Haven't written a review for a while. ArtBirmingham has a long tradition to uphold, and used to be one of the finest shows in the country. It takes place in an upscale suburban community (Birmingham, Michigan), in and around a pleasant little park that was recently renovated. Booths are set-up in the park and on the sidewalks and surrounding streets. Approximately 180 artists from all over the country. The show is run by The Guild, best known for its flagship show, The Summer Ann Arbor Art Fair.
The fair staff does a great job organizing the load-in and load-out. They are highly visible before, during and after the show. Aside from a few glitches in the layout, which was tweaked again this year, load-in is very smooth. Artists are assigned times, staggered by about two hours on Friday afternoon and evening. The artists in the park load in first, followed by those on the street. The show itself runs from 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday. Alan Bogl, Operations Director and Nicole McKay are both experienced vets, friendly, visible and helpful during the process. When I found that my corner spot wasn't really a corner spot, but only a wide spot in the road, Nicole came by to soothe my ruffled feathers, and those of my neighbor, Debra Springer. Both of us had counted on the extra visibility in designing a show-specific display, so we had to vamp a bit.
Saturday the rains came off and on all morning. Starting at about 10AM, we had brief showers throughout most of the afternoon. Still, there were a few buyers, dedicated souls who remembered the Birmingham Art Fair of old. One friend, a jeweler, had a couple very good sales in the rain. I managed to make a couple of sales myself, but generally, the crowd was light, and the buying was thin. Great if you're on a diet. The video below (shot Sunday) gives you an idea of the size of the crowd.
ArtBirmingham Ersatz Timelapse
Sunday: much the same, except the weather was gorgeous. A bit humid, but the sun came out, and the temps climbed into the upper 80's. We didn't get the awful humidity and temps in the 90's that were promised by the local forecasters, and the storms that bruised central Michigan missed us by about ten miles to the north. And there were fewer buyers on Sunday than there were on Saturday. I had basically zero sales, zero interest and a few browsers all day. Don't know where they went, but some theories postulate that the folks with money were opening up the summer cabin up north, working on the garden or out on the boat. It was not a good weekend for an art festival.
Load-out was pain-free. A bit of dollying for those around the fountain, but pretty much everyone was gone by 7:30.
This is a show that I would love to see gain its former stature as a "must-attend" in the community. Unfortunately, it seems as if the community has deserted it. Local support seems slim. Rumors abound regarding the silly requests made by the city of Birmingham and merchants. The Guild staff works hard to make this show successful, advertising in the local papers, radio stations and with social media. Still, it's not enough to draw the crowds anymore. There were many nationally known artists there, including Bob Trisko (jewelry), Jim Copeland from Atlanta (photography), our neighbor Merri Patinian (mixed media), RJ and PJ Commerford from Florida (mixed media 2D), Bob and Patti Stern (mixed media 3D), as well as a few stalwarts like our friend Barry Bernstein (raku pottery). Most artists were crying the blues, but managed to eke out expenses. I sure wish this show could reinvent itself. But this is not the weekend to do it.
Comments
I don't think this is the Guild's decision. Intimations and rumors lead me to believe that it's the City of Birmingham that made the decision to change the date, based on feedback from the merchants. Rumors, mind you, not substantiated fact.
I really hope they put it back to Mother's Day weekend - it was like that for years and years - I hope the Guild realizes the poor judgement in moving the date and moves it back.
The majority of people that were home and not up north were probably at their local Garden Centers buying for planting, etc. and working around the house?
It is a great location for the show -
I was all set for a really good, well attended, show. I stay with my brothers family who live in Bloomfield Township, which is actually walking distance to the show if you wanted to get a little exercise. My brother, who is a free market capitalist, tells me moving the show from Mother's Day to Memorial Day weekend was a really dumb idea. The only people left in his neighborhood were those people who didn't have cottages in the northern lower peninsula, meaning the high end buyers. This proved to be true because attendance was down 90%, as illustrated in the video. Also, it seemed like people mostly walked the periphery. Jim was on the inside, so, there was less traffic. I, actually, had a decent day on Sunday probably because I won a ribbon. This could have been a really good event. I believe the city of Birmingham really doesn't want the show and moved it to this weekend to minimize it. I'll try and suggest to the Guild that they push to move it back to Mothers Day, but, I suspect it will never happen.
Great review Jim, you are exactly right- the Birmingham monied people go "Up North" to their summer homes on this weekend...and it makes for a dismal selling environment. We can not see the crowds every being in masses for this weekend if it stays put...please Michigan Guild, bring back Mothers Day Weekend!
Thanks for this review, Jim, and the video. You are so right this was a wonderful show in the good old days. We took lots of dollars out of Shain Park for many years. This show should be crackerjack. It is in a wonderful place in an affluent section of metro Detroit and run well by the Guild and its associate the Birmingham-Bloomfield Art Assn, that has great presence in this area.
These groups have been challenged in recent years by the really bad weather that has occurred on the earlier date, essentially shutting down the show two out of every three years. I thought this was a good move on their part to move to this weekend and well worth a try. Has the audience changed demographically? Are all the people who used to buy from us too old and moving on to other things and their walls are full? Are the younger people just not "into" art fairs?
Poor old lonesome show!
Used to be my favorite thing to do on Mother's Day Weekend - was to go to that show. It was always fabulous. Sorry about your poor sales.
I was afraid of this would happen.
Nice review Jim,great seeing you guys but next time include Karyn in the video!!!
Nope, no admission fee. And, lucky me, I'm trying Crocker Park again in a couple of weeks. Haven't done it for a couple of years. The Guild shows are low key, easy to do, fairly inexpensive booth fee, snacks, coffee, water, good staff. But people just aren't coming to shows like they used to, especially in saturated areas like Cleveland and Detroit. Come to think of it, why am I doing Crocker Park again?
Detroit and the suburbs are two completely different animals. Many of the people that left Detroit moved to th e suburbs. Not all of them left the state. Some Detroit area shows do well, or at least average, for me. I made a little here, but not in proportion to the demographic. This is a show that the town has basically abandoned. Most of the people there were from elsewhere, although I sold one large piece to a Bloomfield Hills resident.
Pat, I can usually tell by the bags going by or not, how well a show is going. It's the ratio of patrons / purchases that is really useful. Another factor in a busy show: if the booth is full, how many people stream by, thinking to return when it's less crowded, but never do?
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