair and I’m really looking forward to becoming part of the Ann Arbor community." We are all sending you the best wishes, Mo, in this new position. I am confident you are the one for the job. Congratulations to the Street Fair Board on a good choice. Leah Alters, executive director of Wausau Area Events and Main Street Wausau, will leave her position Jan. 1 for a new job in Ohio, replacing long time director Katie (Lucas) Laux who left to pursue new opportunities with a Columbus non-profit. The Columbus Arts Festival hosts about 230 nationally acclaimed artists and features gourmet food, live concerts and hands-on art activities, according to its Web site. The festival will run from June 4 to June 6 in 2010. A veteran of the Uptown Art Fair in Minneapolis where she was artist coordinator, in recent years has worked on the Wausau Balloon Rally & Glow, and helped develop other events in Wausau. Read more details here. Welcome to Columbus, Leah! We wish you a great first year at the festival. Other changes: The fabulous Erin Woody, who managed and developed events for the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, MI, (including the Great Lakes Art Fair) is starting a new position in St. Louis, MO, the first of the year where she will be Field Marketing Manager for Red Bull. Congratulations, Erin. We will miss you in Michigan but know this is an opportunity you cannot turn down. Best wishes. Which, in turn, means that Erin's position is open in Novi. Interested? Contact Anne Sloney at the Rock Financial Showplace for more information, asloney@rockfinancialshowplace.com, 248-348-5600 x 210. In Omaha, NE, the very capable and popular Carly Barth is stepping down from her position as art director of the Summer Arts Festival to spend time with her son. The art fair community welcomes Elizabeth Balasz into Carly's position.

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Note: this page contains paid content.