The biggest unspoken question (and among friends often spoken) seems to be, "Is anyone making money out here?" Did you make a killing at St. Louis? Did Milwaukee's Lakefront live up to expectations? Is St. James worth the time? Will you return to Ann Arbor this summer?
How are you doing? If you've been at this for some time are the art fairs still working for you? If you are new to the business, how is it working out?
It is time for a reality check from across the country. With 1000+ members on this forum, oldies and newbies alike, you have got to have some information that will be helpful to the rest of us.
Tell us, how do you do it? We are waiting for your answer.
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(*addendum) You have to treat each and every art show as an EXTENSION of your art business. Have a website, start a Facebook Fanpage, Blog and other forms of social media. Always have patrons and encourage visitors to sign in your guestbook with an email adress (offer a prize/free art to a lucky guest -- That gets hundreds of sign-ins for me per day). Send out emails wth Constant Contact, GoDaddy or the like (don't overdo them, however ... no more than two per month). Get your art out there in galleries, shops and more ... Join art associations ... You get the idea. treat this like a business and you will survive. You can be incredibly talented, but if you don't promote and market yourself by thinking yourself as a business, it is very unlikely you will survive.
We've only been doing shows really for one year, although we did a few shows sporadically before that. If we could solve the healthcare problem I think we could survive. I haven't been able to figure out that one part of the equation yet, but when health care costs more per month than food..there is a basic problem somewhere. I remain hopeful though.
I have only been doing shows since April and so I think of this phase as my learning phase. So far I have been doing relatively small shows in the Pittsburgh area - some juried and some not. So far if I make back my booth rent I'm happy. I am a retired teacher and started doing this because I love making jewelry and to make a little extra money. I love doing the shows and I hope that as the economy improves and as I pick better shows, the finances will improve. I am also trying to place some of my items in local shops on consignment and have internet shops that have sold nothing. So to answer your question - not so far.
I am going into my 5th year. I am a Mom of 2 young children, so this is part-time for me. My husband has a descent enough job with health insurance. We scrape by. I do this because I love doing this and it lets me be at home with my kids during the week. Mommy leaves for the weekend 1 or 2 times a month and Daddy is in charge. It works well for us. I LOVE going to the shows. I have increased my sales in the last couple of years. Partially due to better displays, being at the shows that are right for me and some new product lines that I have created. The economy issue seems to be in my favor due to my art being usable. They don't feel as bad about spending the money since they can drink out of it.. Fine with me! I don't sell nearly as many of my decorative art pieces, but my customers are happy.
If I had the time and energy (I have exhausting, wonderful children) I think I could in fact make a living at this. It all depends on the lifestyle that you want to lead. We don't have a whole lot of frills, but we are not suffering either.
I had a dream recently. I was at an art fair located between two friends that work in the medium I work in. On each side of me my friends were selling like there was no tomorrow and I was just sitting. I woke up with a start and I thought "was that a nightmare?" Naw! that couldn't have been a nightmare because thats been the norm!
I've got to change some things and things have to change or this art fair artist will be working at the co-op very soon if they even have a job.
Excellent post, Christopher. I'm sure you took the words out of many artists mouths. This is a theory we operated on for many years in this business.
Christopher Hoyt said:
I have just joined today, but I have been relying solely on shows since 1994. Shows are my only income. And we do enough to be considered "middle class".
But I do over 40 shows per year. I will do just about any type of show. From High schools to flower and garden shows to juried shows. I am in a particularly good situation as I do as many shows with as few promoters as I can. So just about half my schedule is with three promoters. And when you do this you make good and lasting friendships.
This is also a great way to network. You have friends you know and trust to give you straight information about shows.
But I do so many shows for a reason. I can GUARANTEE that if I rely only on the "big" shows, there could be a weather situation or something like that where the customers don't show. Then what do I do? I depended on this show! So if I can do $2500 at 30 shows this year, I'm OK. And if I can average $2500 at 40 shows...? So if a show bombs, and many will this year, I just go on to the show next week.
I know I'm strange in that I LOVE doing shows! I love the interaction and bantering with the customers. I have a website, but it directs the customer to the shows I'm doing.
So yes, if you work at it, you can make a living doing this. But the operative word is "work". My father told me when I was 18 years old. "Find something you love to do and you will never "work" a day in your life". I was in my mid 40s when I walked away from the corporate world. I haven't "worked" since!
I have just joined today, but I have been relying solely on shows since 1994. Shows are my only income. And we do enough to be considered "middle class".
But I do over 40 shows per year. I will do just about any type of show. From High schools to flower and garden shows to juried shows. I am in a particularly good situation as I do as many shows with as few promoters as I can. So just about half my schedule is with three promoters. And when you do this you make good and lasting friendships.
This is also a great way to network. You have friends you know and trust to give you straight information about shows.
But I do so many shows for a reason. I can GUARANTEE that if I rely only on the "big" shows, there could be a weather situation or something like that where the customers don't show. Then what do I do? I depended on this show! So if I can do $2500 at 30 shows this year, I'm OK. And if I can average $2500 at 40 shows...? So if a show bombs, and many will this year, I just go on to the show next week.
I know I'm strange in that I LOVE doing shows! I love the interaction and bantering with the customers. I have a website, but it directs the customer to the shows I'm doing.
So yes, if you work at it, you can make a living doing this. But the operative word is "work". My father told me when I was 18 years old. "Find something you love to do and you will never "work" a day in your life". I was in my mid 40s when I walked away from the corporate world. I haven't "worked" since!
My husband and I started doing art fairs when he was in his early 40's. That is not when he started doing photography. He had his first darkroom at 13, so 30 years later he was pretty good. Artists will stand around and say where are the young people? Why aren't they in the show?
They are certainly welcome, but really the "new" people are often not the "young" people, but people such as yourself who have been in love with a media for a long time, have been practicing it and can walk into an art fair and be way ahead of the younger ones because of not only all the years learning their media but the additional life experience they can bring to the venture.
Linda Anderson said:
Aspects of your comments I totally agree with Ron. However, this is an important question nonetheless. Perhaps too many are relying on the upper tier highly promoted shows. To survive entirely on this income any artist must be in tune with where/why his customers buy. Every show I enter is juried but some of my best weekends ($8,000+) have been at the smaller, non professional promoter ran shows. The attendances at these shows have only been in the tens of thousands AND were not attended by what I would consider highly affluent patrons. Granted, I have done fine at both, but the attention/appreciation of the artist is just not their at most professional promoter ran shows. The show vetrans who are experiencing frustration and are not having banner years anymore need to rethink their strategies and be open to shows they have not thought of in prior years. It's up to the artist to find his success. Economy is not an excuse and if a specific promoter or show is not living up to expectations - don't return. That show may eventually die off, but there will always be another one to take it's place. And don't think for a minute the veteran's have all the talent. I'm into my late 50's, been involved with art my entire life and especially in the last 10 years have seen some brilliant newcomers on the scene. Cream always rises to the top. The good ones will always be there - always have been throughout centuries.
Ron Mellott said:
It is a good question to ask Connie, but I don't think it is THE question to ask. I think what many of the posts on your site have been about are on the right track: how to get the shows, and promoters, to pay attention to what they are doing and do everything possible, and get it right, to make shows work. They used to work. Are we now going to throw up our hands and concede ourselves that it is ALL the Economy? Not me.
This is not the first downturn artist have experienced. Many talk about back in the 80's, also in the 90's. Would be helpful to have many of the veterans voice their experiences here. Unless each time this happened artist bailed in big numbers, it should be able to be survived. But not if shows and promoters don't do what THEY need to do. Again, they are making all the decisions about the shows. If they don't do it right, nothing else much matters because we, as artists, have so little input. We pay and show up. Not many ask our opinions, advice, insight, experience, etc. etc. etc.
Also, if this turns into a part-time, hobbyist type field, how will the quality be maintained? Most of the long-term artists are good artists, don't you think Connie? Who is going to replace them, in body of work, powerful works, works the public likes? I think quality is likely to sink like a rock if veteran artists bail. And as quality and diversity goes down, won't buyers go away? How do you stop that? And if that happens, will that not be the death of the shows, like positively the death of shows?
Besides, what are artists in the late 40's on up going to do if these shows no longer work out? Throw out some ideas here. What are they qualified to do? Their resume is fairly limited in scope, regardless of how good they are. And can they then find a job that pays all their expenses (including health) locally, where they live? Are now do they have to relocate somewhere? Can they sell their house to get there? It's that onion-thing: layer-upon-layer of problems.
That's among the more important reasons why, to me, the shows have to do everything possible to make their events work, keep them strong but more importantly, grow them.
I've enjoyed following the thread here. I have done fairs for about 14 years on and off, and have enjoyed a decent dayjob that I've held for the last 7 or 8 years. However, it's coming to an end and I will soon find out how hard it is to rely on Art Fair income only (with the occasional gallery sale and commission).
I've been gearing up for this time to come, however, and although many aren't making money at fairs these days, I've been in the black for the last 8 months with some shows being very lucrative (the more expensive ones to do...like the Atlanta Dogwood festival a month ago).
The main difference is that I've reinvented my "art fair paintings" to be at much lower price points, namely ones under 100, at 2, 3 and 5 hundred. I do "lose" more money selling the small ones compared to the big ones I've always done (4x6 for $85) but after painting about a hundred or more of these you really get used to the small intimate format and you do get faster.
I'm really hoping my savings and the show list for the rest of the year/winter will prove to be self sustaining. If I do have to bail and get a regular job, let's hope the unemployment numbers will improve by then ;)
I'm enjoying the site here and hope to be able to contribute more!
Stephen
Replies
(*addendum) You have to treat each and every art show as an EXTENSION of your art business. Have a website, start a Facebook Fanpage, Blog and other forms of social media. Always have patrons and encourage visitors to sign in your guestbook with an email adress (offer a prize/free art to a lucky guest -- That gets hundreds of sign-ins for me per day). Send out emails wth Constant Contact, GoDaddy or the like (don't overdo them, however ... no more than two per month). Get your art out there in galleries, shops and more ... Join art associations ... You get the idea. treat this like a business and you will survive. You can be incredibly talented, but if you don't promote and market yourself by thinking yourself as a business, it is very unlikely you will survive.
If I had the time and energy (I have exhausting, wonderful children) I think I could in fact make a living at this. It all depends on the lifestyle that you want to lead. We don't have a whole lot of frills, but we are not suffering either.
Best of luck to all of us!
I've got to change some things and things have to change or this art fair artist will be working at the co-op very soon if they even have a job.
Christopher Hoyt said:
But I do over 40 shows per year. I will do just about any type of show. From High schools to flower and garden shows to juried shows. I am in a particularly good situation as I do as many shows with as few promoters as I can. So just about half my schedule is with three promoters. And when you do this you make good and lasting friendships.
This is also a great way to network. You have friends you know and trust to give you straight information about shows.
But I do so many shows for a reason. I can GUARANTEE that if I rely only on the "big" shows, there could be a weather situation or something like that where the customers don't show. Then what do I do? I depended on this show! So if I can do $2500 at 30 shows this year, I'm OK. And if I can average $2500 at 40 shows...? So if a show bombs, and many will this year, I just go on to the show next week.
I know I'm strange in that I LOVE doing shows! I love the interaction and bantering with the customers. I have a website, but it directs the customer to the shows I'm doing.
So yes, if you work at it, you can make a living doing this. But the operative word is "work". My father told me when I was 18 years old. "Find something you love to do and you will never "work" a day in your life". I was in my mid 40s when I walked away from the corporate world. I haven't "worked" since!
My husband and I started doing art fairs when he was in his early 40's. That is not when he started doing photography. He had his first darkroom at 13, so 30 years later he was pretty good. Artists will stand around and say where are the young people? Why aren't they in the show?
They are certainly welcome, but really the "new" people are often not the "young" people, but people such as yourself who have been in love with a media for a long time, have been practicing it and can walk into an art fair and be way ahead of the younger ones because of not only all the years learning their media but the additional life experience they can bring to the venture.
Linda Anderson said:
I've been gearing up for this time to come, however, and although many aren't making money at fairs these days, I've been in the black for the last 8 months with some shows being very lucrative (the more expensive ones to do...like the Atlanta Dogwood festival a month ago).
The main difference is that I've reinvented my "art fair paintings" to be at much lower price points, namely ones under 100, at 2, 3 and 5 hundred. I do "lose" more money selling the small ones compared to the big ones I've always done (4x6 for $85) but after painting about a hundred or more of these you really get used to the small intimate format and you do get faster.
I'm really hoping my savings and the show list for the rest of the year/winter will prove to be self sustaining. If I do have to bail and get a regular job, let's hope the unemployment numbers will improve by then ;)
I'm enjoying the site here and hope to be able to contribute more!
Stephen
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