Hi, I'm Michelle, my partner Nick and I are taking the plunge, the, "try to make it as artists" plunge which will include doing some art fairs this year. I create jewelry and paint, Nick paints, we are in our mid-40's residing in the great art community of Saugatuck MI. For starters I know we are late to the "party" in terms of applying to shows, nevertheless we are going to begin and hope for the best. Our goal is 4-6 shows in MI, Northern IN or IL, any advise or feedback you have for shows in this area is welcome. We are being realistic, baby-steps, manage expectations, we are excited about every victory including joining this community!
Glad to be here and looking forward to meeting some of you. By the way, anybody needing input on this area or Chicago (we're from there) maybe we can help. Peace.
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Hi Michelle and welcome to AFI :) Baby steps are good - take it slowly and enjoy!
Hello Michelle and welcome to our group. You might want to look at www.Callsforartists.com. There are lots of art shows listed there that are looking for artists. Also, check out www.artshowreviews.com. There are many Michigan Show reviews there. That may help you in your decision making.
Hope to see you around here.
Hi Jacki, thanks so much for the tips. I never see any comments in the artshowreviews section, am I missing something or are they very few and far between? The Call for artists is a great resource.
Michelle, depending on how you search Artshow reviews you'll find the comments when you scroll down. Let's say you want to check out the Michigan shows, then choose that in the search box and you'll be taken to the Michigan show page. Now here's the tricky part (sorry about this) if you look under the listing for that show you'll see a small box where it says "comments" and it will take you to specific info about that show. Putting the exact name of a show in the search box on the right hand will take you to that show's page.
There are some good shows that haven't closed yet for the summer months. Good luck with your adventure.
Welcome Michelle! Oh yes, how I love Saugatuck! In fact we visited last year after doing Broad Ripple in Indianapolis. I have only done a couple shows in MI and that was years ago, so I'm not much help there. This sight has a wealth of information for MI shows. If you are taking the plunge, yet only doing 4-6 shows, you must be planning other venues for selling your artwork-possibly galleries or online sales maybe? I think you are wise to diversify.
Hi Pat, thanks so much for the reply, sorry so long getting back to you. We are indeed trying to sell through different avenues such as online, etsy, galleries and our own shows. We have our application in for Reeds Lake Grand Rapids and have our fingers crossed.