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I did the Temple Beth El fund raiser Art Fair for the first time this year. This event has a stellar reputation among career artists because they bring in the money. Their members do a pre-buy in the form of purchase awards and they support the event. The week before the show I talked to one of the committee members who told me they had $145,000 in money spent in purchase awards. They take 35% of your sales, less than a gallery. It is set up as a gallery. I'm not sure whether you can apply to this show. The committee goes around to many art fairs and finds work they like and invites artists. You still have to fill out their forms. I think you can send them images asking to be in the show. Actually, I am not sure of any of this except for the people they invite. You'll have to google it to get the info.

Setup and take down are really easy. All you do is bring the work, or, ship it. They set everything up and have a storage area for backup pieces. If you have fragile work they let you set up your own work. They have pedestals and pegboards. My work looked better in their gallery than in my own booth.

They make an effort to have a top quality show. There is a main gallery room with work $500 and up and a "boutique" room with work under $500. Since my main work starts at $250, I had all my work in the main gallery. I believe that as long as the majority of your work is above $500 they let you put some under $500 in the main gallery. I had a number of pieces at $90 and $125 that were supposed to be in the boutique room. By the time I was ready to bring those pieces in, that room was filled, so, I couldn't show those pieces. In fairness to the committee, they want you to A) get your work to them on Tuesday so they can plan where they go and B) send your inventory sheet at least a week in advance so they can print out their proper labels and prices. I did neither partly because I didn't know what to expect. Next year I will do things differently if I get invited back. I won an award so I believe I'm invited, but, nothing is etched in stone.

They do a very good job of presenting the work and there were very knowledgeable patrons. I had some extremely good conversation and the people who bought my work knew what they were getting. I didn't do as well as I thought I would do. It seems that clay and glass did OK. 2D, 3D wall pieces, and jewelry did extremely well. However, the potential for doing well is sky high. I will go back next year if they have me and I will bring pieces based on what I learned. I expect to do much, much better, next year. A third of the artists were there and the rest shipped work. I could have dropped my work off and done another show, like St Armand's Circle. I would suggest being there to talk about your work, but, it isn't a requirement.

I forgot to mention that they took care of us all weekend. There was no shortage of really good food, even on the setup day. I, also, forgot to mention that I saw some old friends and fellow artists that I haven't seen for a while, potter Jan Richardson and jeweler Barbara Sucherman.

July 20-23
Ann Arbor, Michigan

The fair is located along five major streets with many opportunities for corner, and double booth spaces. The fair is know for it eclectic style and wonder as it joins fine art and a vibrant downtown district neighborhood.

June 3 & 4
Quincy, Illinois
Downtown in Washington Park
60 Artists
Deadline: February 3

Application fee: $20; Booth fee: $100

June 15-17

• Large 12'x12' booth sizes
• Low fees
• An air conditioned hospitality suite for artists
• Wednesday set-up is available and encouraged
• Dedicated artist assistance for load-in and load-out; booth sitters
• Artists are invited to come early (Friday, June 9) and participate in our plein air paint out and photography contest, and to attend the awards ceremony and opening reception held on Wednesday evening
• Free parking and lodging discounts are also available

many levels, we love Summerfest!" Culinary artisan Tom Stuntz

• Limited to 135 artists
• $2500 in cash merit awards- all awards include an automatic invitation to the following year's show
• Color thumbnail with links on website Artist Gallery
• More than $100,000 in combined media and marketing efforts to promote the Festival
• 24-hour security provided by off-duty Omaha Police Officers
• A variety of options for discounted lodging within one mile of the show
• Private, air-conditioned artists' lounge with artist-only restrooms and snacks & beverages throughout the day
• Complimentary lunch delivered to each artists' booth on Friday
• Artist Awards Brunch on Saturday
• Continental Breakfast and Artists' Meeting on Sunday

• Deadline to Apply:  January 31, 2017
• Artist Notification:  February 15, 2017
• Artist Acceptance:  March 15, 2017
• Booth Fees Due:  March 31, 2017
• Deadline to Withdraw with Refund (less $50 processing fee): May 1, 2017

Kudos to the Des Moines Arts Festival for their outreach to engage their community and build enthusiasm for the Arts Festival taking place June 23-25. For the second year in a row they hosted an event at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines where they "REVEALED" the artists who will be participating in this years festival. 

At the ticketed gala event, REVEAL, sponsors and stakeholders and enthusiasts of the event watched a multimedia event that showcased the 180 artists who had been chosen by a jury who:

previewed more than 6,000 images in a variety of mediums submitted by a pool of 1,002 applicants from 43 states, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Israel, and Taiwan.

The full list of invited artists can be found on the Festival’s web site at www.desmoinesartsfestival.org/visual-arts.

Stephen King, executive director of the event shared this audience building event with other show directors at last fall's Zapplication Art Festival Conference in Houston. It is a wonderful idea that would work in many communities. 

Full press release: 180%20Artists%20to%20be%20Represented%20at%20the%20Des%20Moines%20Arts%20Festival%20.pdf

Have you encountered this audience development at any other shows? 

It's frustrating for me to be sitting here on the couch right now when I thought I would be on the way to an art show in Sarasota.

Why? The infamous "wait list" of Howard Alan events and the bottomless greed from applications they accept.

I applied to this show because another show I had scheduled for this weekend also fell through. I saw this one was still open and accepting applications and thought, "Great! This show is still open!" Since I had never been rejected from a Howard Alan show (and neither had anyone else that I knew of, they take anything it seems), I thought I could get in another quick show before I have to take a week off for personal projects. Long drive, but you do what you have to do.

Well the deadline for applications finally passes -- two days before the show is to start -- and I'm anxiously awaiting the notification of whether to pack and go or stay. I have already got a room reservation, so all I have to do is hit the road. I didn't think much of it, because I had applied and been accepted that late before.

I finally send a message asking about status, and I was informed that I applied to be on the wait list. There are currently 88 other artists on the wait list.

What the heck?

Howard Alan events kept accepting 88 applications for the wait list, even after the show was closed. They don't provide booth sitters, artist snacks or water. They expect setup for most shows to begin at 4am. But they took in an extra $3520 for no reason except for greed.

But, Florida is the only game in town this time of year. And this was a firm reminder of how much I hate their style of "promotion."

June 9-11
Salina, Kansas
Presented by: Salina Arts & Humanities
136 artists
Deadline: February 6

Application fee: $40; Booth fee: $325

Expect exceptional Artist Amenities: booth sitters, beverages brought to booth, unload and loading assistance, 24 hour security, free reserved parking within the event for inventory access and an Artist & Patron cocktail Party.

New this year:
Our Fine Art Show will run for three days with shortened daily show hours. We have combined our Artist Reception with our Patron Program and created a new event to allow artists to meet Patrons before the shows open and to develop relationships with a new group of young professionals joining the Patron Program for the first time. We are also developing a Business Patron Program to encourage local and corporate businesses in Salina to support the Arts in our community by purchasing original work for their private and public spaces.

Festival Facts:

• Approximately half-a-million dollars in visual arts sales
• Both shows are juried and ranked among the Top 100 Art Fairs in the country in ArtFair Sourcebook!
• Knowledgeable and engaged patrons
• $130,000+ pledged by existing Patrons as well as both a young Professional and Business Patron Program rolling out this year to support the Fine Art Show
• Over $11,000 cash Merit & Purchase Awards
• Heavily shaded park setting
• Access to discounted lodging
• We spend nearly $40,000 annually in local and regional advertising and marketing for the Festival. 

June 24 & 25
Winnetka, Illinois
Presented by the North Shore Art League
80 Artists

Application fee: $35; Booth fee: $400 single/$600 double

North Shore Art League, the 93 year old arts organization located in Winnetka, IL, will present its national juried show in Winnetka's Hubbard Woods Park again this summer. 

On June 24 and 25 the park will be bustling with artists from across the country exhibiting their works to enthusiastic art buyers. The park is a beautiful setting for a summer art fair, right in the middle of the Village's Hubbard Woods Design District. Conveniently located along Green Bay Road with plenty of free parking. 

The League is locally well-known with close ties to the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College and many art galleries, schools and organizations. 

At the time it was founded, the League was one of the original arts organizations in the country. League members organized the popular Old Orchard Art Fair in Skokie in the 50's (which ran for over 45 years under NSAL leadership) and the New Horizons Art Shows held in Chicago during the 60's and 70's. Our nine-year old local fine arts exhibition, Art on the Plaza, was relocated and revamped to become Art in the Village. Bringing the fair to Hubbard Woods Park is like a homecoming of sorts as one of our very first outdoor shows was held in that same park. We hope to see you there this summer!

Testimonials:

Happy New Year dear artist (a little late). I hope the year brings you happiness, love and prosperity. I know it will bring some of that and am asking if you'd share that bounty with others in our business.

I'm sure you remember when you started in the business the helpfulness of other artists and the great tips you picked up "behind the booth." This was invaluable information that has built your business. Any chance you can "pay it forward?"

Wlll you post a 2016 show review or two on ArtShowReviews.com? The reviews are coming in steadily but yours would be so appreciated. 

We've overhauled the site and it is new, improved, easier and faster to leave feedback! 

Here's how easy:

1. Click this link www.ArtShowReviews.com 
2. Fill in the blanks - about 10 of them
3. Sit back and receive the good karma. You've done your good deed for the day! Thanks.

As always, wishing you fulfilling days, every day.

May 20 & 21
East Lansing, Michigan
downtown streets
180 artists
Deadline: January 31

Application fee: $25/$35; Booth fee: $335-$670

This highly anticipated mid-Michigan festival attracts over 70,000 knowledge-able art patrons from around the region. Established in 1964, the East Lansing Art Festival is an evolving outdoor celebration of fine art and fine craft show that takes place in the streets of downtown East Lansing, adjacent to the Michigan State University campus.

At the ELAF-ranked #9 by Sunshine Artist exhibitors can expect:

• a festive mood- this is the kickoff of the local festival season!
• well-educated visitors, including professional people from state government and the university
• friendly volunteers who welcome artists and make load-in and load-out run smoothly
• booth sitting services and Friday set-up as well as free artist parking, coffee and break area
• affiliation with local public TV and radio-bringing the right people to you
• eclectic live music that enhances the art rather than distracts from it
• international flavors in a unique food court 
  
  

What they say about us:

Very nice experience over-all!

Apply:  https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=5109

This was a show of firsts for us, our first show of 2017, our first show in Florida, and our first show pulling our new trailer.  

So, how did it go?  OK actually mainly due to one customer who came in our booth and made the show for us.  Towing a trailer definitely slowed us down on the road, but it allowed us to organize our stuff so much better and rolling items into the trailer is a lot better than lifting them into our pickup.  We eventually got to Sarasota after over nighting in Tallahassee.

Set up had originally been scheduled from noon until 7pm then a week before the show it was rescheduled to 8:30pm with a notation not to show up early.  So we arrived promptly at 8:30 to see that several booths were already set up and the artists gone to dinner or to bed.  This may have been due to a change in venue.  This show is normally on Gulfstream Ave. near some very high end condos.  Due to construction it had to be relocated to Main street, a very nice area with shops and restaurants.  

We were able to pull down a side street closed for the show and dolly across the street to our booth.  It took us until after midnight to get mostly ready to go.  We came back early the next morning to finish before the show opened at 10am. Traffic on Saturday was OK.  We had plenty of people in our booth to have a good day but their buying energy was pretty low.  

Usually we do a lot of business out of our print bins but that was not the case that day.  By noon we had sold one matted print. Our luck turned when our big customer came in and loved our work.  She bought a large piece off the wall, bought a second piece the next day and ordered a third we will deliver when we go down for Ft Myers.  That put us in the black for the trip.  If we had our normal number of print sales it would have been a great show but as it was we turned an OK profit. Sunday was a little slower traffic wise than Saturday.

Load out went well. We had plenty of room on the side walk behind our booth so we could stack everything in the order it needed to go in the trailer.  I was able to pull in front of our space, drop the ramp and load up in 15 minutes.  

This show was a Paragon production.  I was impressed with the no frills approach.  There are no artists amenities. Since there are two of us we do not need booth sitters, we bring our own water, and we usually do not eat the provided breakfasts at other shows due to dietary restrictions.  

Local artists we spoke with said the show was heavily advertised but it was not the same crowd they normally get at the Gulfstream location.  The weather was perfect both days which was a nice break from the gloomy Alabama weather we have had.  Bill Kinney, the promoter, was genuinely interested in how sales were going for everyone.  He came by a couple of times.  He is a photographer and was showing his work at the show so he had first hand knowledge of what was going on.

Much to my surprise a few days after the show we got an e-mail breaking down sales for each medium. I wish more promoters would provide that information as it helps make decisions for the future.  

Our goal for the Florida shows on our schedule is to test the market there for our work.  We are photographers of urban, industrial, and abandoned subjects usually at night or in low light.  About half the people that come in our booth don't get it, another quarter find it interesting to look at, and the remainder consider buying something. We need a younger, urban crowd for our work, so Sarasota's demographic did not fit.  But, we decided to try it anyway and it worked out mainly due to one person.   

Everyone knows that it is expensive to do shows in Florida this time of year so if you are going to do a show in Sarasota here are a few tips that might save you a little money.  We stayed at a little 60s motel on Highway 41 about 2 miles north of downtown called the Regency Inn and Suites.  It had been renovated, it was clean and had a nice outdoor pool area if you are so inclined.  There is some road noise but it can be drowned out with the air conditioner fan.  We slept very well and our total bill for three days was 285.00.

The Toasted Mango was our breakfast spot.  It is between the motel and downtown on Hwy 41. Excellent food, great service, OK coffee.  The parking lot is tight for large vehicles.  

We ate dinner at the Old Salty Dog which is across the bridge.  Take the first exit on St Armands Circle, and turn right at the first light.  It is on the water, offers $6.75 martinis, and has great Grouper Sandwiches, need I say more.  

Both days we ate take out salads from El Greco, a Greek restaurant located at Main and Orange.  On Saturday when I picked up the bag it was so heavy I thought I had the wrong order.  The salads were huge with lots of great additives.  If you like feta cheese this is the place for you. On Sunday we split one. 

Everything considered it was a good trip for us.  We will definitely apply to more Paragon shows based on this experience.  We are hopeful that Florida will offer enough interest in our work to merit more shows in the Sunshine state. The jury is still out.  The next three shows will be crucial.    

As an art fair outsider, I aspire to be an insider someday soon. I create designs that are screen printed on t-shirts, magnets and stickers and cater to mostly pet lovers. I’ve been doing this full-time for 10 years. I’m resigned to the fact that my business is relatively microscopic to the marketplace and it’s certainly not changing anyone’s life. But I spoke to a customer the other day that made me re-think what I do…

An older woman, Nancy had left a message on voice mail frantically looking for two of my stickers, an Akita and Golden Retriever. She said she spent the better part of her Sunday looking for me. She just totaled her van days prior and had to replace the stickers immediately! She even located two of my retail store customers in Michigan and was going to have her husband stop at one. Unfortunately neither store carried my stickers.

I was puzzled. Bewildered as to why in the world would someone go to all that trouble to buy two of my dog stickers especially after being in a serious car accident? Go to any pet boutique. You can find something similar most anywhere. Admittedly, I didn’t have my ‘customer service’ hat on. I had my ‘this lady must be crazy!’ hat on.

So I call her back and find out she just loves the designs and hasn’t seen anything else like it. That’s flattering I thought but doesn’t explain the urgency. So she goes on to explain the two designs represent her love for the two dog breeds she’s ever owned. And when she walks out to a parking lot looking at the sea of cars and sees those stickers on the rear window, she knows she’s found her car.

Now that she’s going to be driving a new vehicle and after going through the trauma of last week’s accident, she’s just trying to get some normalcy back… so that’s why she needed those stickers. Dumbfounded, I clumsily took her order and got off the phone.

I sat and pondered about my phone call. Sometimes because we get into a routine, things become insignificant to us. We start to push aside some of our work as mundane or less than worthy, things become less about art and meaning and more about business. We forget why people buy our art, maybe it’s not just decorative, maybe there’s some connection, some meaning and they make a purchase because of some relationship to our art that we could never begin to know. But often especially with the low dollar items, we just see it as something we printed on paper, on canvas or to hang on a wall. We forget that art can be about relationships. And we all need relationships.

May 27 & 28
St. Charles, Illinois
Presented by the Downtown St. Charles Partnership
100 Artists
Deadline: January 31

Application fee: $35; Booth fee: Single $395; Double $795

The St. Charles Fine Art Show is held along the banks of the Fox River in scenic downtown St. Charles, Illinois, approximately 40 miles west of Chicago. 

Boasting outstanding architecture and historic significance, St. Charles has long been a destination for the arts, as well as dining, entertainment, outdoor recreation, shopping and festivals. 

 

The St. Charles Fine Art Show attracts an audience of art buyers and supporters who come from all over Chicagoland and beyond. These supporters have generated an average of $60,000 in our Purchase Award Program each year over the past five years.