- Artist parking behind your booth or close to your booth
- Easy load-in and load-out
- Overnight Security
- Music
- Wide variety of Food and Drink
- Attracts thousands of attendees
- Children's activities attract numerous families
- Venice and Rotary enjoy great Community Support
- RV parking is available on-site, but hookups are not available
All Posts (7538)
I would like to know effective security measures to prevent stealing a painting off the wall at an art fair. Has anyone used cams etc.? Two of my smaller paintings were lifted this past weekent at the Lakeview East Art Fair when i went to get my van to pack out. This is rare as my paintings would not bring anything if fenced etc. thanks.
The next mock jury is scheduled for Tuesday September 26th. Besides Barry Bernstein (high end ceramicist) and Bonnie Blandford (jeweler and former show director), we will have a new juror this year. Camille Marchese, director of the Coconut Grove Art Festival will also be a juror. You don't have to be available as it will be recorded and uploaded to Youtube. If you want to participate, the instructions are on my web site: https://bermangraphics.com/blog/holding-a-mock-jury-on-zoom/
Larry Berman
https://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
- The Artist Care Team volunteers were beyond amazing.
- Excellent service with water and snacks. It was nice not to have to leave the booth.
- So well-run, well juried and fun!
- A nice high-end fair. I liked the community support, awards and art purchases.
- Thank you for the fabulous and profitable experience.
- Extensive media promotions
- Artists retain all sales proceeds
- Artists' Hospitality Center with refreshments
- Artists' Gallery on website
- Security patrol after hours
- Artist Housing Program
- Booth sitting by volunteers on call
- Artist Care Team - several times day with water & snacks
- Saturday Night Artists' Party (Dinner & Awards Presentation)
- Art Festival Magazine (distributed at event & on the website)
- Limited free artists' parking near the Park
- Best of Show: Purchase Award, $12,000
- Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation Art of Philanthropy: Purchase Award, $5,000
- Morse Museum Award for Distinguished Work of Art: $2,500
- The Monte Livermore Celebration of Nature Award: $2,000
- Ten Awards of Excellence: $2,000 each
- Twenty Awards of Distinction: $1,000 each
- Thirty Awards of Merit: $500 each
https://www.goldendalechamber.org/
teja@goldendalechamber.org
- Good show, well curated, good support.
- Everyone was kind, polite and well informed. As first timers we were pleasantly surprised with speed and ease of load-in. You handled so many artists in such a tight space in an efficient, organized manner, AND with smiles on your faces!
- You run an artist-friendly show!
- Having the fee stay at $250 is unique in comparison to comparable shows some of which seem to use us as a fundraiser.
- Nice to see a festival with higher end art.
- Stunning show and location.
The 2024 Festival features a revamped site plan, maximizing exposure to each artist's tent and easing visitors' movement through the Park -- all based on artists' suggestions. Organizers continue to promote the original work of artists by excluding buy/sell and production studio work, as well as souvenir items.
- Artists’ Oasis: provides free water, coffee, and snacks daily (Saturday and Sunday)
- A continental breakfast
- Booth sitters
- Golf cart assistance to and from the customer art pick-up area
- 24 hour security
I've been a moderator, helping Connie since the beginning of AFI. And now I feel it's time to do a little self promotion. I specialize in improving existing jury images and can photograph any kind of artwork. I do get a lot of jewelry to photograph. I also do free image evaluations and teach artists how to photograph their own artwork. My phone number is 412-401-8100.
Here are a few links to examples of my services.
Artwork photography
https://bermangraphics.com/digital-jury-resources/jury-slide-photography.htm
Improving existing jury images
https://bermangraphics.com/digital-jury-resources/fixing-jury-images.htm
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
VisitPearland.com/ArtShow
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September 9 & 10, 2023
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Historic City Streets
Saturday & Sunday 11am-5pm
50 Artists
Deadline: August 15, 2023
Application fee: $10/Booth fee: $75
- a small boutique event
- easy setup, drive up to your booth, short hours, helpful volunteers
- cool food trucks, live music and buyers that appreciate unique and one-of-a-kind goods.
- A friendly place to spend the weekend AND you can't beat the booth fee!
52nd Carbondale Mountain Fair, Carbondale, CO, July 28-30, 2023
Fees: Jury $50, Booth $400, pick your space $435, corner $500
Medium: Leather: plain and hand carved equestrian, K-9,
personal leather goods and gun leathers.
Price Range: $4 cast iron skillet handle pad to $9,800 silver mounted
saddle.
Web site: https://www.carbondalearts.com/mountain-fair/
This event is not listed on Zapplication
The 52nd Carbondale Mountain Fair was held in Sopris Park, a grassy city-block park with large old shade trees. The big draw for the event is the live music. The stage is at the NW corner of the park, about 130 artist booths are along park perimeter and internal aisles. The booths are far enough away from the music, whose volume was well controlled, so artists could converse with clients. All mediums were represented, the quality was high, and there was no buy/sell.
Carbondale is a small town with a population of about 6,500. It is in the northern end of the Roaring Fork Valley which extends from Glenwood Springs at the north on I-70 to the ski areas of Aspen and Snowmass to the south in the mountains. It is a bedroom community for workers in Aspen. Forty-four percent of Carbondale is Hispanic. The Roaring Fork Valley is one of the most affluent areas of Colorado and the US. The Aspen/Snowmass skiing complex and summer recreation drive the economy of the region. Carbondale is about 3 hours from Denver and about 1 3/4 hours from Grand Junction, CO by way of I-70 and Colorado 82. Travel through Glenwood Canyon is still subject to brief or total closure due to flash flooding. Debris from burn areas has closed I-70 when it rains in the canyon.
Mountain Fair is a BIG COMMUNITY DEAL! Besides the live music there are: runs, raffle, yoga, police-firefighter tug-o-war, aerialists, and a creative art canopy. Then there are competitions for: singers/songwriters, pie and cake baking, fly casting, horseshoes, limbo, pottery throwdown, and wood splitting by men and women. There is always something going on that draws crowds who then disperse to the artists’ booths. For a more complete list of events, visit their website. A bilingual program is published.
The event is ecofriendly. Besides the usual “trash” and “recycle” containers, there were “compost” containers. No bottled water is sold. Utensils and plates from the food vendors were also compostable. Single use plastic bags are banned. Besides the artists, there were booths for massage, Gay for Good LGBTQ organization, Hemp/CBD products, and silent auction. Beer was sold and there was an alcohol-free zone. Crowd estimates are over 20,000 and it is said that the town population triples during Mountain Fair. Besides locals, I made sales to people from all over the US. I especially like bartering with my Hispanic friends where I get to use my rusty Spanish.
Locals refer to Carbondale and area as ”a bubble” different from everywhere else. The crowd was a mix of 30 somethings Aspen chic; scruffy ski bums and snowboarders waiting for the first snow; a few bikers and ranchers; lots of ink, dreadlocks, wealthy retirees, young families, and everything in between and on the ends. Fashions, jewelry and bearing spoke of lots of money. Many arrived on very expensive bicycles and large bike corrals are provided. Overall, I was thinking 1960’s hippies fast forwarded to 2022. There were young girls, teens, young women and the older generation with flower crowns and theme of the day costumes. Saturday the police wore “oil slick” as they described it or tie dye. Bubbles the Rainbow Trout composed of over 4,000 salvaged aluminum cans paraded through the park. I felt right at home with my long locks, gold earring and headband. It was not the usual western saddle maker image.
SET UP AND TAKE DOWN. Check-in was at 2:00pm Thursday and extended until noon on Friday when the fair opened. The Rules say you have 30 minutes to unload before beginning your setup. Take down began at 5:00pm Sunday and artists were supposed to have everything down and ready to load before parking on the perimeter of the park. This was well managed this year with volunteers after a free for all in 2022. Musicians played after 5:00pm during take down. Professional security is provided Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. During the day, Carbondale police were doing walk abouts.
Show hours are noon until “dark” Friday, 10:00am until “dark” Saturday and 10:00am until 5:00pm Sunday. There was misleading information in the artist packet this year which stated the show opening 9:00am. I stayed open until 7:00 on Thursday and 8:00 on Saturday. Once the live music starts there are few buyers wandering around. Electricity is not available.
Sunday morning was slow, but a gospel rock band livened it up.
WEATHER. The temperature was in the low 90’s. I errored in choosing my booth by one space and the sun from 3:00 to 5:00 was brutal. There was a brief light sprinkle Thursday, and a microburst and shower Saturday. It was humid for Colorado, but nothing compared to eastern US humidity.
THE SHOW. This is a well-organized and managed show run by Carbondale Arts, a volunteer organization. This was the fourth year I have done this show. Sales tax of 8.4% is collected at the end of the show. This saves you from reporting it to the state. They request that you have a FEIN or SS when paying your sales tax. Booth sitters were available.
THE NUMBERS. Sales were slower this year than 2022, which was one of our record shows, however, sales exceeded expectations. There were sales of belts, holsters, canteens, check books, suspenders, billfolds, wallets, dog collars and small cases. Belts with sterling silver buckles and multiple item sales kicked up the gross. Sales ranged from $4 for a cast iron skillet handle to a multi-item $500 sale. The average sale was $66 and total sales were in the low $5K range. I will apply to this show in 2023 and pick one of the shady booth sites. Lodging costs in the Roaring Fork Valley were up this year and, in some cases, more expensive than ski season. We stayed in Battlement Mesa with our daughter and commuted 1 hour 10 minutes to the show. Fuel costs for the entire trip and the commutes ($385) were about equal to one night’s lodging.
SHOW SUGGESTIONS. For the most part you could not ask for a better managed show but there is always room for improvement.
- The no plastic bag rule was not observed by the popcorn vendor again this year. I specifically bought Kraft bags for this year after I was told not to use my plastic bags imprinted with my logo in 2022.
- The website and program published the opening time as 10:00am but the artist packet says opening time is 9:00. I heard about that one from Jean who likes to sleep in.
- Kudos to the volunteers managing load in, morning entry manning the barricades, and load out. It was a BIG improvement over 2022.
- Suggestion: I had more than the usual number of returning clients from years past. Would management consider a page or two in the program for returning artists to advertise with business card size ads? It’s another source of income for the show and a benefit for artists.
- Photos, crowd, Bubbles, Gospel rock group, early Sunday morning rockers
beverlyhills.org/departments/communityservices/
carolynholden@gmail.com
Alpine Art Affair, Winter Park,CO, 2023
Alpine Art Affair, Winter Park, CO, July 8-9,2023
Fees: Jury $25, Booth $215
Medium: Leather: plain and hand carved equestrian, K-9,
personal leather goods and gun leathers.
Price Range: $4 cast iron skillet handle to $4100, 1860
reproduction saddle, most items <$300.
The Alpine Art Affair was held in Winter Park, CO July 8-9 in the Rendezvous Event Center (aka Hideaway Park). This was the 49th year for the show. Show hours were 9-5 on Saturday and 9-4 on Sunday. Winter Park is primarily a ski resort about an hour and a half west of Denver. During the summer, cycling, extreme mountain biking, fishing, hiking and camping are popular activities. The drive to Winter Park is easy on I-70 and US 40. The latter is a typical mountain highway with switchbacks and steep grades to the summit of Berthoud Pass and down on the Fraser River side. The uphill sides have passing lanes. Going down the Fraser Valley are the towns of Winter Park, Fraser, Tabernash and Granby. Highway US 40 also provides access from Kremmling, CO. Granby is the gateway to the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park and it can be reached through the Park over Trail Ridge Road (US 34) from Estes Park, CO.
FEES. The jury fee is $25, and the single booth fee is $215. This is one of the lowest booth fees for a Colorado resort area. Others are $350-$425. Participants are no longer required to purchase an annual sales tax license at $60. Sales taxes are collected by the show late on Sunday. The sales tax rate in Winter Park is a whopping 11.2% (2.9% Colorado, 1.3% Grand County, 7% City) compared to around 8% elsewhere, but the park is a good example of how the revenue is spent.
SET UP AND TAKE DOWN. Set up starts at 8:00am on Friday. You unload on the perimeter of the park. A golf cart and volunteer youth were available to assist. There is a lower level of multiple booths in rows and an upper level with clusters of 4-8 booths. Lower-level booths are on grass in front of a stage, and upper-level booths are on grass along curved concrete walkways. There are about 60 booths. Load out was equally easy.
WEATHER. The temperature during Friday set up was in the mid-70’s, and Saturday and Sunday it was in the low 80’s. There were a few sprinkles Friday afternoon. It was one of those “blue sky rains” with large raindrops from a passing cloud.
THE SHOW. This is a well-organized and managed show run by a nonprofit group of local artists. Student scholarships are funded through the collection of booth fees from participating artists and food vendors. Graduating seniors, within Grand County, pursuing art studies are eligible for the scholarships. The crowds were larger than previous Winter Park shows I have done. The quality of the work was high and there was no buy\sell. There was a good mix of art with a dominance of jewelry and 2-D. Some musicians were performing on the stage Sunday, but nothing was publicized about that. The Lions had an all you can eat pancake breakfast for $10, and complimentary coffee for artists. They also raise funds for scholarships.
I had previously done this show from 2011-2014. In these years, sales declined from around $3K to a little less than $2K, dropping about $150, $200, and $700 each year. During the hiatus, I did Steamboat Springs, CO in 2015 and Jackson Hole, WY in 2016 and 2017. I returned in 2018 planning to alternate Winter Park with another CO July show. Then there was the Covid hiatus, so we returned this year.
Belts were the best sellers, with some nice belt and silver buckle sales, and the usual dog leashes, wallets, checkbooks, and gun leather. I had some people pull out billfolds and cases they had bought earlier, and others commented they were glad I was back.
Roving booth sitters were available, or you could phone in a request for one. There was a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception Saturday after the show. There were lots of dogs at the show and we enjoyed each other’s visits.
THE NUMBERS. Saturday, I met my daily goal of $1.2K sales. Sunday was slower, but we exceeded the two-day goal of $2.4K minimum. I had 45 sales, and the average sale was $58. Sunday was a slow day. My margin was 59%, and comparable to other Colorado resort area shows.
OTHER STUFF.
Advice for other artists: Hotels/Motels and restaurants in the resort areas are expensive. I have found condos or rental houses to be more economical. I found a studio condo on Vrbo for $85/night ($106/night with taxes and fees) which was an amazing deal. There are USFS campgrounds along the Frazier River in dense spruce and fir timber. I sat on the patio one evening marveling at how far the tops of tall spruce and firs move in the wind.
Winter Park is at an elevation of 9052’, As with any Colorado mountains show, read up on altitude sickness and plan accordingly. Bears and other forest critters are around the shows and housing so follow local instructions that are widely posted.
I had an interesting experience with the 6’5” clearance in the condo parking garage. My booth and artwork are hauled in a 1988 Suburban (great mountain beast with second 350-V8) that got new leaf springs and overloads this spring. Getting in loaded was no problem. Saturday night another 2020 something Suburban parked next to us and I commented to Jean, “look, my old Suburban is a foot higher than that new one”. Sunday morning, I scraped the roof barrier as the new springs had relaxed and raised the empty body up to the 6’5”. I never considered that happening.