It seems one of the components of art shows to be most sorely tested in this coming year will be the promoters. One that seems not being addressed in discussions. This is not said to point fingers, that's not the point. However, about 90% of the decisions regarding any art show, especially shows without any type of artist advisory board, are made by the show directors. Many have no background either in art or promotion. Artists can't change those decisions made by promoters. They can only pay their money, drive the distance, and incur expenses assuming, hoping, having faith that the promoters are on top of their game. Many, sadly, are not. I believe that is something we all see during our show years. Decisions about how best now to really bring in BUYERS, not bodies to events. Evaluate how effectively advertising is or is not working, where are people learning of the event, how is the advertising reaching out into the community and bringing in NEW people, new potential buyers. Evaluating onsite by observation how many people are buying or not, what packages are being carried that are related to art, not community booths and free giveaways. Asking artists is often somewhat meaningless or irrelevant. Regrettably, many will lie either because they are embarrassed, their egos are out of control, they want the promoter to think they are doing great to preserve possible options for next year, or ..... if they are part-timers, hobbyists, locals, their scale of "good" and "great" may be well below the scales for full-time professional this-is-how-I-make-my-living artisans. Meaning, a $1000 show might be GREAT for someone local doing shows as a hobby where that amount is likely abysmal for another that makes their full-time living off of doing art shows.
So my question is, for those willing to share thoughts and perspectives, what ideas can artists put forward to help promoters do their best in their roles, given the situation in the economy we all face? It is not right to just right everything off to the economy. Downturns have happened before, like in the early to mid 1980's. We artists, and promoters absolutely, must do all we possibly can given what we face to make the shows work. What promoters do you see in the Florida market that are really showing themselves to understand what they need to do and how to do it? This goes all the way from advertising effectively and in a way they can assess each year what works and what doesn't, promotion of the show (e.g., bringing in corporate sponsorship and the business community that benefits from the existence of the show), jurying that makes sense (e.g., keeping out reps, buy-sell, and jurying in far less frequently artists whose work does not connect with the buying public in that area).
And another area that thoughts and ideas would be appreciated is the jury process in general, and in particular the digital jury component. It is hard to argue about the ease of digital jurying. Far, far easier than ever before. But artists across so many mediums have experience a commonality in results: low success rate in digital jurying. BEing juried out off most shows on a regular basis and juried out of shows that they routinely or frequently were in before with slides. Is this really because of more people applying? If so, how ARE these new people? Can it be true that their work is just that much better than those that have been doing shows for years or decades? Or is it possible that given the types of jurors many shows use, that the criteria of "oh my gosh, I've never seen anything like that before!" is a criteria that is now elevated to such a lofty level that the work is deserving of being in the show?
Couple that with shows that are experiencing high rates of no-shows and cancellations. Shows like Coconut Grove and Gasparilla going completely through their wait-lists and offering booth spots to those on their rejected lists in 2008. Now compensating (at least in Coconut Groves case) by expanding the wait-list. Which does little to help artists, because being on a wait-list means we have to explore and commit our resources to other shows, where we may not get those monies back once committed (since many shows do not have refund policies on booth fees). Who are these no-shows? And then seeing Gasparilla this year extend its jury deadline, then sending out their letters saying they had over 1000 applicants ..... so .... why did they need to extend their jury deadline? Without the 2 week extension, surely they had enough applicants to fill the show. Does the extension not penalize those artists that followed the rules, submitted on time? Is the jury process not suppose to be about covering the costs of the application/jury process? Or is it becoming more and more (and blatantly so it seems) about being a revenue stream for shows? If the latter .... shame! Show costs should be incurred by those juried into the event, not those juried out. I hope that is not the case ..... but hard to think it is not. Say a show has 1000 applicants, at $30 each. That is, if my math serves me correctly, $30,000. Does it cost $30,000 to jury an art show, all costs considered? Double that for a big show that may have 2000 applicants and a $40 jury fee: $80,000. What am I missing here? And still rationalize not coming up with some way to give artists their jury scores, so we have some inkling of why we made it in, or why wait-listed, or why rejected?
So before we shunt all excuses on the economy, and for that part of the economy issue that IS real ... we ... artists and show promoters .... need to have a Plan B, a good Plan B .... to make shows work as absolutely effectively, efficiently, and profitably as possible. Or in my humble view, the loss of shows NOT well run, not well promoted, not properly connecting the dots of what makes a good show good, and other shows work well enough ..... will not ultimately be a loss to the art show world. That's my current way of thinking, subject to change of course!
Got thoughts and ideas?
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Thanks to all who have and do continue to add to this thread. It seems such an incredibly important subject, and still so much more to discuss. I know we are heading into major show season and times between posts will be long. But don't stop sharing thoughts and ideas.
OKAY. One part of the original title I started with, the part about "Who's Doing it Well" has not received any significant attention. To the extent you'd all like to share your thoughts, it might be nice to add some posts to this, to point to shows that either do all things good, if they are out there, or most things good, or on any given topic, does handle that particular topic well. To the extent this thread can and hopefully should be read not just by artists but more importantly by promoters, if they can see examples that support our points, specific shows that can serve as models of how to handle a certain point well, or several aspects of shows well, will that not help us all out? Live, concrete, real-life examples. Let's give those who do it well the recognition they deserve. If you all think it should be broken out into a separate thread, I'll get one started.
Great subject Ron,
My husband & I were engineers in a past life and art shows were a sporatic hobby. Leaving the stressful 'real world' we now survive entirely on my photography. Show costs vs sales are considered on nearly a daily basis. We may be the odd couple, but have found for the most part the smaller juried shows, those that take much research to find, have resulted in larger profits than the huge top name promoter shows. Granted, we have limited ourselves to the Great Lakes areas to date, but plan on doing some of the Florida shows next winter so our experience/knowledge base is limited to this area.
First and foremost are the fees: $10 to $20 jury fee, then $40 to $125 entry fee
In these shows the promoters are actually referred to as event coordinators, event directors etc. They are typically working under the umbrella of some larger organization - typically an art museum or guild, local organization or municipality. These organizers do not receive huge dollar amounts from the artists which results in focusing their attention on producing a successful well attended show. Advertising for the most part is as good as, if not better than the professional promoter shows.
The attention to the artist is primary. Most often the artist can obtain the jury comments. I've had one jury member call me and suggest I submit one of my pictures in a different manner - which I did within the hour - and I was accepted by the end of the day. Most of these shows request an artist exit survey and I'm always amazed that the few suggestions I may mention were actually applied the following year!
I have found that the organization for set up extremely well thought out for the most part. These shows are typically in smaller cities and traffic flow is important. Most have artists drive up to their assigned booth area. If not, they have a drop off location and their teams of volunteers help unload and transport equipment & art to the assigned booth. Last weekend I had a show for instance where I pulled up to the curb, 6 volunteers with carts met me, unloaded my trailer within 10 minutes and hauled it to my booth area. Slick I'd say! Why do I return every year?
More on artist attention: Of course, there is the typical artist’s breakfast - coffee, rolls etc but it goes beyond that to artist comfort during the show. At check in most have an artist package that includes coupons, small gifts generally supplied by a commercial sponsor and a few include t-shirts or caps. Typical to most is: water distributed throughout the day, booth sitting for breaks (and the volunteers- runners do come around every couple of hours and check with you!). I have one show in Bayfield WI that actually comes around to take lunch orders from a menu they provided at check in! Most subtly ask for art donation on their application for a raffle – I never feel obligated but I'm always happy to donate. For the most part the event coordinator works very hard on getting to know each artist and their quirks. Over the years I've become pretty good friends with the "organizers". They understand the value of communication with the artists - no artists/no success for them.
Now.... getting to the dollars: The smaller juried events I have attended have had anywhere from 125 to 400 artists. Attendance varies from 2,000 to 90,000. My sales have ranged between $1800 and $8,000 with the average at the $5000 mark. Note though that my top item price is $420 with most sales averaging at or slightly lower than $100. Prize monies and awards are significantly lower as their budget is tighter. Note however that I am a show specific artist. Focusing on the Great Lakes nautical & nature I have extreme success at the events I attend because I have a captive audience at most show locations. I also sell wildlife & nature (flowers, waterfalls etc) that do well at the inland shows.
Many of these events have an area specifically for camper vehicles or vans at no charge. It's generally in some parking lot with no frills, but evenings are always fun sharing experiences with other artists AND it significantly reduces my overall expenses. They also have discounted hotel rooms, but most of the big promoter run shows have that as well.
With regards to blaming the economy.... Last year was tight and all winter long I was wondering how it would play out this year. If my show last weekend was an indicator I can only say there is too much worry over the economy. My first show of the season is always my smallest show. I attend every year because I love the organizers and it's a one day show where I can teach my mind and my oh so out of shape body to get back into the swing of art show setup and selling after a long winter break. This show is in a very recessed area of southeastern Wisconsin terribly affected by numerous manufacturing and automotive shutdowns. My anticipation was my sales would be very minimal. Surprise! The sales were $2.00 less that that of a better economy year of 2007. The one thing I did notice however - only (3) customers used credit/debit cards. The rest was wonderful cash. I also noticed when they pulled out their cash; they generally had a fairly large stack of it - as if designated for show purchases.
When asking what can promoters do? They can get back to basics and learn from the smaller shows! Let's face it.... outdoor art shows began as a grass roots small community kind of thing. Very free flowing, friendly, artistic in nature. At what point did that disappear? It's still there at the smaller, yet high class shows.
First, have realistic fees. I totally agree with you on jury fees. It has become a complete money making business in itself!
Second, have realistic booth fees. Anything over $400 is crazy in my opinion.
Third, drop extending the deadline - Use what was submitted. That so-so submission may be a fantastic artist that turns out to be very popular with the attendees. It's just possible he/she just doesn't present top quality jury submissions.
Fourth, have that jury responsible for feedback to each artist so that artist can improve the next submission.
Fifth, develop relationships with the artists. Cater to artists needs. Yikes - for the cost of the booth, artists should be treated with the utmost respect. Yes it's a little tougher to be on a first name basis with 500 artists - but at least the promoter and all assistants should try to touch base with each artist in a warm and friendly manner. If not possible for the individual promoter - assign assistants to a smaller group specifically to assist the artist throughout the day. After all - promoter and artist form a partnership of sorts for a brief time with the focus on a successful show.
Sixth, drop the "dead zone" areas of the show or at least present them as less traveled areas and offer to artists at 50% of the fees (see my discussion about Edina). What the?
Seventh - and this is likely the most debatable subject: While I have benefited greatly from my relationships with organizers and typically obtain booths in the most favorable locations, I think the best solution at each show is a lottery on booth location. Shake it up a bit. Names in a bowl are drawn for locations. Many artists would argue that it's easier for past customers to locate if they retain the same booth area each year, but why not mix it up. That customer will find them. After all, the shows provide artist map literature at show entrances. This actually benefits both the artists and the show entity. In searching for a specific artist, that attendee may come across work that they have never noticed before. There are other arguments against this, but bottom line is..... At least try it ... it may result in less overall frustration for promoter and artist alike.
So.... that's my thought on the subject. I have more, but you Ron and others have presented the most logical in a well thought out manner. I just wanted to share my experiences. My husband & I aren't rich from my artwork, but we have found a way to live comfortably and enjoy the lifestyle and reduced stress that can be found as an artist.
Hi Ron,
I've been off awhile, too. Busy working on the Festival.
Mary Strope offered some great input on the 'Ideal Jurying Process', and I've yet to respond because I've been incorporating some of her suggestions into my planning processes for next year's festival.
I'm curious about the Ideal Prospectus, too! If we get any input on that I'm sure I'll find a few suggestions I can use to improve our Prospectus for Francisco's Farm Arts Festival.
As for your Artist Amenities -
1 - I agree that boothsitters on demand is critical. We combine flags with roving volunteers to keep checking on artists. We provide artists with flags they can hang out or wave if they need immediate assistance, and roving volunteers to just keep checking in with artists to see whether they need anything. I'm going to see whether we can incorporate your "phone number on the back of our artist badges that we can call for someone to come help" this year at our Festival. Several logistics to work out, but it makes sense to me.
2 - Water for artists. We've always had volunteers circulating, delivering cold bottled water to artists in their booths. This year we're trying to be more environmentally considerate and will provide reusable (and recyclable) cups to all our artists at registration and will deliver ice water to booths in coolers rather than via bottles.
3 - We offer our exhibitors dinner on Friday night after set-up. It's provided free - of -charge by a local five star restaurant. A nice welcome.
4 - We've always had a visitor survey (along with Volunteer and Artist surveys) and are always looking for ways to make them more effective. I think 'exit interviews' are a great idea, and hope to partner this year with a Business College at one of the universities to set up a survey process that will yield information beneficial to all concerned. I'll let you know how that plan develops.
5 - I'll go after a marketing research group if I can't get results with UK, U of L, or Ky State.
First, I'm curious why people consider "The Ideal Prospectus" to be "the ideal prospectus". What is it that, once past the title, people feel may feel is so compelling, and makes it "ideal".
As for artist amenities, and I am single and do shows by myself, my answers may be only a subset of those that do shows as couples.
1. Booth sitters on demand. Not stated to be pushy! The need for booth sitters is unpredictable, so having access to booth sitters when we need them is best: bathroom breaks, going for more inventory, helping a customer out with a purchase, time to eat lunch away from our booth. Using a flag system to call a roving volunteer is good, although better, a phone number on the back of our artist badges that we can call for someone to come help. This latter system is used by Mount Dora and Paragon Events and possibly other shows, and works well.
2. When outdoors, and hot, volunteers coming by with cold bottled water on a regular basis. The first 3 days of the Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts had volunteers (called "Artist Friends") coming by with cups of ice water at about 15 min intervals. They were heavenly angels! If that's not possible, having water/drink stations spread throughout the show AND charging artists less than the $3 a bottle charged to the public.
3. Artist dinner: only if you have corporate sponsors that you have arranged to provide this, without any loss of show advertising. This should not come out of booth fees to my way of thinking. So if that is the only option, don't have it.
4. Storage associated with our booths, or secondarily, a common storage area onsite for storing inventory and storage boxes. This is golden. While much easier perhaps at indoor venues, should be doable outdoors too. Put fewer booths in, raise booth fees a bit as needed, and give us space.
5. Special "Artist Only" toilets that are less-used and more quickly accessible.
6. Special "Artist Only" places at food vendors where we don't have to stand in line for 10 minutes to get food.
7. If possible, an artist break room or booth where we can sit and eat, air-conditioned or with fans if possible, cool off, relax a tad, eat in comfort, then get back to what we came to do: selling.
8. Ways to help artists and their patrons out of the show with bigger pieces. Like golf carts, pick-up areas, etc.
9. A sane load-in and load-out policy.
10. Creating as many corner booths for artists as possible. Most all of us can use a corner space. Double booths are harder to defend, economically, these days as show incomes decline at shows. I know so many artists dropping doubles and trying for corners. Although it may result in fewer booths, a large part of that may be made up in the extra fee for corners. At least consider it.
As for Bringing in the Buyers, this is the $64 question, most important one asked. Most failed at in my view. It is no less important for a show than for any business: how and where do I advertise to bring in my clientele base? Also, curious no one else has posted any responses or ideas, none I can see. Am I missing something?
So I'll offer these up for now as a start:
1. It seems you have to know who is selling what. What is it that artists are selling, because that is what your patrons are buying, is it not? Without that information, it's much more of a crap shoot. Thus, points for a commission-based model.
2. If not using a commission-based model, at least try to monitor people leaving the show as to what they are carrying, what they have purchased. Yes, you may miss items like jewelry that they are wearing, or have in purses or small bags. You won't miss as much in 3D or larger 2D pieces.
3. Tag your advertising if possible, especially if charging a gate fee, so you can understand what advertising is being effective. Is it radio spots? TV spots? Newspaper ads? Internet news ads? E-mail notices you sent out?
4. Consider asking your patrons as they leave to fill out a short questionnaire. If need be, couple it with a some kind of drawing for say artwork or something from one of your corporate sponsors (like a free spa makeover or something!). Ask them such things as: did they enjoy the event? Like the quality? Diversity? Prices? Did they purchase any art? If not, why? If so, what kind(s)? Try to get their e-mail address so they become part of your patron base.
5. It might be worth investing, or including as a corporate sponsor if possible, a marketing research group or consultant that could help you focus on how to find these answers in your market or region.
Hope all is well on your end. Look forward to our continuing discussions!
I'll keep following the discussion here and see what kind of feedback I get there. So many issues and each deserves a podium of its own. Among the many topics raised here that I'd love to see pursued separately (if anyone wants to grab these and run with them):
'Artist Amenities - what do you appreciate - what do you think is a waste of time and money?' (We have an excellent list started in this Discussion)
'Bringing in the Buyers - what are your suggestions for matching a buying audience with a fine art festival - how do you know you are drawing 'not just bodies but buyers' to a festival?
Ron, I appreciate your kind words - "It seems you and Mary represent good examples of what promoters can do by just changing their attitude, perspective and approach by listening, considering, and reevaluating how they do what they do."
Knowing Mary's history, I believe I may speak for both of us when I say with all due respect that we haven't changed our attitudes at all. We've always been about listening and always known that ART and the artists are the absolute center of our work. I hope that our continuing conversations will build trust in the partnership between artists and shows. I know it will improve the show I coordinate, and hopefully it will have farther reaching positive effects, as well.
I agree with Mary that this is a fabulous discussion and I, for one, will absorb more if I can stay with one topic at a time. One of my most recent pet peeves is the retail art fair jury process. I'd like to start a topic - The Ideal Jury Process - and see what kind of feedback comes.
I can easily envision completely overhauling the jury process for Francisco's Farm Arts Festival based on the feedback on this topic. I don't revise applications until September, so there's time to fix as much as possible for next year.
If no one objects, I'll start that topic later today. Thank you all.
Regarding your comment here Nels, I do that whenever a Zap show rejects me. Of my many rejects, the only 2 that gave me answers were Ft Myers, and the Grove, where I found out 2 out of 5 judges gave me 1's (scored on 1,3,7,9).
Nels Johnson said:
OK it is 11pm and margaritas withstanding, I found the blinking cursor where i am supposed to reply. HERE IS MY NEXT GERNADE--We all agree we would like feedback when we get juried out of shows--like what our score was versus what was accepted. I think we all should immediately email the offending show ( how dare not they accept us?) and ask for our score plus what was the cutoff score for acceptance. If shows start getting this request by several hundreds of artists it may finally make a dent in their collective conscience. Ironically, Sara Shaumberger, your show (Krasl) used to give us our scores and then this year you went Zapp and I got no score--care to comment? Seriously, as individuals we have no collective clout. But if we increasingly press the issue about scores it will have a result. It won't happen overnite, but collectively over time. Whew, that's not bad for 4 margies--what do do you think of my proposel? Connie , feel free to jump in any time--Aloha, Nels Nels Johnson said:
Ron Mellott said:
Agreed. Nels, you'll have to pony up margaritas for us when we meet up and have in-person "chats"! Virtual margaritas just don't cut it.
Marcie, wonderful idea you developed with the "meet your new favorite artist" and their bios. And your dedication to pushing up that bar on your event and what it represents. It seems you and Mary represent good examples of what promoters can do by just changing their attitude, perspective and approach by listening, considering, and reevaluating how they do what they do. Also sharing what you do that works well in your event. I would hope you would feel complimented by each and every promoter that looked at such an idea and where feasible, said "hey, we can do that too and should do that because it's a great idea." Keep the ideas flowing, margaritas or not.
I'd like to make a suggestion. this thread is long and so interesting. there are so many points i'd like to comment on, but don't have the time. Its so great that we can all discuss, agree, disagree and no one is YELLING or name calling. Too many forums have gotten too angry to post on. Not this one! So, my idea is that we all pick one subject to discuss about art fairs and start a new thread. That way, everyone can comment on that topic and we can discuss it thoroughly. Then we can start a new thread on a different topic. What do you think?
I'm following along and wanted to tell you that last week after getting my annual rejection from Madison, Kim email and complained about not getting any feedback. She got a reply that gave the scoring method; the median score in photography and the cut off for acceptance. Then she gave my score. Not bad, but why can't that be sent to everyone. We do pay them handsomely for the privilege of applying.
Nels, we'll clank a few glasses this summer in Saugatuck. Maybe some rounds of golf too....
Sorry, I can't reply. No margaritas in Michigan, just fresh snow and Michigan State is NOT winning the NCAA game. Catch me at a better time.
Thanks to all of you for this interesting thread. Makes me think I'll just give up on writing the blog and let you all do it.
Nels Johnson said:
OK it is 11pm and margaritas withstanding, I found the blinking cursor where i am supposed to reply. HERE IS MY NEXT GERNADE--We all agree we would like feedback when we get juried out of shows--like what our score was versus what was accepted. I think we all should immediately email the offending show ( how dare not they accept us?) and ask for our score plus what was the cutoff score for acceptance. If shows start getting this request by several hundreds of artists it may finally make a dent in their collective conscience. Ironically, Sara Shaumberger, your show (Krasl) used to give us our scores and then this year you went Zapp and I got no score--care to comment? Seriously, as individuals we have no collective clout. But if we increasingly press the issue about scores it will have a result. It won't happen overnite, but collectively over time. Whew, that's not bad for 4 margies--what do do you think of my proposel? Connie , feel free to jump in any time--Aloha, Nels
Nels Johnson said:
Ron Mellott said:
Agreed. Nels, you'll have to pony up margaritas for us when we meet up and have in-person "chats"! Virtual margaritas just don't cut it.
Marcie, wonderful idea you developed with the "meet your new favorite artist" and their bios. And your dedication to pushing up that bar on your event and what it represents. It seems you and Mary represent good examples of what promoters can do by just changing their attitude, perspective and approach by listening, considering, and reevaluating how they do what they do. Also sharing what you do that works well in your event. I would hope you would feel complimented by each and every promoter that looked at such an idea and where feasible, said "hey, we can do that too and should do that because it's a great idea." Keep the ideas flowing, margaritas or not.
Replies
OKAY. One part of the original title I started with, the part about "Who's Doing it Well" has not received any significant attention. To the extent you'd all like to share your thoughts, it might be nice to add some posts to this, to point to shows that either do all things good, if they are out there, or most things good, or on any given topic, does handle that particular topic well. To the extent this thread can and hopefully should be read not just by artists but more importantly by promoters, if they can see examples that support our points, specific shows that can serve as models of how to handle a certain point well, or several aspects of shows well, will that not help us all out? Live, concrete, real-life examples. Let's give those who do it well the recognition they deserve. If you all think it should be broken out into a separate thread, I'll get one started.
My husband & I were engineers in a past life and art shows were a sporatic hobby. Leaving the stressful 'real world' we now survive entirely on my photography. Show costs vs sales are considered on nearly a daily basis. We may be the odd couple, but have found for the most part the smaller juried shows, those that take much research to find, have resulted in larger profits than the huge top name promoter shows. Granted, we have limited ourselves to the Great Lakes areas to date, but plan on doing some of the Florida shows next winter so our experience/knowledge base is limited to this area.
First and foremost are the fees: $10 to $20 jury fee, then $40 to $125 entry fee
In these shows the promoters are actually referred to as event coordinators, event directors etc. They are typically working under the umbrella of some larger organization - typically an art museum or guild, local organization or municipality. These organizers do not receive huge dollar amounts from the artists which results in focusing their attention on producing a successful well attended show. Advertising for the most part is as good as, if not better than the professional promoter shows.
The attention to the artist is primary. Most often the artist can obtain the jury comments. I've had one jury member call me and suggest I submit one of my pictures in a different manner - which I did within the hour - and I was accepted by the end of the day. Most of these shows request an artist exit survey and I'm always amazed that the few suggestions I may mention were actually applied the following year!
I have found that the organization for set up extremely well thought out for the most part. These shows are typically in smaller cities and traffic flow is important. Most have artists drive up to their assigned booth area. If not, they have a drop off location and their teams of volunteers help unload and transport equipment & art to the assigned booth. Last weekend I had a show for instance where I pulled up to the curb, 6 volunteers with carts met me, unloaded my trailer within 10 minutes and hauled it to my booth area. Slick I'd say! Why do I return every year?
More on artist attention: Of course, there is the typical artist’s breakfast - coffee, rolls etc but it goes beyond that to artist comfort during the show. At check in most have an artist package that includes coupons, small gifts generally supplied by a commercial sponsor and a few include t-shirts or caps. Typical to most is: water distributed throughout the day, booth sitting for breaks (and the volunteers- runners do come around every couple of hours and check with you!). I have one show in Bayfield WI that actually comes around to take lunch orders from a menu they provided at check in! Most subtly ask for art donation on their application for a raffle – I never feel obligated but I'm always happy to donate. For the most part the event coordinator works very hard on getting to know each artist and their quirks. Over the years I've become pretty good friends with the "organizers". They understand the value of communication with the artists - no artists/no success for them.
Now.... getting to the dollars: The smaller juried events I have attended have had anywhere from 125 to 400 artists. Attendance varies from 2,000 to 90,000. My sales have ranged between $1800 and $8,000 with the average at the $5000 mark. Note though that my top item price is $420 with most sales averaging at or slightly lower than $100. Prize monies and awards are significantly lower as their budget is tighter. Note however that I am a show specific artist. Focusing on the Great Lakes nautical & nature I have extreme success at the events I attend because I have a captive audience at most show locations. I also sell wildlife & nature (flowers, waterfalls etc) that do well at the inland shows.
Many of these events have an area specifically for camper vehicles or vans at no charge. It's generally in some parking lot with no frills, but evenings are always fun sharing experiences with other artists AND it significantly reduces my overall expenses. They also have discounted hotel rooms, but most of the big promoter run shows have that as well.
With regards to blaming the economy.... Last year was tight and all winter long I was wondering how it would play out this year. If my show last weekend was an indicator I can only say there is too much worry over the economy. My first show of the season is always my smallest show. I attend every year because I love the organizers and it's a one day show where I can teach my mind and my oh so out of shape body to get back into the swing of art show setup and selling after a long winter break. This show is in a very recessed area of southeastern Wisconsin terribly affected by numerous manufacturing and automotive shutdowns. My anticipation was my sales would be very minimal. Surprise! The sales were $2.00 less that that of a better economy year of 2007. The one thing I did notice however - only (3) customers used credit/debit cards. The rest was wonderful cash. I also noticed when they pulled out their cash; they generally had a fairly large stack of it - as if designated for show purchases.
When asking what can promoters do? They can get back to basics and learn from the smaller shows! Let's face it.... outdoor art shows began as a grass roots small community kind of thing. Very free flowing, friendly, artistic in nature. At what point did that disappear? It's still there at the smaller, yet high class shows.
First, have realistic fees. I totally agree with you on jury fees. It has become a complete money making business in itself!
Second, have realistic booth fees. Anything over $400 is crazy in my opinion.
Third, drop extending the deadline - Use what was submitted. That so-so submission may be a fantastic artist that turns out to be very popular with the attendees. It's just possible he/she just doesn't present top quality jury submissions.
Fourth, have that jury responsible for feedback to each artist so that artist can improve the next submission.
Fifth, develop relationships with the artists. Cater to artists needs. Yikes - for the cost of the booth, artists should be treated with the utmost respect. Yes it's a little tougher to be on a first name basis with 500 artists - but at least the promoter and all assistants should try to touch base with each artist in a warm and friendly manner. If not possible for the individual promoter - assign assistants to a smaller group specifically to assist the artist throughout the day. After all - promoter and artist form a partnership of sorts for a brief time with the focus on a successful show.
Sixth, drop the "dead zone" areas of the show or at least present them as less traveled areas and offer to artists at 50% of the fees (see my discussion about Edina). What the?
Seventh - and this is likely the most debatable subject: While I have benefited greatly from my relationships with organizers and typically obtain booths in the most favorable locations, I think the best solution at each show is a lottery on booth location. Shake it up a bit. Names in a bowl are drawn for locations. Many artists would argue that it's easier for past customers to locate if they retain the same booth area each year, but why not mix it up. That customer will find them. After all, the shows provide artist map literature at show entrances. This actually benefits both the artists and the show entity. In searching for a specific artist, that attendee may come across work that they have never noticed before. There are other arguments against this, but bottom line is..... At least try it ... it may result in less overall frustration for promoter and artist alike.
So.... that's my thought on the subject. I have more, but you Ron and others have presented the most logical in a well thought out manner. I just wanted to share my experiences. My husband & I aren't rich from my artwork, but we have found a way to live comfortably and enjoy the lifestyle and reduced stress that can be found as an artist.
I've been off awhile, too. Busy working on the Festival.
Mary Strope offered some great input on the 'Ideal Jurying Process', and I've yet to respond because I've been incorporating some of her suggestions into my planning processes for next year's festival.
I'm curious about the Ideal Prospectus, too! If we get any input on that I'm sure I'll find a few suggestions I can use to improve our Prospectus for Francisco's Farm Arts Festival.
As for your Artist Amenities -
1 - I agree that boothsitters on demand is critical. We combine flags with roving volunteers to keep checking on artists. We provide artists with flags they can hang out or wave if they need immediate assistance, and roving volunteers to just keep checking in with artists to see whether they need anything. I'm going to see whether we can incorporate your "phone number on the back of our artist badges that we can call for someone to come help" this year at our Festival. Several logistics to work out, but it makes sense to me.
2 - Water for artists. We've always had volunteers circulating, delivering cold bottled water to artists in their booths. This year we're trying to be more environmentally considerate and will provide reusable (and recyclable) cups to all our artists at registration and will deliver ice water to booths in coolers rather than via bottles.
3 - We offer our exhibitors dinner on Friday night after set-up. It's provided free - of -charge by a local five star restaurant. A nice welcome.
4 - We've always had a visitor survey (along with Volunteer and Artist surveys) and are always looking for ways to make them more effective. I think 'exit interviews' are a great idea, and hope to partner this year with a Business College at one of the universities to set up a survey process that will yield information beneficial to all concerned. I'll let you know how that plan develops.
5 - I'll go after a marketing research group if I can't get results with UK, U of L, or Ky State.
Thanks, Ron! Let's all Keep Talking!
Sorry to be so long in responding. Shows.
First, I'm curious why people consider "The Ideal Prospectus" to be "the ideal prospectus". What is it that, once past the title, people feel may feel is so compelling, and makes it "ideal".
As for artist amenities, and I am single and do shows by myself, my answers may be only a subset of those that do shows as couples.
1. Booth sitters on demand. Not stated to be pushy! The need for booth sitters is unpredictable, so having access to booth sitters when we need them is best: bathroom breaks, going for more inventory, helping a customer out with a purchase, time to eat lunch away from our booth. Using a flag system to call a roving volunteer is good, although better, a phone number on the back of our artist badges that we can call for someone to come help. This latter system is used by Mount Dora and Paragon Events and possibly other shows, and works well.
2. When outdoors, and hot, volunteers coming by with cold bottled water on a regular basis. The first 3 days of the Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts had volunteers (called "Artist Friends") coming by with cups of ice water at about 15 min intervals. They were heavenly angels! If that's not possible, having water/drink stations spread throughout the show AND charging artists less than the $3 a bottle charged to the public.
3. Artist dinner: only if you have corporate sponsors that you have arranged to provide this, without any loss of show advertising. This should not come out of booth fees to my way of thinking. So if that is the only option, don't have it.
4. Storage associated with our booths, or secondarily, a common storage area onsite for storing inventory and storage boxes. This is golden. While much easier perhaps at indoor venues, should be doable outdoors too. Put fewer booths in, raise booth fees a bit as needed, and give us space.
5. Special "Artist Only" toilets that are less-used and more quickly accessible.
6. Special "Artist Only" places at food vendors where we don't have to stand in line for 10 minutes to get food.
7. If possible, an artist break room or booth where we can sit and eat, air-conditioned or with fans if possible, cool off, relax a tad, eat in comfort, then get back to what we came to do: selling.
8. Ways to help artists and their patrons out of the show with bigger pieces. Like golf carts, pick-up areas, etc.
9. A sane load-in and load-out policy.
10. Creating as many corner booths for artists as possible. Most all of us can use a corner space. Double booths are harder to defend, economically, these days as show incomes decline at shows. I know so many artists dropping doubles and trying for corners. Although it may result in fewer booths, a large part of that may be made up in the extra fee for corners. At least consider it.
As for Bringing in the Buyers, this is the $64 question, most important one asked. Most failed at in my view. It is no less important for a show than for any business: how and where do I advertise to bring in my clientele base? Also, curious no one else has posted any responses or ideas, none I can see. Am I missing something?
So I'll offer these up for now as a start:
1. It seems you have to know who is selling what. What is it that artists are selling, because that is what your patrons are buying, is it not? Without that information, it's much more of a crap shoot. Thus, points for a commission-based model.
2. If not using a commission-based model, at least try to monitor people leaving the show as to what they are carrying, what they have purchased. Yes, you may miss items like jewelry that they are wearing, or have in purses or small bags. You won't miss as much in 3D or larger 2D pieces.
3. Tag your advertising if possible, especially if charging a gate fee, so you can understand what advertising is being effective. Is it radio spots? TV spots? Newspaper ads? Internet news ads? E-mail notices you sent out?
4. Consider asking your patrons as they leave to fill out a short questionnaire. If need be, couple it with a some kind of drawing for say artwork or something from one of your corporate sponsors (like a free spa makeover or something!). Ask them such things as: did they enjoy the event? Like the quality? Diversity? Prices? Did they purchase any art? If not, why? If so, what kind(s)? Try to get their e-mail address so they become part of your patron base.
5. It might be worth investing, or including as a corporate sponsor if possible, a marketing research group or consultant that could help you focus on how to find these answers in your market or region.
Hope all is well on your end. Look forward to our continuing discussions!
I'll keep following the discussion here and see what kind of feedback I get there. So many issues and each deserves a podium of its own. Among the many topics raised here that I'd love to see pursued separately (if anyone wants to grab these and run with them):
'Artist Amenities - what do you appreciate - what do you think is a waste of time and money?' (We have an excellent list started in this Discussion)
'Bringing in the Buyers - what are your suggestions for matching a buying audience with a fine art festival - how do you know you are drawing 'not just bodies but buyers' to a festival?
Ron, I appreciate your kind words - "It seems you and Mary represent good examples of what promoters can do by just changing their attitude, perspective and approach by listening, considering, and reevaluating how they do what they do."
Knowing Mary's history, I believe I may speak for both of us when I say with all due respect that we haven't changed our attitudes at all. We've always been about listening and always known that ART and the artists are the absolute center of our work. I hope that our continuing conversations will build trust in the partnership between artists and shows. I know it will improve the show I coordinate, and hopefully it will have farther reaching positive effects, as well.
I can easily envision completely overhauling the jury process for Francisco's Farm Arts Festival based on the feedback on this topic. I don't revise applications until September, so there's time to fix as much as possible for next year.
If no one objects, I'll start that topic later today. Thank you all.
Regarding your comment here Nels, I do that whenever a Zap show rejects me. Of my many rejects, the only 2 that gave me answers were Ft Myers, and the Grove, where I found out 2 out of 5 judges gave me 1's (scored on 1,3,7,9).
Nels Johnson said:
Nels, we'll clank a few glasses this summer in Saugatuck. Maybe some rounds of golf too....
Thanks to all of you for this interesting thread. Makes me think I'll just give up on writing the blog and let you all do it.
Nels Johnson said:
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