Posted by Ginny Herzog on April 11, 2009 at 12:23pm
When planning this season, I felt that TX would be a better risk than economy battered FL, which I had done for over 20 straight years. I did the Houston Bayou show two weeks ago in Memorial Park, for the first time. I also applied to Main St. Ft. Worth and Art City Austin (formerly Austin Fine Arts Festival and Laguna Gloria). Wanting to avoid a long trip home to Mpls and back a few days later, I added a new show - La Villita, in San Antonio. My thinking was that it would be a filler show that might generate a few nice sales.http://lavillita.com/index.php/Events/La-Villita-Spring-Arts-Festival-2009.htmlI won't go into the details of the location, as you may get that info from the link posted. But, suffice to say, it is a very charming area but nearly all attendees who came to the show, stumbled upon it as the only promotion we saw for it was a banner across a main street about a mile away, posters and postcards in the shops of La Villita, and a small, free blurb in the calendar for the entertainment section of the newspaper. We found the show on ZAPP and fees were modest - $200 booth fee, $25 jury fee and $50 electrical fee (optional).The website for the show, was minimal. No listing of exhibitors or links to their sites and if the show wasn't promoted, how would the public know to look at the website, anyways??!! I emailed the director in advance of the show to put up the hours of the show and the exhibitors and sent her links to other festival websites to show how other shows were promoting themselves on the internet. But all that was done was to add a postcard from the show.When we arrived for check-in, we found that parking was nearly impossible - no meters, only a few lots blocks away with a $5 minimum. Even though a two block area was barricaded at the check-in site, no one was there to let artists park there and pull out after check-in. Only two people were manning the check-in booth, the director, Janet Paduh, and a helper. It took 50 minutes for her to check-in the first dozen people in line ahead of us. We realized that she had marked off booth spaces and indicated them on the map, but had not assigned anyone until check-in! Therefore, wasting an enormous amount of time in the check-in process. There were NO artist packets with booth signs, name tags, programs, instructions or unloading passes. Nor were there any volunteers for assistance, artist hospitality etc.The quality of the 150 exhibitors in the show was weak, IMHO. I knew only three of the other exhibitors. Sales were very slow for nearly everyone I spoke to. One sculptor sold two nice pieces as he did an early exit from the show on Sunday. I doubled my only small sale at Houston Bayou, but did not make expenses.I feel that this director had no clue on how to run an art festival and have no idea why they hired her to do the job.The pluses for this experience (yes - there were several!)Load-in and out was one of the easiest. There was plenty of room on the sides of the booths. La Villita is a charming area. Security was excellent. Parking was close by. People in San Antonio are some of the nicest I've encountered anywhere!!San Antonio has become my new favorite city to visit. It is very easy to get around. Buy the daily trolley pass for $4. The trolley has four lines that go throughout downtown and you never need to wait more than 10 minutes and there is unlimited hopping on and off, with map signs at every stop. Parking can be very difficult and we preferred the trolley, when possible. San Antonio's famous River Walk is wonderful...like a canal throughout downtown, with river boat cruises.http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/There are restaurants and hotels all along the river, with many sidewalk cafes. We even had a hostess walk us three blocks away to another restaurant - Zinc - because theirs had a 2 hr. wait. Then our waitress at Zinc, walked us a couple of blocks to direct us to our parking garage.We got the Staybridge Suites, only blocks from the heart of downtown, for $55 per night on Priceline. It came with two full size beds, full kitchen w/ refrig, range, microwave and dishwasher. Free laundry facilities, fitness room, business center, outdoor pool, afternoon snacks with wine and beer, full hot breakfast buffet, movie DVD library, WiFi and high speed internet, parking....ALL FREE!San Antonio has wonderful restaurants and there is free musical entertainment throughout the River Walk, as well. I want to go back!I am considering a different show in San Antonio, however, for the future. The Fiesta Arts Fair at the Southwest School of Art & Craft is an official “kick-off event” for the renowned Fiesta® San Antonio, is held in mid-April.http://www.swschool.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64This show will conflict with Main St. Ft. Worth this year. MSFW will be my next show and I haven't done it in 8 years. I'm hoping that, perhaps, the focus of the event has improved since I last did it - when it was more about stacking empty beer cups and chomping on turkey legs while the music was blasting. Please FW, don't disappoint me. If you do, I will consider the Fiesta Arts Fair in San Antonio.
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If you've been doing art fairs for awhile you really don't notice when you haven't seen someone for awhile. You meet so many people at the shows. So I always appreciate it when one of you gives me information about friends who have left the fold and go on to other things. Thanks to Barbara Sucherman for sending this link about former fiber artist and doll maker, author and journalist, Nancy Camden, who I last saw at her home in Jackson, MI, about two years ago just before she moved to Milwaukee. She said at the time she had done her last art fair. This is a link to a piece Nancy did for NPR on a local dog park. Hello Nancy!!
TheDogParkMarch4,2009.mp3Read more…
It is a pleasure to showcase a friend of mine this month: sculptor James Eaton, a former industrial designer whose skills enabled him to emerge from the l983 recession with a new career: fabricating one-of-a-kind weather vanes. Jim's movement from employee to entrepreneur is a lesson for today and is an example to others as Jim says, "Who in the world would ever believe there's a market for something that's really high quality and special?" James' work adorns the poster for this month's featured show: the
Palm Beach Fine Craft Show, an exciting marketplace where you can find the finest of goods made in America, or as a friend said recently, where you "meet the Tiffany's of today." In Eaton's studio workshop women with trailing locks twirl around barbershop poles. Tandem cyclists spin around a propeller-fueled arrow in a primary palette. Drawers brim with silver wings, flying fish, propellers, horses' tails and pointing fingers, the whimsical flotsam and jetsam of an anatomical circus. "I like fantasy things. I like magic. I like circuses. Its all part of the package." His winged weather vanes have carried him to some of the finest arts and crafts shows in the country, including an exhibit with the Smithsonian Institution. Eaton begins with rough sketches of his 3-to-7-foot works of jaw gnashing crocodiles or finned mermaids, then plays with the form in three dimensions. The process of grinding, machining, drilling, painting and assembly can take up to 16 weeks to complete. They are ready to live outdoors as they have the same finish as on a Lear jet. Meet him March 20-22 at the Palm Beach Fine Craft Show and the Philadelphia Invitational Furniture Show, March 27-29. Read the rest of Jim's story here:
www.ArtFairCalendar.com/artistRead more…
In these times of economic struggle and rising show expenses, we all applaud a show that reduces their jury fees -- we love this gesture and consider the show who can choose to support us in this way - progressive, innovative and compassionate.What if the show that offers cash prizes, kept the flashy ribbons and judging aspect, and the priceless automatic reinvites, then subtracted that cash amount from the show space fees across the board for every artist thought worthy enough to be invited to the show? My very rough calculations range in the ball park of $25 to $125 per exhibitor reduced space fee. This simple shift in cash allocation would benefit everyone at a cost to no one. The show is not asked to give up necessary fees to operate, nor the artist, who more and more often cannot afford to apply to a show for fear of actually getting into it and then coming up with the fees to participate in it.If it is possible to lower either the booth or jury fees by no longer needing funds for monetary awards, why not? Obviously, fewer artists are applying for shows now and I think this is a large factor in the extended deadlines. If it is possible for a show to embrace this idea, it would probably be rewarded with an increase in applications which could result in more jury fees from very appreciative artists.Artists who who are consistent award winners and enter those shows with large cash awards for the money, may not embrace this idea. However, artists would still apply to the shows that are profitable for sales -- the ultimate attraction. The reinvite to a great show is the real prize anyway.I personally think a number of equal merit awards, regardless of category would be the way to recast the award program, but I understand the love of competition and the 1st, 2nd, 3rd place thing. Who would really care if it weren't for the award money?Of course, corporate prize money would still be welcomed support for the artists at those shows who have done the much appreciated work of drumming up their community's interest and commitment. But at least for a year or two more, until this economy stabilizes, I think this shift in monetary distribution would be a wonderful idea to pitch to the show directors who are genuinely interested in supporting us and really understand the hard reality of the economics that artists are currently facing. Even a $25 reduction would be a supportive effort to make on their part. Artists have applauded the initiative of several shows who voluntarily reduced their jury fees already. If changing the award system meant they would not be out financially, I ask, why not?Hopefully, this topic can be brought up at the upcoming NAIA Board meeting in Ft. Worth next week.Cynthia Cunningham
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Usual 7: a.m. radiation thing.......1 week down, 6 to go...sigh.It was 76 yesterday (unusual) and today it's supposed to drop 40 degrees in the next couple of hours (usual). I was gone most of the day and now I feel so guilty that I couldn't leave the kitties out on the screened in porch. The redtail hawks are back and busy adding to the old nest out back.Today I plan on going to see The Reader, working on the sign design for my son's new restaurant in Sierra Vista, AZ, cracking a bottle of pinot noir and doing some beading/tv watching in bed with the kitties.
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Last week I requested member of ArtFairInsiders.com to help me class up the site by posting photos of themselves or the site - specifically I asked "show us your face."
I got an overwhelming response of photos - well over a thousand!! Thank you for that. But, my dears, I was specifically asking you post your face - upgrade the site by uploading your avatar to your page.
Avatar: An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself in the form a two-dimensional icon Here is today's challenge: Help me get rid of the current avatar by designing a new avatar for the site. What I need is a 175 x 175 jpg, gif or png that will be used in place of the current one (which I have been told is tacky (!))
Win a prize: ebooks, artist of the month, article about you and your work, links to your web site. What would you like the best? You tell me.
Deadline: April 22. Enter your avatar in the comments below. Then we will all vote on the winner. If you don't feel like designing one, please go to "my page" and upload a personal avatar (either your face, your dog, your art, ???) to your page. I know lots of people are busy on this site. Let's show them our stuff. Like those two avatars of me and not sure how to do something like this yourself? Visit this link at
ScottFox.com and it will give you step by step directions:
www.ScottFox.com.
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Very Easy for people who have a rough time while on the road..Google 411
Just leave it up to Google to come up with something like this!!!
Here's a number worth putting in your cell phone, or your home phone speed dial: 1-800-goog411. This is an awesome service from Google, and it's free -- great when you are on the road.
Don't waste your money on information calls and don't waste your time manually dialing the number. I am driving along in my car and I need to call tonight’s hotel and I don't know the number. I hit the speed dial for information that I have programmed.
The voice at the other end says, "City & State." I say, " Miami, FL." He says, "Business Name or Type of Service." I say, Hampton Inn." He says, "Connecting" and Hampton Inn answers the phone. How great is that? This is nationwide and it is absolutely free!
Click on the link below and watch the short clip for a quick demonstration.
http://www.google.com/goog411/
Many thanks to my good friend, Barb Burkhardt, for this cool tip.
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Many of you have websites, and some of you are doing all the work there. Here is a good article about Search Engine Optimization to get you thinking and tweaking to increase the traffic on your site:
"How to Think Like a Search Engine" by Scott Fox:
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Posted by Connie Mettler on November 17, 2008 at 10:19am
June 26-29, 2009
35th Annual Omaha Summer Arts Festival
Downtown Omaha, NE
135 Artists
Deadline: January 20, 2009
You are cordially invited to Omaha to be a part of one of the most vibrant art festivals in the Midwest. Located downtown alongside a beautiful park, the award-winning Summer Arts Festival draws a diverse crowd of 80,000 people for a weekend of great music, tasty food, children's activities and, most importantly, wonderful visual arts!
Here's the rest of the story:
Festival patrons enjoy browsing and buying an eclectic mix of functional and non-functional pieces by 135 artists in 14 media categories. High-quality work in the $50 to $300 range tends to sell most frequently, but, of course, higher priced artwork does not go unnoticed (or un-purchased) by Omaha's fair share of art-lovers.
The mission of the Festival is to present a variety of high quality arts programs and exhibits in downtown Omaha for the general public to enjoy and appreciate.
"Sales are great!" one artist said succinctly. "The way artists are treated is truly excellent."
What to expect:
- $2500 in cash awards
- Exceptional hospitality and concierge services that are a step above the rest
- Discount hotel rates
- Artists' Awards Brunch on Saturday and an Artists' Meeting on Sunday with continental breakfast; complimentary snacks and beverages
- An air-conditioned lounge with indoor restrooms, booth sitters, water delivery, overnight indoor storage
- 24-hour security
- Electricity and reserved parking available for an additional fee
- Substantial festival marketing and media coverage
"[The Omaha Summer Arts Festival] is my favorite show to do; and [the] treatment of artists is the best!" said one artist. "Not many shows do anything for artists anymore-it is very important to us."The Omaha Summer Arts Festival needs to jury approximately one third of its 135 artists booth, plus its waitlist, with quality artists, even though the Festival invited back most of its artists from 2008 due to a severe storm that hit during the Festival.
Interested artists may visit www.SummerArts.org to download an application today!
For more information about the Omaha Summer Arts Festival, please contact Carly Barth, Visual Arts Coordinator, at (402) 345-5401 or cbarth@vgagroup.com.
P.S. Recently the Omaha Summer Arts Festival was welcomed into the NAIA's Hall of Fame, for its outstanding actions and compassionate behavior during extraordinary circumstances at their 2008 event. Their exemplary emergency plan saved lives and property damage.
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Hi Connie,
Here are some of my thoughts on the Art Fair Business. It requires:
1. Creativity
2. A positive attitude
3. A gambling mentality
Yes, this is a great business, but you need to have a creative, positive attitude with a gambling mentality to survive.
1. Creative - continually coming up with different ways of marketing, depending on the economy. Bringing more affordable work to the market without compromising the integrity of your work. I may have some questions for you regarding blogs, as I see this as a possible tool to get the word out about new "ventures" and experimental marketing ideas.
(Ginny sent me this info in September, as you can see since then I have been blogging my little heart out -- actually for two years now. I do believe it is a great way to keep yourself in front of your customers.)
Mailing out postcards has been an effective marketing tool for years for me. However, More customers are reluctant to give out their postal addresses, instead, preferring email contact. So I am trying to put the contacts in folders by geographical locations. Two programs I am considering for email marketing are iContact and Constant Contact. Have you used either one?
(Ginny, I have had a Constant Contact account since 2004. It is an excellent program as it continually updates my contacts, takes care of spam, unsubscribes, subscribes, etc, and worth every penny. I currently have over 11,000 subscribers from all over the country.)
Also, I am thinking of self publishing a book of my images. Many of my most passionate collectors are architects, engineers and designers. I don't have the finances to invest in publishing but love the idea of self-publishing. One companies that interest me are Blurb. http://www.blurb.com/, and Lulu. http://www.lulu.com/en/products/.
I will look into others, as well. Have you had any experience with publishing?
(I have done promotional work with an author whose books are published by a traditional publisher. But I have done lots of research in the publishing business, including self-publishing. You might want to take a look at this book for more ideas: The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Self-publishing on demand seems ideal for your purposes. You might check out this link also: xlibris.com. Also, I'd search Amazon.com for books on the topic. I'd bet there are online discussion groups on this topic.)
2. Positive attitude - I believe artists today need to have a positive attitude in order to survive, particularly with all of the negative news and energy in our business. Rejections from shows and poor sales constantly beat the artists down. But if you can't keep a smile and positive attitude in your booth, it will be difficult to sell yourself and your art.
(There is a thread on this site where they are talking about "snarling" artists. Yes, you know who you are. Somehow, I'm thinking, snarling at customers doesn't quite work:) Constantly staying positive is sometimes pretty hard, but this is partly a hospitality business, not a place for the asocial or introverts.)3. Gambling mentality - We need to try new markets, new approaches to reaching our customer base, new body of work - all with possibilities of failure but with opportunities to learn and move forward from mistakes. Each trip to a show is a gamble.
(You are right on that one, Ginny. Each application, each trip, each approach to a customer is a gamble. I sometimes think art fair artists are so addicted to this business because of what Buckminster Fuller calls "intermittent reinforcement." Bang, bang, bang, winner, bang, low end sale, bang, bang, more money, etc., keeps us coming back for the "winner".)
You are someone who uses all of the above, Connie. And, I admire you for that.
Ginny
Thanks Ginny, for the thoughts above. I appreciate hearing from you and wish you great shows this year.
Visit Ginny's website: www.herzogart.com to learn more about her and view her work. She is spending most of April in Texas so maybe you can meet her there as I know a bunch of you are participating in this month's Texas shows.
What would you like to share? Write me a blog post and I'll see that it gets good exposure. Your fellow artists are definitely interested in what you have to say.
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Posted by Connie Mettler on November 14, 2008 at 11:30am
Don't tell my mother, but I'm tooting my own horn here. Recently, I found a fan online, Barbara Sistak Baur. She called my website an "Art-Throb". First time for everything!! Here is what she had to say:
Art-Throb is a term I use for a great place to discover art. And ArtFairCalendar.com is such a place. This web site gives you all the info on the top Art Festivals and Craft Shows in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida and, well, all across the country. If you enjoy spending time at art fairs, you must visit this site. “Art Fairs bring together in a unique manner the creators and the culturally aware to enrich one another's lives."
Thanks so much, Barbara.
Actually I met Barbara this spring when she drove over from Chicago to purchase our used Armstrong panels. We all have to admire her pluck when with those same panels wrapped around her her booth blew over in Evanston. What did she do? She picked herself up and was ready to go her next fair two weeks later. Way to go, Barbara.
Visit her blog: Fresh PaintRead more…
1. August 22 & 23 Oswego Art Fair Oswego, IL Presented by EM Events Sat. 10 AM - 5 PM & Sun. 10 AM - 4 PM 65 Artists Application deadline: March 1 Late August brings beautiful weather to this region. Couple that with this fine small event think hard about adding this event to your art fair list. Where is Oswego? It is located 50 miles southwest of Chicago, well situated at the southern end of the Fox River Valley.
The Oswego Fine Art Fair provides a cultural art experience for the Village of Oswego and the surrounding communities. Art enthusiasts and patrons are delighted by an assortment of attractions including unique pieces of art from renowned artists from across the country, children's art activities, live musical entertainment and delicious food from local vendors. Hosted by the Village of Oswego, the Oswego Fine Art Fair is located on picturesque Main Street, in Oswego's historic downtown business district which serves as an extraordinary backdrop for fine art. Celebrating its 6th year, the Oswego Fine Art Fair has something for everyone to enjoy! Booth Fee: $230 --- Prints allowed --- Make checks payable to: Village of Oswego
For an application: www.emevents.com2. September 12 & 13 West End Art Festival LaGrange, IL presented by EM Events Saturday 10 AM - 5 PM Sunday 10 AM - 4 PM 90 Artists Application deadline: March 1 Celebrating its 14th year, the West End Art Festival is a LaGrange tradition whose purpose is to bring a quality, fine art event to the Village of LaGrange and surrounding communities and highlight the west end business district. Artists from across the country participate in LaGrange's late summer festival that attracts art admirers and patrons each year. This is an affluent community where 64% of the homes are priced from $200,000 to $500,000, located 14 miles west of Chicago.
Presented by the LaGrange Business Association and held in cooperation with the Village of LaGrange, the festival is held in the shadow of the landmark Stone Avenue Station along Burlington Avenue between Brainard and Spring Avenues. The charming and historic West End area of LaGrange provides a picture-perfect setting to showcase art. Other highlights include live music, food from local LaGrange restaurants and children's art activities for an event to be enjoyed by all ages. Booth Fee: $285 --- Prints allowed --- Make checks payable to: LaGrange Business Association More info about LaGrange:
villageofLaGrange.com To download an application:
www.emevents.com3. September 26 & 27 Lakeview East Festival of the Arts Chicago presented by EM Events Sat. 10 AM - 6 PM Sun. 10 AM - 5 PM 130+ Artists Deadline: March 1 Beautiful fall weather brings you an event in a hip Chicago neighborhood, a great place to finish your outdoor art fair season in the Midwest. The Lakeview East Festival of the Arts is Chicago's premier fine art and fine craft festival showcasing over 130 juried artists. Lakeview is located on the north side of Chicago, near Wrigley Field, north Halsted and Lincoln Park in a very diverse, culturally rich community with unique boutique stores, cafes and restaurants.
The Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce has hosted this event for the past three years and has been rated as one of the top shows in Sunshine Artist's Magazine. More than 40,000 attendees are expected to attend this year's festival. The festival is set on Broadway Avenue just north of Belmont Avenue. This event has a strong marketing and media plan and hosts an annual artist reception. Other amenities include: -artist reserved parking -vendor fee permit waived -Saturday night Artist Party -a full breakfast served Saturday and Sunday -Booth Fee: $400 Make checks payable to: Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce --- Prints allowed Download the application at:
EMEvents.com ********** Looking for more art fairs for your 2009 season? Visit:
ArtFairCalendar.com/callforentriesRead more…
D & W Events, Inc., is featuring three (3) top notch Chicago area shows this summer. Debbie Netter, President and founder of D & W, has 20+ years of organizing events and knows how to make it less stressful for everyone! Top reasons to consider a
D & W Events, Inc., show: (not in order of importance!) 1. Well run, organized and fun! 2. Attentive artist hospitality including booth sitters, hot and iced coffee both days, continental breakfast both days, indoor restroom facilities, bottled water delivered to you frequently throughout the show, discounted hotel rates, overnight security 3. Booth fees for all shows remains at $275.00, and jury fee, $25.00. Larger booths and corners available for additional fee. 4. Wonderful attendance from a higher economic buying crowd 5. Advertising intrinsically placed to capture the high to middle economic crowd 6. Easy load in and out 7. Promoter who cares and will implement your suggestions 8. Booth fee checks not cashed until show acceptance (or returned promptly) 9. Smaller shows means less artist competition 10. Juried and judged by industry professionals
What artists say about
D & W Events, Inc.:
"This is our 7th year returning to the festival in Deerfield. D & W runs a great show. Nothing is left to chance." Christine & John Strobel
"Your organization, attentiveness and hard work makes your festivals successful." Karen Joyce
"I've consistently done well at D & W festivals. That's why I return every year!" Devin Somerville This festival kicks off the Chicago area season:
MAY 23 & 24 Cuneo Gardens Art Fest 1350 Milwaukee Avenue, Vernon Hills, IL Presented by: Cuneo Museum & Gardens Deadline: March 15, 2009 Held in the sculpture garden of the historic Cuneo Mansion adjacent to the formal gardens and golf course - Approximately 75 - 100 artists - 4th year festival - Median home price - $530,000
MAY 30 & 31 Deerfield Festival of Fine Arts Deerfield Road and Park Avenue, Deerfield, IL Presented by: Deerfield Fine Arts Commission & Village of Deerfield Deadline: March 15, 2009 Held in town, busy city-like atmosphere - Approximately 125 - 160 artists - 7th year festival - Median home price - $825,000
JULY 11 & 12 Art in the Park - Northbrook Village Green Park, 1320 Shermer Road, Northbrook, IL Presented by Northbrook Arts Commission in collaboration with Village of Northbrook And Northbrook Park District Deadline: March 15, 2009 Held in beautiful downtown park, center of Northbrook - Approximately 75 - 100 artists - 9th year festival - Media home price - $625,000 Visit the
D & W Events website for more information and to download an application:
www.dwevents.org More questions? Contact Debbie Netter at
dwevents@comcast.netRead more…
September 19 & 20 Artsfest '09 Annmarie Garden Sculpture Park & Arts Center Solomons, Maryland in Association with the Smithsonian Institution 120-150 artists Deadline: March 31 Annmarie Garden is a thirty acre public sculpture park and arts center located in scenic Solomons, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay. The Garden also features a shady walking path that meanders through the woods past permanent and loaned works of outdoor sculpture, much of it spectacular works on loan from the Smithsonian Institution. Established in 1993,
Artsfest is an annual juried arts festival organized recognized as one of the top outdoor arts festivals in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Artsfest brings together some of the country's most accomplished artists for a weekend of art, music, food, wine and micro brews at beautiful Annmarie Garden. Bands and entertainment acts perform continuously throughout the Garden. Artsfest welcomes a broad array of art media and styles in an effort to provide a diverse selection to Artsfest visitors. Artists working in fine art, fine craft, and folk art categories are encouraged to apply. Artsfest offers three VERY different exhibition options: *inside the Arts Building *around the Tent Circle *and along the lovely Wooded Path What else? *Cash Awards will be presented in several categories, Artsfest '09including the Best of Show and Best Display awards.
* Hussein Saidi receiving a well deserved Best of Show *Arts Organizations can also participate in Artsfest! Are you looking to increase exposure for your arts organization, then consider applying for a booth at Artsfest. Reach thousands of visitors interested in the arts. All organizations must provide an activity or demonstrate. *Artsfest has gone paper-less! All of the festival communication is now being done via the Internet and through email. *Emerging Artist Program! Emerging artists are invited to submit their applications for consideration. This program is intended to provide emerging artists with professional show experience. For complete information, including call for entries, please visit the website at
www.annmariegarden.org. Or contact Melissa Daman, Artsfest Coordinator at
gardenevents@chesapeake.net Thank you! Artsfest is one of the most important fund-raising activities for Annmarie Garden. We cannot express enough our extreme gratitude to all artists. We know there are so many details to worry about when undertaking a festival, and we are grateful that you are willing to share your talents and participate in this event. We hope it is a mutually beneficial experience. Artists, if you apply to this event, please tell them ArtFairCalendar.com sent you! Thanks.
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My thanks to member Jean Thompson of
American Style magazine, an arm of the Rosen Group, for forwarding me this interesting article. After you have read it I'd sure be interested to know if you agree with the results of the poll.
America’s Top 10 Art Fairs and Festivals: Winners Announced Baltimore, MD (Dec. 10, 2008) Where do Americans prefer to go to view and buy art and fine craft in a festive setting? The answers are in the February 2009 issue of AmericanStyle magazine, which will reveal the nation’s Top 10 Fairs & Festivals, as determined by polling its readers. The issue goes on sale at newsstands on Dec. 16. Art collectors are willing to flock to places like Wausau, Wisc., and Midway, Ky. – crossroads far removed from better-known urban art centers. Despite the distance and the economic downturn, many of the top-rated art fairs and festivals boast crowd counts of more than 200,000 visitors – made up of tourists and locals alike. What keeps the crowds coming back? The
quality and
diversity of the art are top-notch. In addition, the nation’s best art events provide a noteworthy intersection of contemporary trends in professional art and craft and major current trends in retail, says Wendy Rosen, publisher of AmericanStyle.
“Discerning shoppers can ‘buy local,’ ‘buy handmade,’ ‘buy American’ and ‘support a worthy cause’ simultaneously at the very best art fairs and festivals,” Ms. Rosen says. “At the same time, they help the economy by supporting the small businesses of artists.” “They can feel good about making an investment in professional handcraft that has been carefully juried,” Ms. Rosen says, “and at the same time, soak up the fun atmosphere, the entertainment, the education and the collegiality that’s possible only at a gathering of like-minded art lovers. They can meet the artists and learn where the work came from and how it was made.” This year’s first-place winner blends three distinct events into a citywide arts extravaganza called Wausau’s Artrageous Weekend: Art in the Park, held in Marathon Park; the Festival of Arts, in downtown Wausau; and the annual “Birds in Art” exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art museum, a mecca for international wildlife artists.
2009 Winners list TOP 10 FAIRS & FESTIVALS Wausau’s Artrageous Weekend, Wausau, Wis. Kentucky Crafted: The Market, Louisville, Ky. Bayou City Art Festival, Houston, Texas Scottsdale Arts Festival, Scottsdale, Ariz. Des Moines Arts Festival, Des Moines, Iowa St. James Court Art Show, Louisville, Ky. Francisco’s Farm Arts Festival at Midway College, Midway, Ky. American Craft Council Show in Baltimore, Baltimore, Md. Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, The Original, Ann Arbor, Mich. Kentuck Festival of the Arts, Northport, Ala. SOURCE: AmericanStyle magazine readers’ poll, Feb. 2009 issue, on newsstands and at
www.AmericanStyle.com on Dec. 16, 2008. Are you planning a trip to one of these great festivals in 2009? Here’s the winners list again, in calendar order: February 21-22 Kentucky Crafted: The Market (2) February 27-March 1 American Craft Council Show in Baltimore (8) March 20-22 Scottsdale Arts Festival (4) March 27-29 Bayou City Art Festival (3* also see October) June 26-28 Des Moines Arts Festival (5) June 27-28
Francisco’s Farm Arts Festival at Midway College (7) July 15-19 Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (9) September 12-13 Wausau’s Artrageous Weekend (1) October 2-4 St. James Court Art Show (6) October 10-11 Bayou City Art Festival (3* also see March) October 17-18 Kentuck Festival of the Arts (10) The mission of AmericanStyle magazine is to inform craft enthusiasts and art collectors about the significance of handmade objects of art. Launched in 1994 by The Rosen Group, AmericanStyle provides art lovers with valuable tips on decorating, interior design, display and lighting ideas for everything from designer jewelry and art glass to collectible teapots, art furniture and sculptural ceramics. More than 250 arts festivals, gallery exhibitions and museum events are listed in the Datebook section of each issue. For more information, visit
www.AmericanStyle.com.
Your turn. What is your vote for the best art fair? Or, let's make it easy: what are the three best art fairs? Let us know.Read more…
As I recall from last fall, Houston's Bayou City Art Festival is making record money -- doing a great job of putting their art festival together and finding sponsors along the way. They also have a great publicist, Susan Farb Morris, who even promotes on the Internet - some good Web 2.0 going on here. Here is their email. I hope they have thousands of people on their mailing list. It sounds like they are getting a good headstart tonight! The
12th Annual Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park is
This Weekend - Friday, Saturday & Sunday! Get a Head Start on the Festival Weekend This Thursday, March 26, 2009, at Cultured Cocktails with Beaver's & Spacetaker!
Cultured Cocktails Thurs., March 26, 5-10 p.m. Beaver's, 2310 Decatur St. 77007 Cultured Cocktails Mar. 26 menu features one appetizer, one cocktail, one beer and one wine, with 25% of the proceeds from that menu's sales going to the Art Colony Association, Bayou City Art Festival producer Need more details about the festival itself? Check this out: Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park
See why this outdoor party got a Best Festival nod from the Houston Press Best of Awards It surely sounds like a great time in Houston this weekend. Think I'll put it on my calendar for next year. Here's a nice piece about mixed media artist Stephanie Rubiano in the Houston Chronicle:
Stephanie Jones Rubiano brings her whimsical art to HoustonRead more…
July 18 24th Annual Art in the Park Petoskey, MI presented by the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce 130 artists Deadline: March 1Held in Downtown Petoskey's picturesque Pennsylvania Park, this one day, juried fine arts and crafts show is located in the heart of a traditional, wealthy resort area whose passion for art and culture is well known. The well heeled resort community and visitors who come from around the country produce estimated crowd counts of 15,000 and up. Art in the Park's location in a resort area is important to you. Now you can combine your selling opportunities with a vacation, but even more importantly you should know that it is an uncontested fact that the Number One thing people do while they are on vacation is shop and they spend money on things that they do not normally purchase. Shopping for your artwork can be on their list if you attend Petoskey's Art in the Park. If you are worried about Michigan's economy, consider also the fact that the Petoskey region is the vacation destination for St. Louis and Chicago. Expect: *crowds of buyers *a peaceful and beautiful setting in the heart of an historic downtown shopping destination *a complimentary breakfast served by volunteers from Sturgeon River Pottery *fair booth fee of $165 And, to prove this is a hard working committee look at what is new this year: *an artist's Welcome Reception will be held at Stafford's Gallery, with the convenience of registration the night before the show *a block of rooms for artists at North Central Michigan College, just blocks away from Pennsylvania Park, at a very reasonable price. *And, if you would like to appear at
a second show while you are in northern Michigan, consider attending the Goodhart Mini Fair which is Sunday, July 19. (Pre-registration information is available on our art fair application.) Often the ambitious artists who are participating in a one day show are pleased to find another one nearby for the second day. I think this is the first time I have seen two events pair up like this to enable both to have a better selection of artists. Way to go, Chamber of Commerce! Thank you for this consideration. Application forms available online at:
www.petoskey.com/art, or call at 231-347-4150 and they will mail one to you.
Read more…
April 17-19 Novi, Michigan Rock Financial Showplace 46100 Grand River 10 am to 6 pm Admission: $7.00 Parking: FREE Opening Night Party Fri. - April 17th - 7 pm Ticket Price: $50 The Great Lakes Art Fair offers fine artists and their patrons an expansive new regional marketplace that promises to bring a fresh energy to the artistic community. Its' mission is to bring a first class indoor fine art show to the discriminating patrons of the area and to become a new bi-annual destination event. Imagine walking through a fashionable downtown, surrounded by amazing art displays, while browsing past City Squares jam packed with action. Each City Square will offer something different, including plentiful gardens by our landscape partners, original performances not seen anywhere else and the Marketplace Cafe where attendees can truly feel like they are in an authentic outdoor cafe. The best part is....Great Lakes Art Fair will bring you all of this without ever stepping outdoors! Expect: +140 artist displays - jewelry, clothing, painting, photography, sculpture, pottery and much more +beautifully landscaped avenues and gardens
+student art displays +artist demonstrations +art based entertainment +a Marketplace Café offering high quality cuisine in sync with the overall event feel
"Red Jag" by Tom Hale, exhibiting at Great Lakes Art Fair Download a discounted admission ticket For more info:
www.GreatLakesArtFair.com OR: 248.348.5600 or
info@greatlakesartfair.comRead more…
Posted by Connie Mettler on November 14, 2008 at 11:21am
Here's another idea for when you run out of things to do in the art fair business: build your online presence. About a year ago I discovered mixed media artist, Dolan Geiman. Not only is his art cutting-edge, contemporary and fun, he and his partner, Ali Walsh, are using all the tools of the online world to promote him and build a community around his art and ideas.
I regularly receive beautifully designed newsletters full of their latest doings. Visit his website to drool over their great marketing ideas and see what you can learn to promote your art fair business.
Read more…
June 26-29, 2009
35th Annual Omaha Summer Arts Festival
Downtown Omaha, NE
135 Artists
Deadline: January 20, 2009
You are cordially invited to Omaha to be a part of one of the most vibrant art festivals in the Midwest. Located downtown alongside a beautiful park, the award-winning Summer Arts Festival draws a diverse crowd of 80,000 people for a weekend of great music, tasty food, children's activities and, most importantly, wonderful visual arts!
Here's the rest of the story:
Festival patrons enjoy browsing and buying an eclectic mix of functional and non-functional pieces by 135 artists in 14 media categories. High-quality work in the $50 to $300 range tends to sell most frequently, but, of course, higher priced artwork does not go unnoticed (or un-purchased) by Omaha's fair share of art-lovers.
The mission of the Festival is to present a variety of high quality arts programs and exhibits in downtown Omaha for the general public to enjoy and appreciate.
"Sales are great!" one artist said succinctly. "The way artists are treated is truly excellent."
What to expect:
- $2500 in cash awards
- Exceptional hospitality and concierge services that are a step above the rest
- Discount hotel rates
- Artists' Awards Brunch on Saturday and an Artists' Meeting on Sunday with continental breakfast; complimentary snacks and beverages
- An air-conditioned lounge with indoor restrooms, booth sitters, water delivery, overnight indoor storage
- 24-hour security
- Electricity and reserved parking available for an additional fee
- Substantial festival marketing and media coverage
"[The Omaha Summer Arts Festival] is my favorite show to do; and [the] treatment of artists is the best!" said one
artist. "Not many shows do anything for artists anymore-it is very important to us."
The Omaha Summer Arts Festival needs to jury approximately one third of its 135 artists booth, plus its waitlist, with quality artists, even though the Festival invited back most of its artists from 2008 due to a severe storm that hit during the Festival.
Interested artists may visit www.SummerArts.org to download an application today!
For more information about the Omaha Summer Arts Festival, please contact Carly Barth, Visual Arts Coordinator, at (402) 345-5401 or cbarth@vgagroup.com.
P.S. Recently the Omaha Summer Arts Festival was welcomed into the NAIA's Hall of Fame, for its outstanding actions and compassionate behavior during extraordinary circumstances at their 2008 event. Their exemplary emergency plan saved lives and property damage.
Here are some of my thoughts on the Art Fair Business. It requires:
1. Creativity
2. A positive attitude
3. A gambling mentality
Yes, this is a great business, but you need to have a creative, positive attitude with a gambling mentality to survive.
1. Creative - continually coming up with different ways of marketing, depending on the economy. Bringing more affordable work to the market without compromising the integrity of your work. I may have some questions for you regarding blogs, as I see this as a possible tool to get the word out about new "ventures" and experimental marketing ideas.
(Ginny sent me this info in September, as you can see since then I have been blogging my little heart out -- actually for two years now. I do believe it is a great way to keep yourself in front of your customers.)
Mailing out postcards has been an effective marketing tool for years for me. However, More customers are reluctant to give out their postal addresses, instead, preferring email contact. So I am trying to put the contacts in folders by geographical locations. Two programs I am considering for email marketing are iContact and Constant Contact. Have you used either one?
(Ginny, I have had a Constant Contact account since 2004. It is an excellent program as it continually updates my contacts, takes care of spam, unsubscribes, subscribes, etc, and worth every penny. I currently have over 11,000 subscribers from all over the country.)
Also, I am thinking of self publishing a book of my images. Many of my most passionate collectors are architects, engineers and designers. I don't have the finances to invest in publishing but love the idea of self-publishing. One companies that interest me are Blurb. http://www.blurb.com/, and Lulu. http://www.lulu.com/en/products/.
I will look into others, as well. Have you had any experience with publishing?
(I have done promotional work with an author whose books are published by a traditional publisher. But I have done lots of research in the publishing business, including self-publishing. You might want to take a look at this book for more ideas: The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Self-publishing on demand seems ideal for your purposes. You might check out this link also: xlibris.com. Also, I'd search Amazon.com for books on the topic. I'd bet there are online discussion groups on this topic.)
2. Positive attitude - I believe artists today need to have a positive attitude in order to survive, particularly with all of the negative news and energy in our business. Rejections from shows and poor sales constantly beat the artists down. But if you can't keep a smile and positive attitude in your booth, it will be difficult to sell yourself and your art.
(There is a thread on this site where they are talking about "snarling" artists. Yes, you know who you are. Somehow, I'm thinking, snarling at customers doesn't quite work:) Constantly staying positive is sometimes pretty hard, but this is partly a hospitality business, not a place for the asocial or introverts.)
3. Gambling mentality - We need to try new markets, new approaches to reaching our customer base, new body of work - all with possibilities of failure but with opportunities to learn and move forward from mistakes. Each trip to a show is a gamble.
(You are right on that one, Ginny. Each application, each trip, each approach to a customer is a gamble. I sometimes think art fair artists are so addicted to this business because of what Buckminster Fuller calls "intermittent reinforcement." Bang, bang, bang, winner, bang, low end sale, bang, bang, more money, etc., keeps us coming back for the "winner".)
You are someone who uses all of the above, Connie. And, I admire you for that.
Ginny
Thanks Ginny, for the thoughts above. I appreciate hearing from you and wish you great shows this year.
Visit Ginny's website: www.herzogart.com to learn more about her and view her work. She is spending most of April in Texas so maybe you can meet her there as I know a bunch of you are participating in this month's Texas shows.
What would you like to share? Write me a blog post and I'll see that it gets good exposure. Your fellow artists are definitely interested in what you have to say.
Art-Throb is a term I use for a great place to discover art. And ArtFairCalendar.com is such a place. This web site gives you all the info on the top Art Festivals and Craft Shows in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida and, well, all across the country. If you enjoy spending time at art fairs, you must visit this site. “Art Fairs bring together in a unique manner the creators and the culturally aware to enrich one another's lives."
Thanks so much, Barbara.
Actually I met Barbara this spring when she drove over from Chicago to purchase our used Armstrong panels. We all have to admire her pluck when with those same panels wrapped around her her booth blew over in Evanston. What did she do? She picked herself up and was ready to go her next fair two weeks later. Way to go, Barbara.
Visit her blog: Fresh Paint
Artsfest '09 Annmarie Garden Sculpture Park & Arts Center Solomons, Maryland in Association with the Smithsonian Institution 120-150 artists Deadline: March 31 Annmarie Garden is a thirty acre public sculpture park and arts center located in scenic Solomons, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay. The Garden also features a shady walking path that meanders through the woods past permanent and loaned works of outdoor sculpture, much of it spectacular works on loan from the Smithsonian Institution. Established in 1993,
Artsfest is an annual juried arts festival organized recognized as one of the top outdoor arts festivals in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Artsfest brings together some of the country's most accomplished artists for a weekend of art, music, food, wine and micro brews at beautiful Annmarie Garden. Bands and entertainment acts perform continuously throughout the Garden. Artsfest welcomes a broad array of art media and styles in an effort to provide a diverse selection to Artsfest visitors. Artists working in fine art, fine craft, and folk art categories are encouraged to apply. Artsfest offers three VERY different exhibition options: *inside the Arts Building *around the Tent Circle *and along the lovely Wooded Path What else? *Cash Awards will be presented in several categories, Artsfest '09including the Best of Show and Best Display awards.
