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Just got back from the Bethesda Row Arts Festival in - you guessed it - Bethesda MD.  I looked all over this site beforehand for a good review of this show and couldn't find anything, so I'll try to fill in some holes for anyone else looking to do the show.  This was my first time here.  I heard the same folks put on another spring show here is Bethesda, but this review is specifically for the Bethesda ROW show in October.  I can't speak to the spring show at all.

I guess due to construction around the show site, there was a new load in plan this year and a new load out plan, so I don't know how most years go, but considering the tiny little space we are all cramming into and the busy metropolis we are in, load in went incredibly smoothly.  We were each given a load in time between 4a-7a (3:30-4a was a free load in time).  My load in time was at 5am, but on the way to Maryland from Ohio the night before, my truck had broke down 45 miles away.  After being held hostage by a mechanic for several hours, we managed to get the truck at least moveable and made it to Bethesda and parked in Waverly garage across from the Hyatt Regency where we were staying around 11pm.  The hotel had an artist rate and was just 3 blocks from the show.  If you do the show, I highly recommend it.  Parking there is $20 a night though, and right across the street there is FREE parking after 7p on Friday and through the weekend, so duh, park there...  ANYWAY... after all that drama with the truck I was afraid that it wouldn't start in the morning or it would break down on the site, so we decided to go in at the 3:30 load in time (hooray for 3 hours of sleep!).  Fortunately it did start.  We drove right up to our booth, unloaded everything on the sidewalk, moved the truck to the garage right off Bethesda/Woodmont (which is also free on weekends) and came back to set up.  There are tons of free parking garages around and an open lot for oversized vehicles about a 10 minute walk away.

The show is held on Elm and Bethesda (parallel to each other) and Woodmont (connects the two).  I didn't walk the show, but I saw on the booth map that there is a spur off Woodmont that I doubt I would want to be on.  I think other than that spur, the booths would get even traffic.  My booth was in the shade of very tall buildings and trees 100% of the time.  Next year I'd bring lights and my marine battery.  Not sure if Woodmont got better light.

After setup, we had plenty of time, so we walked back to the hotel, took showers and got cleaned up.  I love being within easy walking distance to the show! 

The show is well run.  Each street has a block captain if you need anything.  Seth was very sweet and helpful.  There is a nice artist hospitality building with bagels, fruit, nuts, snack bars, water, and coffee.  There are nice awards if you're one of the lucky ones.  I never had anyone come around offering to booth sit, but I had a helper with me so it didn't matter.

The booth layout is TIGHT!!!  Think 1" on each side and back to back to spare.  You are completely sandwiched in there, and there is not any space at all behind you for storage.  Depending on where you are, there might be some sidewalk room across from your booth, but I doubt many of the businesses would appreciate having their doorways used as storage.  I just moved my propanels in and made storage inside my booth.  It is something to take into consideration though.  When they say no storage room, they mean it!

So as for the show stats, this was sort of a perplexing one for me.  I had decided that with expenses factored, I needed to do a minimum of $3K to even potentially consider doing again, and then I had a personal goal for the show.  Plus who knows who much my truck will cost to get repaired - so that's looming over my head too.  Saturday is by far usually my best day.  I sat there all day Saturday and only sold prints and one $800 painting.  Didn't even make half what I needed.  Oh, and the weather is great too.  Lots of bags for the cupcake place nearby and Williams Sonoma going by, but no art bags.  Starting to get discouraged, but I was told by a few artists that Sunday is their best day here.  Alexandria is nearby, and both years I've done it, Sunday was better, so I was holding out hope. 

Sunday comes.  We open at 10.  I sit there until 2:30 and have only made $80!  I'm really getting discouraged now.  And then suddenly, a wave of people come in buying $500 painting after $500 painting and placing custom orders for even more.  The show closes at 5.  In that 2.5 hour time period, I went from less than $1500 to over $5000.  That's how this business rolls.... ended up selling 6 paintings in that 2.5 hour window.  So now I'm a happy camper.  Confused as to how I actually ended up with money in my pocket.... but happy nonetheless!

Load out was sort of hairy.  It seems from the after-show email that they had to do load out different than normal, but that this structure will continue for 2-3 years while construction is done to the area.  I don't know what its normally like, but this year you had to completely break down and move everything onto the sidewalk.  Easy peasy - done in less than an hour.  Then you had to find your block captain and they inspect your space and give you a load out pass.  My captain looked and approved, but then we had to wait for the load out pass. Everyone is so crammed in there that even if you are cleared and good to go, you have to wait for any cars who have come in before you to move out before being given an actual pass to get your vehicle.  So waited and waited.  Finally got my pass and miraculously my truck started!  By the time I got out of the parking garage though, I had to wait in a line of a bunch of other artists who had got their passes too.  More waiting and waiting and waiting while my truck threatened to break down right in the intersection of Bethesda and Woodmont.  Finally got in, and loaded everything up in about 10 minutes.  But THEN two other vehicles had blocked me in, so again had to wait and wait and wait until they moved out of the way.  Once we finally got out, it had been an hour of breaking down and an hour of waiting to get in/get out.  Could have been worse.  Next year I'll just go get dinner at one of the gazillion restaurants nearby and then come back after 6:30 when some of the booths have cleared out already.

In case you're wondering how the truck saga ended, with 4 cylinders misfiring, I wasn't about to travel 7 hours through the mountains back home to Ohio.  So my husband had left Ohio in the morning with a tow truck, met us 15 miles outside of Bethesda, and towed us back home.  Poor guy spent 17 hours in the car that day.  We ended up getting home at 5:15am and my 3 year old woke up at 7:30.  Hooray for 2 more hours of sleep!  Its an adventurous life we lead. 

So to wrap up, yes, I think I'd definitely do the show again.  I love that everything is right there.  Makes logistics nice.  Sales ended up being real good, despite what it seemed it would be just 2 hours prior to the show end.  Just goes to show that you can't give up hope.  Although its always nice when you sell a lot at the beginning of the day Saturday and can just rest easy.  OH!  One thing though, practically EVERYONE wanted a discount.  One guy pressed so hard for a 33% discount I almost refused to sell him a painting even at full price, and I've never got that way with a patron, but eventually you cross a rude line there's no returning from.  Someone even asked if I'd do a discount on a $30 print.  Really?!  Mark your stuff up if you must so people feel they are getting a deal.  It is the end of my show season now, so I'd actually already marked things down, so I was feeling a bit robbed.  I'll normally negotiate 5-10% but people were really asking for huge amounts off. 

In the end, all my neighbors ended up doing well.  None of us started off Sunday that way though.  So I'm glad Sunday came through for everyone, and I hope to be able to do the show again in 2018.

Hopefully I didn't forget anything.  I'm seriously sleep deprived and wine infused at this point, and dealt with 3 hours of a toddler's temper tantrums today, so if there's anything you want to know about the show, let me know and I'll respond back. 

We are tired of transporting, setting up, taking down, drying out and repacking our tent. I am a painter and am wondering if there are well attended indoor events (juried or not) in which you can rent wall space instead of a tent space?

I have a set of 10 (yes, 10) dark grey Pro Panels hardly used.  I bought them (used in excellent shape.) in 2015, have only used them for one exhibit.  The package includes the following:

• 10 (10) dark grey full size Pro-Panels;
• two (2) 2-in-1 stabilizer bars;
• stiffeners;
• cable hangers;
• leg extenders;
• velcro straps;
• weights.

They've been in indoor air conditioned storage for the last two years so they're in excellent shape.

Cost is $850 for all.  They're located in Sarasota.  They're too big to ship  so you'll need to pick them up. 

Call Jim Hoover at (941) 726-4708 or email me at jim@jimhooverphoto.com.  Available immediately.

I haven't written a review in quite a while......Things have been busy and I have been on the road way too much.....as all of you know the drill. But I thought I would review a show I did for the first time last weekend in Memphis, a place I haven't seen too many reviews from and this show was not the easiest to get a read on beforehand. I like to try new ones though and I have a pretty good track record with choosing smaller venues that usually are well worth it.

Even though I live in the same state, it's a six hour drive from one end of the state to the other. The show is at Audubon Park, a lovely large outdoor venue near Germantown, which is the high end residential area of Memphis. The booth price varied but I payed 540 dollars to be inside a large tent with electricity. There were outside tents, culinary tents, kids bouncy ball rooms and a petting zoo...I knew none of this until I set up. It's pretty clear to me that if there is a camel and a kangaroo at a show that the artwork is not the priority it needs to be. Rutt-Row......

Set up was non eventful but there wasn't much room behind your space in the indoor tents....there was lots of empty spaces though.... where someone failed to show or they didn't fill. The layout was chaotic at best with some people almost hidden and way too near the porta potties. Some people got zero traffic. I saw an artist who is so popular at Kentuck that she usually sells out, who was so hidden that the sales were pretty nonexistent because nobody knew she was there. The big tent I was under was almost completely filled with new exhibitors and there was so much buy-sell and Sunday afternoon painters that as a friend of mine said. "You probably just had to send in your money and you got in." It felt that way.

I was in front of a potter and the space behind my booth was tight. Usually,it's a give and take where both artist's compromise.... as I have many many times and are happy to do... Even though there was only about two feet the potter in back of me would not share and put his camo fold-out chair in my doorway. I asked politely if we could share the space and he said it was his and I was at the corner of my booth....on closer inspection- he was too and he also had an empty booth space next to him he could have spread out to. He got really obnoxious so I had to put my boxes and bags and chair tightly on the side and close my tent in the back. Sorry, but fair to say-this guy was a big jerk. If you are on AFI and you read this....try to get along with the next artist you are next to...it's not hard- a little compromise goes a long way.

The show was slow on Friday and I did average. I payed my booth fee and hotels and pretty much broke even. The show goes from 10 until 6 on Friday and Saturday and then 10 till 5 on Sunday. The consensus around me was that everyone did ok on Friday and were pretty happy. No big sales for me but I sold a lot  of smaller work. On Saturday morning, the crowd at the gate seemed pretty large ( 9 dollar entry fee) but it didn't really result in many sales for me. It was a lack luster crowd that looked in from the aisle and even with small work seemed to be holding tight to every 20 dollar bill. There was free coffee in the morning but everything else was cash and carry. There also was some Merit Awards designated but the two people that won awards near me ( a metalsmith and a knife maker)  didn't seem to translate into sales much. Sunday was rain and a twenty degree temperature drop( windy and cold) and that killed sales. I made 120 dollars on Sunday. It was humbling to say the least.

We didn't get down to the Rendevue but we ate one night at a restaurant called "Southern Hands" that was authentic soul food and it was great. Our hotel was reasonable and fairly close to the show. But overall.....I have to say that it was a major disappointment. When promoters let everyone in...it doesn't benefit anyone, least of all people with higher end work ( I'm an encaustic painter). Many friends, new and old, said this was a first and last show also. It seems that Memphis, a big city with lots of big companies (think Fed -Ex, International Paper and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital) could use a high level show but unfortunately, the Pink Palace is not so regal.

I am pretty new to the FL art scene having lived here just over a year, but I want to share a quick post about THE BEACHES ART FEST in Jacksonville Beach, FL.

I have Participated in the spring show in St. Augustine, FL put on by the Holiday Art Show promotion team. Lynn Wettach, the organizer is very warm and supportive person who really seems to care about her artists and the event that she is running. 

The Beaches Art Fest is a relatively new event as I understand it, only in its fourth year in 2017  and previously only a one-day show so this was the first time it was a two day event.

Load in and load out were very easy, as you could drive right up to your space. Of course it is always a bit of a jumble with everyone trying to come in and out at the same time but in our case it was very smooth and trouble free.

The show takes place on Pablo Avenue,  a street which abuts The Beaches Historical Park and Museum. This is a very nice facility- clean, well-maintained and obviously a valuable part of this community. It was nice to have access to clean restrooms which were very conveniently located. A shopping center with a Publix grocery store was only 1/2 block away which was very handy. 

Sales on Saturday were steady and I saw many people carrying packages and framed art. The crowds were not huge but they were definitely there to buy. The Sunday crowds however were reduced by at least 2/3. Could  be the weather a factor as it was very, very hot. Also it may be that people did not realize it was now two days and just did not come out that way. 

Every thing about the show is nice and well managed is a very good event that has the potential to be a really great event. The artist amenities are good from a nice breakfast provided, coffee/ water and juice available,  restrooms very close by and a caring staff. 

This was just the second time I had done a "sleepover"  show out of town. My husband is in the US Navy  and so we took advantage of staying on base at the Navy Lodge Hotel in Mayport about 10 miles north from the show site. We had a very nice renovated room overlooking the beach w/ breakfast for cost of only $85 a night. Very important when you are on a budget. 

I realize not everyone has that access to base. There were hotels suggested by the show management I believe a Hampton Inn nearby and I know other artists stayed at the Red Roof Inn in the area and seem to feel that was reasonable too.

This show is in a neat little area just a couple blocks from the ocean in Jacksonville Beach Florida. Lots of delicious restaurants there.  We had dinner at the "Blind Rabbit" just two blocks from the show on Friday night after we set up--- delicious! We also spent a bit of time at the Green Room brew house on the main drag , also just 2 blocks away , enjoying their craft beers. Dinner on Saturday was Mellow Mushroom [always yummy!] about 2 miles away as we got a pizza to go so we could get back to our room to watch college football that night. Sunday we got up early and attended mass at the Catholic Church just 1/2 block away from the show, then had a tasty breakfast at Waffle House 1 block away prior to the show start at 10. 

All in all we had a good show and also a fun weekend away . That is a win in my book. 

 My set up The Sunrise view of the ocean from our balcony

We are driving from Houston as I write this on our way to New Orleans to enjoy some good food and drinks after finishing up two Texas shows. The Houston show was this past weekend. It was very impressive that the organizers and the city were able to not only go on with the show but to do it up to the standards of past events. If you didn’t know about Harvey you never would have guessed the city had been hit so hard. Downtown for the most part looked just fine. Our booth is in-front of city hall and the only thing we noticed was that the bottom basement level was gutted since it had been flooded and the electric for rent bike racks were down and empty.

Carrie did an amazing job keeping us all updated before during and after Harvey. Running a show like Bayou is already a difficult enough job but this year Carrie and her team did a stellar job inspite of all the challenges.

There was a LOT of talk amongst artists on wether or not to go to Bayou. I believe the majority of us who went wanted to support the city and the show. The city and people of Houston are very resilient and bouncing back but they are not there yet. The people also came out to support the show and everyone was ready to enjoy getting back to normal. Almost everyone we talked to in Houston, at the show and around the city, told us they made it through with out too much damage but many of them were dealing with survivors guilt. The people were ready to get back to enjoying life and attending things like an art show but mentally it didn’t feel like they were ready to start indulging in art.

Now for the review of the actual show. The show is on the city streets in Downtown Houston. On Friday you check in at a hotel near the show starting around 11 am but set up starts in the evening. There is an artist parking lot you can use all weekend. This is very helpful in a downtown setting with a ton of oversized vehicles. You can start lining up at 6pm and they begin letting cars in after 8 pm when the streets are closed and cleared. Booths are across each other on wide streets. Almost every booth has lots of storage in the back.

The show runs Saturday and Sunday 10-6. It is a gated show with entrance fee. The crowds were steady all weekend with exception of Saturday afternoon once the Astros started playing. There was still a decent amount of people that day.

It was HOT AND HUMID Saturday. I was impressed that anyone showed up on Saturday. At the end of the show I had never been more excited to be staying at a hotel with a pool. That was the best feeling being able to jump in the pool after a looong hot humid day and get the core temp back down.

Sunday was warm but tolerable. Both Saturday and Sunday mornings seemed to be the time the serious shoppers were out looking. There were packages walking out and people on a mission for art work. Most of the people I talked to had decent shows. Not killer shows but almost everyone made some money. There were just a handful I talked to that just made expenses and a good friend did 5 figures. We were very happy with our sales considering. The patrons thanked us for coming over and over again.

Tear down same old same old. Break down get a pass wait in line. It really started cooling off at break down and got windy. It took a little longer then usual to get out because of the wind but the streets are wide and it moves fast for a city show. We dollied out. After break down we had a delivery and the patron had 6 artist deliveries scheduled that evening. It was great to run into some of our artist friends at one of the coolest homes in Houston.

The artist are treated pretty good at this show. I don’t think I have ever been offered more iced bottle waters and snack at a show before. There is an art pick up booth. Larger items can be dropped off at the booth and held for patrons to come pick up later. This is very convenient to have at a gated city show. Tons of volunteers for booth sitting. For those of you who prefer to not eat festival food plan to pack some food. Downtown stores and restaurants pretty much shut down for the weekend. Hotel restaurants and food at the festival is your only choice unless you bring your own. We really enjoy Houston and the Bayou show. Can’t wait to return.

 I've not done an art show for ten years and want to start again. I do fine art landscape photography and would like to know your experience with selling matted/frames, metal and canvas prints.

I recently did a deep dive into vehicle loading, and discovered that it is much easier to overload a vehicle than one would think.  It seems like a simple calculation: get a vehicle and/or trailer large enough to accommodate everything you need for a show, then make sure that the tow vehicle and hitch are rated to tow the weight of your trailer plus a guestimate of the weight of your gear, and you’re done.  My tow vehicle is rated to tow a 5000 pound trailer, and my fully loaded trailer weighs right around 2000 pounds.  Yet it turns out that my setup is right at the overload limit, and I need to be careful what additional items I take to shows, and where I put them. 

The problem appears to be that car and truck makers compete with each other on how much their vehicles can tow, so the advertised tow rating is actually a marketing number that assumes that the vehicle is empty except for perhaps a light-weight driver.  Load it up with two people and a weekend’s luggage and supplies, plus the tongue weight of the trailer, and the weight one can safely tow drops significantly. 

I calculated the weight of my cargo by putting a bathroom scale and notepad next to the trailer and tow vehicle  simply weighing everything before it was loaded.  I measured tongue load by lowering the tongue jack onto a board supported by a brick on one side and the bathroom scale on the other, doubling the results. When I tallied up the total, I was quite surprised at how relatively light items add up.  I calculated safe loading based on the method describe in my owner’s manual (which varies somewhat between manufacturers).  Finally, I consulted www.karavantrailers.com/brakes/Brakes.xlsx to determine if my unbraked trailer was too heavy for the states I operate in.  You may want to do the same for your own safety and well being.

This was our first time showing at Cottonwood. The show is in a park surrounded by modest middle class homes and community. Richardson is a suburb of Dallas. We usually don’t do suburban shows especially in a park but Cottonwood has a great reputation and many well established artist do this show both in fall and in spring and continue to return year after year. Cottonwood lined up perfectly with Houston so we decided it was time to try the show.

Serri the show director communicates very well with everyone. All the info you need is on the website. I love when shows do this instead of having to dig through past email. The advertising and social media for Cottonwood is very well done. There are a lot of volunteers and they are well informed. The Boy Scouts and parents are there to help you load and unload. All day artist hospitality tent. Friday night there is an artist dinner but we didn’t go so not sure how it was but I was told there were margaritas. There is a great artist hotel, Courtyard for around $70 a night about 2 miles from the show.

The show runs Saturday 10-7 Sunday 10-5. Set up is Thursday and Friday. The show takes place at Cottonwood Park. There is no entrance fee but the show is fenced off and you had to go through a bag security search. I really like this. The people who attended the show were there for the show not just walking through the park. The booths are set up in rows, back to back with plenty of room. Most spaces are 13x13 roughly and on the grass in the park. You can not drive on the grass and there is one narrow road into the park. The majority of booths will need to dolly and some quiet far. Getting into the park and near your booth to unload requires time and patience.

You check in along a street adjacent to the park and get in line with your vehicle. Vehicles are allowed in as space opens up. You are given one hour to unload. They actually mark your windshield with booth space and time in. We decided to set up on Thursday. We got in line at 1 pm and got in at 3:10. Our booth was not far from the street so easy unload.

The boy scouts are there and volunteer to help dolly your work to your spot. Unfortunately on Thursday the 1 hour load in time limit was not enforced. There were 3 booths setting up around us and all three of those vehicles were there before we arrived and were still parked there after we had unloaded, gone and parked and completely set up.

We left at 6, so that means at least 3 prime parking spots were blocked for over 3 hours as artists sat for hours in line to get in. I am not sure how Friday load in goes, hopefully the time limit was enforced. Parking for this show is easy and close. Plenty of street parking on Thursday and Friday. Saturday and Sunday you park at the high school across the street. They have a shuttle if you need it but the lot is just across the street so we always walked.
The weather was very nice all weekend. If you had shade you were comfortable. If you didn’t then you were warm but the show set up extra shade tents in the middle of the aisle. There is a kids area, beer garden, music stage and food area. All of these areas were placed conviently to the art show but far enough away as to not interfere with the art booths. I was impressed with the layout.

The crowds were steady all weekend. Cottonwood loves their dogs and I overheard a patron commenting that their were more dogs then kids at the show and yes this was very true.

Now the important part, sales. Where our booth was we couldn’t see other parts of the show except for our aisle. We saw smaller work walk by and yard art on sticks leave. On Sunday I saw one 24x36 framed piece walk out. My art friends who have more traditional work reported a solid show, enough to return. The booth next to me had drawings of Texas stuff, rodeo, cows, etc and she was happy with her show. We had a lot of interest and were constantly talking to people but industrial abstract art is not what this area is looking for. We solid one big piece so we “made a paycheck” as Nels would say.

Load out. Break down get a pass and get ready to wait in line. Patience is a must. It is a park, dolly one lane road break down. Enough said, not much you can do about it.

This weekend is Bayou City Houston. We are looking forward to that and enjoying a mini vacation with our artists friends on Lake Athens in between the two shows. Love the artist life.

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Well, it seemed worth a try but after wrestling with trying to move blogs to the discussions I'm now thinking, not such a good idea. Sorry to have caused confusion, please revert to the old ways: blog posts in the blogs and discussions in the discussion forum.

Here is a rule though: NO tent sales in the blog. Put them in the "for sale or trade" section in discussions. Please.

Marcia and I opened the LebenArt Gallery in downtown Douglas, Michigan in May. We picked this area because we live close, and the area has become known at the Art Coast of Michigan. The small resort town of Douglas, where our gallery is, also has six other fine art galleries. We thought that would make Douglas an "art destination." This last weekend was the annual "Gallery Stroll," Saturday and Sunday, in which dozens of area art galleries (including Saugatuck) celebrate art openings. It's also nearing the end of the gallery season here in Western Michigan. How did our season go? Was our gallery a success? Can gallery sales replace art fair sales?

The answers? Good! yes! and no! (at least not yet...).

When we opened the gallery in May our goals were modest... to break even this year. We knew that a new gallery would take a while to catch on, so we maintained a robust art fair schedule to make sure we could pay the bills. The gallery did better than break even, but art fair revenues far out-paced gallery revenues. This may change over time (we only have a few months of experience under out belts). We were fortunate to get into some of the best art fairs this year (Belleville, DesMoines, Old Town, St. Louis and Plaza), and each of these shows generated more income in a weekend than a whole month in the gallery. So... why continue the gallery?

We will continue the gallery, and there are a lot of reasons why.

1. Age
We are getting older, and the physical requirements of setting up and breaking down that tent seems to be getting harder every year. And the stress of dealing with the weather doesn't help. 

2. Advocate
I'm a digital artist and I've been advocating for digital art for years. I've been seeing great strides in the acceptance of digital art as a legitimate art medium for the last ten years. Our gallery specializes in digital art and this venue gives us the opportunity to promote the medium and feature the best digital  artists in the country.

3. Symbiosis
We are seeing a definite symbiotic relationship between the gallery and the art fairs. Each one sends patrons to the other. The gallery sells more because of our presence at art fairs. And visitors to the art fairs buy more from an artist with a gallery (our art fair sales this year are higher than last year, even though we did less art fairs). 

4. We like it
We continue to enjoy having a continuous venue to display art that is not in a tent. Its still fun to open the gallery every day and be surrounded by the creative work of some of our favorite artists.

Traffic here in Douglas, Michigan will slow down dramatically over the winter months (Douglas and Saugatuck are "summer" resort towns on Lake Michigan). But, we are looking forward to next season as we continue to promote digital art in all of its forms. The gallery is currently showing the work of eight digital artists.  We met most of them at art fairs. Their gallery sales don't match their art fair sales, but they provide a nice commission check once in a while.

As we plan for next season, we are on the lookout for more digital artists to exhibit at the gallery. We feel the gallery can supply our artists with a little supplemental income not dependent on art fairs, and, the gallery can help promote and celebrate the myriad possibilities of digital art. 

Ultra heavy duty white tent for sale excelent condtion $600 OBO  paid $1200  _  used for 2 years extremely well taken care of , simular to rental tents only much nicer , comes with bags . We are located in Faribault Mn. for pick up Call Jeff at 1-507-210-0660   

Hello all of you who over the last 8-10 years have been generous to share your ideas, show reviews, tips and stories in the Blog here on ArtFairInsiders.com. During this time over 6000 posts have been added to this blog. Impressed? I know I am ... however ...

Changing times means even AFI needs to make some changes now and then. Starting today if you come to this site to add a blog post will you please instead post it in the "Discussions?" 

I hope by moving the blogs to the discussions area it will make it easier for the members to read and respond and keep the conversation going. This is a test. Let's see if it works.

In the meantime, where would this site have been without you? I hate to start naming names, but I'd guess the champion blogger is Nels Johnson. Melanie Rolfes has really kept us up to date in recent years, Richard Sherer reports in on every show he does ... That is such a short list, I'm embarrassed to start. 

See you in the "Discussions." Click here and then click on "ADD", write it up, then choose the category you want it to be in ... who's first?

February 17

Why should you parti-cipate? For the Love of Art combines an exciting array of traditional and contemporary artists from Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and showcases them at the only premier inside art fair in the region in a first class facility, right in the heart of "cabin fever" time in the Midwest.

• Marketing to art buyers 30+ years and older with disposable incomes and women who love appreciate beautiful things.
• Advertising area South Bend, Fort Wayne, Elkhart, Kalamazoo, Chicago neighborhoods, and all of southwest Michigan.
• Media: Television, newspapers, internet, posters, billboards and leaflets.

• Drive up to the building to unload and load
• Reasonable booth fee and Professional management
• Host families available for your overnight stay
• One-time Life time jury fee (once accepted to KoZmo Events shows you will always be invited back)
• Best booth contest and Best over all: Credits to use for future show with KoZmo Events
• Seating area for patrons to enjoy soft music, food, and wine.
• Art Dollar giveaways to be spent at the show to encourage patrons to buy art.

KDKanopy Majistic tent.  Used sparingly over 5 years $500.  Excellent condition,

4 - 6' Black Propanel walls Excellent condition

4 - 45lb Dumbbell Weights $35 each

6 - 15lb Dumbbells for anchoring easels $10 each

7 Artists Loft Easels $35 each.

6' 40 slot greeting card stand

3 large matted print stands

2 small matted print stands

Phone: 520-820-5081

I'm wondering about a sort of top-10 list of the best fine-art shows in the midwest. The ones that are really difficult to get into, but just amazing to be part of, the feather-in-your-cap shows. Any thoughts? Just to get things started, I'm sure Des Moines, IA would be on the list. 

May 11, 12 and 13
Greenville, South Carolina
Presented by: Artisphere
135 Artists
Deadline: October 6

 

Application fee: $30; Booth fee: $400

Despite its short history, Artisphere has distinguished itself as both a national and regional highlight.  A supportive, art-loving community, beautiful setting, and over 600 volunteers make Artisphere an enjoyable experience for 135 exhibiting artists.  

In addition to a Purchase Awards Program that provides an average of $10,000-$12,000 in art sales Artisphere distributes $15,000 in prize money to eleven award winners each year.

I've been on and off with this show for years. Two years ago it was good (relative to this show) and last year it was worse than ever, I was stuck in a corner in the back and NO ONE ever goes to the back corner! This year the show was moved to the east side of the outlet mall on the north side of town. Some visitors were reported to have said they went to the old site and didn't know that it had been moved, no signs to speak of...Some folks I talked to said that they hoped the show would go back to its old location. That may not happen, but we shall see.

The location at the outlet mall was at the top parking area which was at an angle, tough for some setups, with rough blacktop. There were three entries to the show which charged a nominal entry of $5. Artists at each end of the show swore that the end opposite them had more people than theirs, you know how that goes!

Just The Facts...

Show Hours and Dates: Artfest at Castle Rock, Castle Rock, CO. September 9 and 10 (about the second weekend in September) Staggered setup on Friday, Saturday 9-6 and Sunday 10-5. Art, crafts, music, kid stuff... This show can be found on the Zapplication call for entry website.

Logistics:

Load in for the show was Friday morning starting at 9 am. As I am less than 1/2 hour away I didn't have to spend money on a hotel room. Load in was on a staggered schedule. Got there just before my 12 o'clock setup time and got right in. As it was early there wasn't a lot of interference from other artists unloading so it all went well and I didn't have to move till I got the tent up and the van emptied. This new location leveled the playing field in some ways. The "old" location was split in two by a street and usually people tended to go to one side or the other and skip the other side. As the show was in a long row visitors could travel up and down the two main rows and see everyone.

Amenities:

Water,  snacks, breakfast sandwiches on Saturday, lunch on both days. This show has always relied on the artists to figure out on their own that food was available.  The occasional volunteer booth sitters came by.

Storage, Booth Space, Load-In/Out:

A plus for artists in this location was more than ample storage space behind your booth.  Some artists didn't like what they felt was a large alley behind booths. As stated above load-in was easy as I beat most of the crowd setting up earlier on Friday morning. Load-out was fairly chaotic but most people behaved and I got out, as usual, in just under 2 hours.

Demographics/Buying Trends:

There were a lot of artists visiting each other during the day. If you've been to that kind of show you know what I'm talking about. I found that the mid-age group were the buying type although occasionally, the millennials were buying as well, older folks, as is usually the case, were out for a stroll. For me there was no buying energy on Saturday and very little on Sunday which has more typically been the better of the two days. Pre-show info from the Chamber, which manages this show, likes to state how Castle Rock and Douglas County is a high median income area. That may be so but that has nothing to do with what they do with that money. In the case of this show, they don't spend it here.

Quality/Range of Art:

From my survey of booths content was variable. There of course were some of the best artists I know as-well-as store owners who bought booth space to advertise their businesses. And the ever present  Window replacement booth who most people try to avoid.

Food:

The location of this show did not make it convenient for artists to get food. You either brought your own, remembered that the show offered some lunch and snacks or went to the food court of the mall which was not all that convenient to get to. For visitors to the show I think there was an ice cream truck and maybe another food truck or two.

Reflections:

This was not a first time show for me. I know (sometimes) when it's time to bail on a show. Usually it's when your revenue one year goes to half, you think it's a fluke, and the next year it's half again. That was the case with this show so I guess it's time to bail! This show lacked enthusiasm, it seemed as if it were being held out of some obligation and not out of a real spirit of support for the arts or the artists. As is the case, when that happens it seems to be a swan song.

Okay, now for the star rating! I'd give this show ✩ out of 5 and that's because of the logistics and amenities. As far as the buying goes, I'd give it  1/4 ✩ and that's being generous. I did lose money doing this show even though it was close to home.