Earlier this summer we got lots of reviews from the East Coast shows and now it is getting late in August and I would love to know: how did Sandy (not Katrina) impact the coastal towns? Are the shows occurring? Are the homeowners turning out? Are the tourists coming to town? Are the insurance checks showing up and the people out shopping and replacing or even having a good time?

We participated in the Coconut Grove Art Festival a few months after Hurricane Andrew and it was our best "Grove" show ever. Not only the homeowners had money to spend but also the construction workers, electricians, plumbers, etc. Has this occurred on the Jersey shore and the rest of this area?

Have you been there and have any stories to tell? 

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  • Gov. Chris Christy put out many ads on tv, stouting that "We are stronger than the storm"(Sandy)!!! Hoping to bring out the people to the beaches...
  • I have done the LBI Arts & Sciences Foundations Art show for the past several years. I was very concerned about the readiness of the Island... The Island was pretty much all bach in place by mid July, but the visitors were not. Having summered there all of my youth, the car traffic was off by half. Usually it takes several lights to get throught an intersection. It was clear sailing up the island. I did enough to cover costs plus $200 more, because I had repeaters come by... I think next year the crowds will be back, or I hope they'll be back..
  • Maybe we should all go back to do a special Jersey Shore show now since the group that split the latest big powerball Jackpot all were from Ocean County which is the county where the Jersey Shore show is located.
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    • So, you can really give a good report on this section of the country. You've got to be hearing reports and seeing events that are trying to recover or have recovered. What does that mean, "stronger than the storm?" what is stronger?

      It is great to hear about AC's initiative for this arts district. There are other places around the country where they have found that putting money into something like this is better than building a sports stadium for the local economy. Lots of studies on this... the arts rebuild the economy. Who ever would have thought of AC as an arts district though? The Jersey shore is so wonderful to have an arts district in the heart of it seems like a great idea to me.

      Best wishes with this boardwalk show. Did they have to rebuild it or did it survive?

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    • So it sounds like the Ocean City show had the usual problem with beachfront shows, give us good beach weather and we go to the beach. Give us "iffy" weather and we go to the show. Right? This one may not have reflected the storm damage problem.

      That was very cool for that show director to address the issue, so it sounds like you were right in your surmising it could be a good show, just not this year.

      Great to hear about Stone Harbor. After the disaster it is hard for some people to get back in there and I know artists were nervous about losing this good marketplace (this section of the East Coast). Do you live on the Eastern Shore? Do you have more shows lined up in this region?

  • OMG! You can tell I live in a non-hurricane area -- I'm going to change that right now ... embarrassing ...

    Alison, is that the only coastal show you are doing this year? I do remember you were at Boardwalk in Virginia Beach. Did that even count in the "storm count?"

    • I didn't see any damage from Sandy at Virginia Beach.  My sales there were down a bit this year but I attribute that more to the weather during the show.

  • I think you mean hurricane Sandy.  I did the Jersey Shore show this year and unfortunately we were impacted by Tropical Storm Andrea coming through just before the show.  I only had two sales but they were good multi piece sales.

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