Blog

May 27, 28 and 29
Danbury, CT
Ives Concert Park
Presented by Friends of the Ives, Inc.
100 Artists
Deadline: March 31

Application Fee: $25;  Booth Fee: $300-350

From Alice Moulton at the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, March 17-19, 2017:

Hi Connie,

I must say, we had a fabulous festival this year.  The weather was a little cooler than normal and wonderful. The artwork was amazing and the artists, judges and attendees kept remarking about the high quality of art they were seeing.

The Best of Show winner, Ken Tutjamnong, was a first time attendee and seemed to be very popular with the other attending artists. This is a $10,000 purchase award.

Best of Show - "Riverwalk", Painting by Ken Tutjamnong, Philadelphia, PA

August 19 & 20
Mount Gretna, PA
260 Artists
Deadline: April 1

Application Fee: $25;  Booth Fee: $380

The Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show is held on the streets and in the parks of Mount Gretna, a Victorian resort community founded in 1892. The show is presented under the oaks of the Chautauqua section of Mount Gretna between Route 117 and Pennsylvania Avenue. 

It had been 6 years since the last time I participated in this show, even had a different portfolio of work to show, but the results were little better then the last time. I even had a better booth location, or so I thought.

Just the facts:

Show Hours and Dates: Scottsdale Arts Festival. March 10 -12.  Fri & Sat 10- 6, Sun 10 -5

Logistics:

The show is set up inside the the Scottdale Civic Center Park which has meandering paths, fountains and pools of water as-well-as hills. My booth was in the City Hall parking lot which was my choice. The last time I did this show I was at the western front and people just walked by. Set-up load in/out was either a breeze or miserable, depending on where your booth was. I saw some that were set-up just in front of the arts center and library that looked very difficult. If your booth didn't require a level surface you might have been on a hill. My load in/out was easy as it was well managed with plenty of room to maneuver.  By the way, "spring" came early this year with temperatures in the high 80's to 91. It was a little toasty out there.

Amenities:

Water,  coffee, fruit and volunteer booth sitters for the occasional break. Additionally, the show hosted a great lunch each day, a tip o' the hat to the volunteers manning the buffet.

Storage, Booth Space, Load-In/Out:

Depending on where you were situated there was room to spare or none at all. I had several feet of space behind my booth for storage and dodging the sun.

Demographics/Buying Trends:

Although this didn't appear to be the usual lemonade and popcorn crowd, they were cleverly disguised. According to Whitney Nelson, Festival & Events Coordinator, attendance was at 22,000. They all weren't buying. This was a slow show. What sold? Low end priced items, yard art and the occasional large 2D piece. People that had done the show previous years said it was pretty slow and they were rather discouraged. The furniture guy across from me sold bupkis.

Quality/Range of Art:

This show has a reputation for being one of the best quality shows in the AZ region and this year was no exception. From my limited survey of booths the work was great as usual!

Food:

It's always a good idea to keep the patrons there with food, drinks and places to sit. Good thing there were many high quality food trucks dispersed throughout the show site.

Reflections:

This was not a first time show for me and it didn't go so well this year either. As I reported, my low end items sold best even though there was a lot of interest in my images and the usual banter of "I'll be back" brought no solace to me. The jewelers on either side of me were quite discouraged and had thoughts of not returning. There were two music venues which may have actually had a negative effect on the buying, on Sunday afternoon most of the crowd was alone on the hill listening to the Beatles wannabees. When there was a good act the people disappeared. Additionally, as it was quite hot, people would head for the shade. It was surprising to me to see the last hour of the show each day be empty as that was the nicest part of the day. Spring training was going on and maybe some of the crowd was killing time at the show but for a $10 entry fee you'd think they were serious about being there. Oh yeah, the entry fee. I think a lot of people were there for the musical acts to justify that fee.

Would I return? Well, maybe the weather was a fluke but the trend of non buying at shows is a carry over from last year. Are we still in campaign mode? Oh, I'll leave that alone.

Okay, now for the Dave Piper star rating! I'd give this show ✩✩✩ out of 5 and that is because of the nice job of logistics, great amenities, booth sitting, quality of the art, management, etc. As far as the buying goes, I'd give it half ✩.

Shelby Township is located about 20 miles north of Detroit and is easy to find, just 3 miles north of M-59 and about a mile west of M-53. It's a favorite event for the more than 76,000 residents, and of others from near and far. Our fair is held outdoors on the Municipal Grounds with booths located on grass, many with shade trees.  

The friendly, helpful, organized staff, easy load-in & load-out, Friday night set-up, plenty of free daytime & overnight parking close to exhibit areas, overnight grounds security, and complimentary coffee and donuts each morning help to create a fun, friendly atmosphere.  

Advertising in local and regional publications, internet social media, television and radio announcements, e-mail blasts, flyers, banners and signs throughout the community, and more bring over 10,000 visitors to the event. 

Marketing: This event is advertised on a number of websites and eventcalendars, as well as through email blasts and various social media. Flyers and signs throughout the community, and postcards are made available to anyone that wishes to distribute them at their other events. Information is also sent to newspapers as well as radio and television stations.

Categories: 
ART MEDIA - Original, hand-made, one of a kind pieces (with the exception of prints), created and produced by the artist including, but not limited to: clay * digital * fiber * glass * jewelry * metal * mixed media * painting * photography * printmaking * drawing * sculpture * stone * wood * multi-media

EMERGING ARTISTS - Artists just starting to exhibit in any of the ART mediums listed above that don't have enough work for a full booth. Each accepted artist may rent no more than one 6 foot table under the Emerging Artists Tent.

CRAFT MEDIA - Items created by the crafter and produced in small quantities including, but not limited to: home décor * clothing and accessories * jewelry that is not one of a kind

MICHIGAN MADE MARKET - Items created in batches by Michigan based businesses, including, but not limited to: food items * bath and body products * candles * toys and games * books * pet products

For more information or to obtain an application please call 586-731-0300, email marshallp@shelbytwp.org, 

or visit http://shelbyartfair.wix.com/shelbyartfair

Margaret covered most of the essentials in her post but we wanted to provide a little more information about our experience.  At the outset, I want to make it clear I do not intend to be bitchy or disagreeable in any way.  My intent on writing these reviews is to provide specific information about shows that we do in order to assist others in deciding if they want to apply in the future. I try to do so in an entertaining way.  But I am so upset at what happened at this show that I might seem a little over the top.  I apologize in advance and will try to stick to the facts as I know them. We have lived in Alabama for over 10 years and the Fairhope / Mobile area was the one part of the state we had not visited.  As our friends had said on many occasions, it is a beautiful area.  The city itself is quaint and inviting.  Indeed there are many great restaurants within walking distance of your booth.  I do not think you can go wrong on the food and beverage front.  Nice rooms are available at reasonable prices if you are willing to drive 10 miles back to the expressway.  It is an easy commute to the show. 

I am a stickler for following the rules.  The last thing I do before we leave for a show is read the information again to make sure I did not miss anything.  When I did that this time I saw that we needed to buy a vendors license from Baldwin County.  Well, I had missed that but after a quick phone call I learned that we could buy one in person when we rolled into town.  So after checking into the hotel we headed to the Probate Court and paid our $ 31.00 for a temporary vendors license.  It came on some very official looking paper.  I took it with me to registration thinking someone would want to verify we were legal but no one did then or at anytime thereafter.  

At 6pm everyone lines up to drive into the show to set up.  We had left our trailer at the motel as we did not know about the parking situation we would be dealing with.  By the time we had a quick bite to eat and retrieved our trailer it was 6:30 or so.  The police officer assisted us with maneuvering to our spot and we stayed parked there for our entire set up.  The bar across the street was playing some great music so it was quite pleasant.  Speaking of pleasant, the weather was perfect all weekend.  There was parking less than two blocks away at a vacant school lot.  We dropped our trailer and were on our way back to the motel by 10pm looking forward to a great show. 

Part of the registration packet was a Rules and Regulation sheet which re-stated much of what was in the prospectus for the show on Zapp. Included were rules prohibiting mass produced items, proxy exhibitors, work not representative of work submitted for jury, and a general statement about inappropriate work or displays being prohibited. It also included a statement that the organizers would be checking to make sure these rules were being followed.  Not really.

At the end of our row was a booth with pet accessories such as leashes, collars with local sports logos, and of course treats.  There were thousands of items on display with more in a nearby trailer.  Two cash registers were set up on commercial portable power units. After extensive internet research (about 2 minutes worth) we learned that these folks own a pet boutique in a nearby community.  Next to us was a very nice women selling hats. Her sales pitch was they were made by family members in Florida.  I saw them come out of boxes during set up that had markings on them that looked very much like manufacturers model numbers. I have no way of knowing if she made them or not. But her sales pitch which I heard over and over again was that she did not make them, family members did. This amounts to a proxy sale which according to the rules is strictly prohibited as noted in bold type on the rules sheet. We were obviously a little concerned about all of this but were told by our neighbors that had done the show previously that there were so many people at the show it would not matter.  Well it did matter.  

We ran into several artist friends on Friday morning as the show opened and asked them about their previous experience at the show.  It was the first time for all of us.  Friday sales were slow.  We saw more bags walking by from the local stores than work bought from the artists.  At the very nice artists dinner Friday night we spoke with several friends who reported the same thing.  They also had concerns about buy/sell booths in their areas.  On Saturday an artist friend in our area was so upset about the situation she notified the organizers in writing about the booths in our area, quoting verbatim their rules.  Others voiced concerns verbally and were told "we are aware of it".

Saturday sales were slow but on Sunday we saw some large pieces go by mainly on canvas.  It seemed to us that on Sunday people came back and bought things they had seen earlier, just not from us.  We did not make expenses and neither did a couple of our neighbors.  A jeweler a couple booths away from us, also a first timer at this show, thought he might have broken even. I do not know what impact the questionable booths had on our sales for the show.  Some good friends of ours who do modern acrylic paintings who were next door to the pet store did well.  I think our work did not fit the area.  As one guy said "this stuff is edgy".  The things we did sell were mainly Birmingham images to people with a connection to Birmingham. Knowing what I now know, I would have brought more traditional images but the abandoned stuff sold well in Florida so I did not even consider changing our display for this show. That is on me. But there is little doubt that store fronts at an art show devalue the work around it and make things more difficult.  

Load out was managed by the artists and went well.  Even with chat breaks with friends and neighbors we were out of there by 7pm and on our way to much needed cocktails. The bottom line on this show is the organizers are very nice, the artists' amenities are plentiful, the venue is great, and the crowds are huge.  Just do not count on the rules being enforced unless of course you transgress beyond your designated boundaries. There was an admonition to weight your tent.  There was a huge storm last year that wiped out several displays, including the pet store.  No one checked that either as our hat neighbor had an EZ Up with maybe 20 pounds on each leg. One good gust of wind and her whole display would have been in the back of our tent. There is another show held at the same time on adjacent streets run by the arts center.  I walked that show and there was nothing there that even hinted of buy/sell.  I read everything I can find about a show before we apply.  I did not see anything indicating that buy/sell was an issue here.  Now you know. After writing this I doubt I would ever have to be concerned about coming back, but I would with another body of work.  I would do so with the understanding that I may be next to a buy/sell booth, not the expectation that clear rules would be enforced.  Many, if not all the elements of this show are great, with the exception of this one issue. 

By the way, as I was writing this we received an e-mail from the show.  Apparently several artists on their post show reviews expressed the same concerns about buy/sell. I will take the opportunity to reply and make a direct report to the organizers.    

It was the 65th year of the  Fairhope Arts Festival this past weekend. In a cute suburb of Mobile Alabama, the show hosts 236 artists throughout the town's main cross streets. It's 300 dollars to participate with a prize chest of over 10 thousand dollars. The show is a three day event that starts at ten each day and ends at 6 on Friday and Saturday and then on 5 on Sunday.

Load in on Thursday at 6 pm was pretty uneventful and was easy to maneuver as was load out. The show is set up in quads with each participant having two open sides if they prefer. This is a nice touch but they are very strict that no one is anywhere outside the lines drawn for your booth. I got chided for having my pro panel table too far out in the aisle. So you have a ten by twelve spot and you definitely need to stay inside those lines. There is no storage behind your booth so that extra two feet better have all your packaging stacked up tightly.

The committee running the show are very nice and there is breakfast each morning. The first morning they served shrimp and grits- I was in heaven. Anytime I get close to an ocean or a gulf I am on the search to find the best seafood. I grew up a Jersey Shore girl and although I live close to the Smokey Mountains now... anytime I can find good seafood that doesn't get flown in or frozen, I am a happy camper. Coffee and drinks were also available. There was a a nice awards dinner on Friday night. Drinks also were delivered multiple times a day by a great group of volunteers.

So now down to the nitty-gritty. The show says that close to 250 thousand attend this fair. There were a lot of people there, unfortunately, they didn't seem to pull out their wallets too often. I am a contemporary encaustic artist and for me personally, this was not my show. If you were into realism or jewelry or driftwood or anything nautical- you probably did very well. But if you did anything a bit out of the box it wasn't probably going to be good.

I watched the crowd a lot since I had a lot of time to do that... and I saw on the first and second day many prints and flat packages go out. There were not many framed works leaving the show in my area. On the third day I remarked to the girl next me.."the people at this show are just on a hike"...they weren't walking in anywhere or stopping to look. It was a bit surprising.

I did have some last minute sales that helped pay for expenses but basically I worked for nada this weekend. It was a pretty weekend (no tents down this year) which wasn't unpleasant, but when it's an 8 hour drive home and not much to show for it...it's never easy. I realize this business is like that, one show up, the next one might be down, I can handle that by now. I can also handle disparaging comments but this show had more than I have been used to. I need to vent on the website " things people say at art shows" - I have some good ones from Fairhope. When one guy with a strait face said my work looked "like a cat fight in a rain storm"...I just had to shake my head and laugh. Might have to work that into my art next time on purpose- I do have a bunch of cats so that's a distinct possibility. That was only one of the more unusual-smile on your face things said to me- we will leave the rest to your imagination- I am not above taking a good ribbing. Things happen.

There were really wonderful people there too, and great food- the Bistro on Fairhope Street was terrific and we ate the best MahiMahi sandwiches at Merl's - my best suggestion if you decide to do this show. Also, the Fairhope Brewing Company makes three nice brews...try them all. 

One thing I think needs to be said is that there were a lot of "scabs" all over. Many local artist's set up on the sidewalks across from us and stores rented out space to hawk buy/sell. Next to me were two painters with all their work leaning up againt's a storefront and next to them at a store directly in front of me, was a woman painting a tree all day, which brought crowds over consistently. This, I think took a lot away from those of us who paid a booth fee to show. It was all over, in fact there were quite a wide mix of things in the show anyway. I came in off the wait list after not getting into Winter Park this year ( they used the review I did last year for AFI on the Winterpark website- and of course- I didn't even make the cut.)....yea, that's my life sometimes....you just have to laugh.

All in all, Fairhope is  a perfect show for some..... with great food, mostly nice people and great weather. It just wasn't the show for me and now I know. But if golf shirts, kaki pants with the occasional Auburn or Alabama hats are your demographic.....this is your show... and I wish you, and the Fairhope Art Festival  much success. 

August 19

Green, Ohio

small and large businesses.

October 6, 7 & 8  

 

In the spirit of a non-profit, we recognize our artists as our partners and part of our mission. We make every effort to keep costs down and we are very proud to have kept our artist fees as low as possible. We don't have the expensive porta potties or gourmet vip tents, but our resident-volunteers will treat you as respected, valued guests. Our host teams visit artists daily offering snacks, water, help with booth sitting and information. We deliver free lunch on Friday, host a dinner Saturday night, offer complimentary soft drink and beer tickets and give $2500 in cash awards. 

You will have full show information ahead of time and your emails will be responded to. A 61 year tradition also boasts very loyal patrons. Ranked by Sunshine Artist in top 200 for sales for over a decade, including many years #1 or #2.

New: Fourth St has partnered with the St James Court section to inaugurate an Emerging Artist Program to sustain our industry for the next generation. Working with both SJCAS artists and local arts professionals, we have created an immersion experience to teach accepted artists "all things art show" during the first year, and participate as exhibitors the second.

Marketing Plan:

• program for patrons with artist listing, artist advertising opportunities in the program
• Facebook, Instagram, media interviews with artists during show, media onsite throughout show, regional magazines, rack cards, sponsorships with Fortune 500 brands, community involvement.

"I have nothing but praise for the efficient and well-done organization of this event. Set-up, load-out, great volunteers - the best!" 

"Yours is the most organized show we have been to". 

"Volunteers, hosts, everyone is great." 

"The show is as perfect as the staff and helpers - love them, A+." 

Contact: Elaine Steele,  edsteele@stjamescourtartshow.com

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Find more art fairs for your schedule: www.CallsForArtists.com
 

Information: www.MountainArtFestival.com email MountainArtFestivals@gmail.com

Contact: Dick or Tina Cunningham    (970) 406-1866

June 24 & 25
Des Moines, Iowa
Iowa State Fairgrounds
Sat. 10am-6pm; Sun. 10am-5pm
250 Artists
Deadline: March 24

Application fee: $30; Booth fee: $340-$600

Artfest Midwest 'The Other Art Show', Iowa's largest fine art show, is an indoor event (with a few outdoor spaces) held in the rain-free, air-conditioned Varied Industries Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. It is held on the same weekend as the downtown arts event. Artfest Midwest, an affordable alternative to the downtown show, will again offer free shuttle bus service to downtown. Parking and admission to the show are free for the estimated 30,000 patrons.

New: The event promotion is under new management, with new faces and new and innovative ideas to ensure a successful event. There will be cash prizes for the best art in each category and an overall "Best in Show".

Marketing: In addition to radio, television, newspaper and digital advertising, Artfest Midwest will be promoted through a robust social media network on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Learn more: www.artfestmidwest.com
Contact: Robyn Mills, artfestmidwest@sppg.com, 515-237-0339

Apply: https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=5554

May 6 & 7
Atlanta, Georgia
12th Woofstock - Pet Party in the Park
Presented by Entercom
40 Artists
Deadline: April 15

Space fee: $250

If you have pet themed art we think you'll love this outdoor event in the beautiful suburb of Suwannee in the Town Center, in Atlanta. This "Pet Party in the Park" caters to animal lovers, so we're looking for artists and crafters who have animal or pet themes. Pet owners are passionate and have high disposable income!

This year we are highlighting artisans who focus on animals. Do you have art that features animals or pets, or a product or craft item for a pet? We're looking for a bunch of creative people who know that pet lovers will spend like crazy on their furry friends (photographers, pet portraits, painted pet accessories, custom leather, dog sweaters, etc). If so we encourage you to apply for Woofstock!

Learn more about our party in the park: www.WoofstockATL.com

Contact Heather right now for an application: Heather.Schneider@Entercom.com

Questions: Dave Demer, Dave.demer@Entercom.com, 404-238-9445

Brooksville was the sixth and final art fair in our winter swing through Florida. It is a small art fair and I didn't expect much when I signed up. And, guess what? I didn't get much either.

This is a laid back art fair which assigns you a space and pretty much leaves you alone. We set up on Friday and were able to keep our van right in back of our booth for the entire setup. In fact, on Sunday we parked in the same place, in back of our booth, all day, so break down was also a breeze. The show is in a grassy park with lots of trees. Booths are set up along a paved path. All booths are in the grass. Our booth was between some trees giving us side walls on both sides to exhibit art on. The ground at our location was very uneven giving us a challenge to keep everything level. The high point was a good foot higher than the low point. Other artists had more even terrain.

Last week I was disappointed by my sales at Bonita Springs, making that show our worse in five years. This show beat that record. So, overall, we had a great start with four successful shows at the front end of our "tour." The last two shows at the back end were disappointing.

I saw a few pretty good artists at this show, but not many. There were a lot of inexpensive jewelers and a lot of buy/sell. There was a fine art section and a craft section. Saturday started out pretty good with people responding very well to my work (I'm a digital artist showing surrealistic prints). Its common for people to see my work and come back later to purchase. That didn't happen this time.

This show was also asking artists to donate a piece of their work for a fundraiser. In fact, the woman who came around to collect donated artwork assumed I would be donating and was surprised and insulted when I declined (politely). The work was to go in a tent at the show and be sold to patrons. I generally have a problem with donating my work unless I really have a connection to the cause. In this case, my donated work would directly compete with the work in my booth. Not sure why us artists, who struggle to make a living with our art, have to subsidize these "causes." Why can't they solicit a donation with the stipulation that a sale of our work will be shared with the artist? I would probably donate a bigger, more expensive piece if I knew that I would receive 50% of the sale.

Anyway, this was a pretty venue for a show, and it was easy to do, and not too expensive. But it wasn't a good show. I'd be surprised if any artists at this show grossed more that $1K.

One more thing. I just heard from Carolyn Edlund and her excellent website: Artsyshark. She just published a great piece on her website about me and my work. She made me look very impressive! HA! You can see the piece at this web address: http://bit.ly/2nfyeDS