Very cool infographic that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the St. Louis Art Fair:
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Very cool infographic that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the St. Louis Art Fair:
You need to be a member of Art Fair Insiders to add comments!
Comments
Fifteen years at $50 an application is $750. When you add that to the booth fee, travel expenses, etc that would have to be one heck of a show to be worth that.
I don't know that this graphic is actually helping their message to artists. We applied a couple of times, as St. Louis is a very good market for us. But realized after 2 years of applications that we didn't have a good chance of getting into this show. So we moved on to other shows in the area.
Last year-'12- I thought, "I'm tired of sending in my $50 to a show I never get into." Fifteen years. Last day, at deadline, sent anyway, got in, best show I have ever had. They are my $50 lottery tickets. I don't buy any others, and if you don't apply your chances go to 0%. Do the math. Some are worth the wait. Not even gonna say which one that one was.
It's such a good idea to check out artists lists, I was thinking about applying to St. Louis until I went to their website and realized my work while of the same quality isn't what they're looking for. I've saved myself a lot of money over the years that way. Another thing I do is call the show organizers before I apply, the info you can get is very helpful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFcwUTLiUyA
"But I just can't afford to spend a bunch of money applying for shows that I have no hope of getting in to." -- Precisely, Roxanne. Before you pony up the application fee go to the show's website and look at the work that got in last year. Ask yourself honestly does your work come up to that quality? Are you sure? Then apply. Don't be throwing money around.
When we were doing shows we applied to the St. Louis Show every year, probably six times. Did get in once but we also got into many of the other top shows so it didn't seem like a gamble, just a necessary risk.
LOL Elizabeth! That's exactly what I was thinking. And then to turn it around, you almost have to apply multiple years in order to get in. My philosophy has been if I don't get in I won't waste my money applying the next year. I will wait a few years until my work has changed substantially before I apply again. So if all shows are like this, then my theory is wrong. But I just can't afford to spend a bunch of money applying for shows that I have no hope of getting in to. I guess it just goes to show that all judges are different.
LOL! What it does do is belie the idea that you can't get in ... well, there is a turnover, but oh what a challenge. It is well run, not run over with ancillary activities, nice booth sizes, etc. To my mind, if you have top notch work, worth six years of applications fees for the payoff.
So it looks like one needs to apply for six years to have a better than 50% chance of making it in?