Hi everyone.
I am looking for honest feedback or critiques for my homemade display panel. I have only made one so far but before going further on building others I wanted to get some expert opinions on the one I have made.
As a new artist I don't have the money to spend on a pro panel set yet. I haven't actually done my first show yet, so basically I am in my Art Fair Infancy stage. Still learning the ins and outs and I have been reading all the articles and discussions here on AFI.
So be brutally honest if you will and tell me if this panel (more if it passes muster here) would be considered "Jury Worthy", could hurt my potential to pass juries, or could hurt my potential sales. I've been keeping up with Larry's discussions and his website articles on booth displays, and find them very valuable.
Any advice or offering you can provide for someone on a budget and just beginning would be appreciated.
The wall was made using:
(6) 2x4 's
(1) 2"x4'x8' Polystyrene Insulation Board
we used a canvas type material for wrap.
I left the legs bare and was undecided as to paint them or stain them, if at all.
I know it's no ProPanel, but on a budget it's what my sons and I could produce.
The panels are 6' tall x 8' wide. The display portion is only 4'x4' for each panel and we used hinges to piece the two panels into foldable panels. The panel folds up to a 4' wide x 6' tall piece. The only thing is the space opening at the bottoms. It is a 2',4' opening per section. We could have filled the whole display, but thought that no one would drop to their knees to view artwork hanging below the 4' elevation, so why add the extra materials to the bottom of panel. Your thoughts?
To hang our work we simply use curtain hooks.
Display Wall:
Replies
Scott, I have an old set of panels I made years ago that are sitting in my storage locker gathering dust. I used them for about 12-14 years until I replaced them with ProPanels in 2005. Right now they're painted white.
These are made with 1x2 stock and 20" vinyl covered closet shelving. The shelving grids are 6 feet tall, two per panel, and the panels are 7 1/2 feet tall and made to fit an EZ-Up. The panels are H brackets with the shelving about a foot off the ground and uprights about 6 inches above the shelving. They are designed to zip tie into the scissor brackets of the tent frame.
The panels are 41.5 inches wide which causes them to be slightly longer than the internal dimension of the EZ-Up, but that turns out to be a small bonus. The rear panel has to kick out a bit and line up on the back of the tent, but that leaves just enough room to stack Rubbermaid Rough Totes in the space behind the panel. The diagonal placement gives cross bracing on the rear corners of the tent. The combination of the weight of the panels and the rigidity from the cross bracing has gotten me through some Hundred Year thunderstorms unscathed. I have 7 of these panels plus a narrower one that leave a doorway to the rear. There are some extra shelving pieces available to make some more panels if needed.
These panels need to be re-painted and if used, a suggestion would be to staple cloth behind them as a color accent. The ends of the shelving have some small rusting in places. If I were repainting them, I would use basement sealing paint as that stuff sticks to anything. I carried these panels around in a Plymouth and Dodge extended minivan. They would lie flat and I would lay some pieces of plywood on top of them and stack my tubs on top.
If this would fit your bill, I would give them to you for the cost of gas to drive to Louisville from Indy and back. If I recall Brandenburg was about 30 minutes or so from Louisville. They're not being used and just take up space. A little work and they are quite functional. I can pull them out of the locker and set up a tent to take a shot if you're interested. I looked on my computer and couldn't find anything that far back although there may be some slides somewhere of booth shots using those.
Let me know as I have a trip planned to Louisville on the 17th and that could be good timing.
Robert,
First thanks for the generous offer. Yes I would be interested in them, but would like to see a photo of the walls/shelves if you can manage to take some. If they look usable I will take them off your hands. How much do you think you would need to cover gas expenses? I can then meet you in Louisville to pick up.
I just found a booth slide from back in the day. It's a bit cluttered with a couple of narrow shelves in the front of the booth, but I'll post that one as soon as I can find a scanner that works or a holder for the slide. I'm digging things out and finding layers of dust on the slide holders =8-O. Kind of tells me when the last time I used those things ;-/ I should be able to get the old slide scanned tonight, otherwise I'll get a tent put up out at the storage locker. I would have to use the van to haul them, so I'm guessing it's about $75. 14mpg sucks :-(
BTW, the shelving ran about $300 as best as I can recall, and the extras go with it.
Sounds good. Will wait to see the photos.
Okay, here it is. BTW, this dates from somewhere about the early to mid 90's as best as I can tell. The set up here looks like I must have had little space in the back of the tent and had set up a French wall on the left so I could have a place to sit in the back of the tent. A piece of fabric is clamped to the back of the panel, and the sides and right rear just have the white side tarps backing them up.
If you look on the left at the top, you can see how they're tied into the scissor struts up there. Normally the back panel would kick out about a couple of feet from the corner, giving you a spot to stack tubs inside the tent without them showing. I used curtain hooks reversed to hang on the wire grids. The narrow side with the point would hold the picture frame wire and the wider opening would hang on the grids.
I cringe at the flip bins I used back then, not to mention the cramped set up inside the tent. It looks like the pole across the tops of the middle panels is a painter pole zip tied to both ends into the tent frame. The narrow shelving panels on the sides were a bad idea as they reduce sight lines of the work inside.
Robert, looks better than what I currently have. Yes, I will take them. If you want to give me a call when you are within 45 minutes of Louisville I can drive in and meet you to pick up and pay you. I will PM you my phone numbers.
Nice start on these panels, Scott. Pro Panels are not the "end all and be all" for art fairs. Please look at this post I did a while back. You don't need to buy the professional panels to be professional.
http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/how-do-you-like-this-...
My critique of your setup though is to definitely cover the legs, wrap them closer to the ground, so they give the feeling of enclosure and don't look so unfinished. And if you search on this site (I just looked for homemade booths) you'll find all kinds of other ideas also.
Thanks Connie, like the other's I think you all are correct in the legs and wall needs to cover full height of the frame. Will make the changes on this one and on the other ones I will be making until we can afford pro walls.
My eyes went directly to the raw wood legs. Perhaps painting them white like the canopy legs will help them blend in and give the walls a finished look.
Good suggestion Bryan. hanks for your honest feedback.
-
1
-
2
-
3
of 3 Next