Smoky Hill River Festival- Salina, Ks

My husband and I just got home from doing this show. There are many things going on during this show. There is a crafts side and a fine art side. The craft side runs three days, the fine arts side runs two days. I was on the fine arts side. There are three stages for music and various large installations through out the part. I enjoyed seeing those and was planning on posting pictures, but I did not realize that while I was tearing down my booth, they were taking down the installations. So the show director is supposed to be sending me some photos, so we see if she remembers. The setup for the show is a bit rough, having to cart it in and having to wait in line for parking to unload. They did handle it well for us, they were very friendly and lots of offers of help and support. There was electricity, which I paid extra for. I brought my extension cords, but ended up buying a new 100 ft. cord to reach. So another 60 bucks to the cost of the show. We also had to run the cord down the isle between the backs of the tents which was bit tricky the tents were back to back. On the plus side though the side by side layout was spacious so you could set up with three sides open if you so choose. My roughest time occurred during set up, when I asked my husband where the tent sides were and my two other big boxes of display pieces and jewelry boxes and bags. His reply after first a look of perplexment and a wave of red cover his face and beautiful bald head was, " in the &@$?/$! Storage unite!" So after contemplating how to go about solving this dilemma he returned home to retrieve the forgotten boxes. A three hour drive turned into nine hours. I remained and set up my display cases and prayed it didn't rain before he returned with sides. I went to the artist dinner while he was on the road. The dinner was nice and I had my brother in law and his wife in tow since they planned their trip from Oklahoma to Colorado for this weekend so they could see us and they show. I put them to work in the absence of my husband and the promoters were gracious enough to let them accompany me to dinner. They knew about the debacle that had already taken place with my tent and half my display. Did I mention that my display cases jewelry cases are in what we call "the baby coffin" and weighs about 300 pounds and I moved it by myself since my helper was not present and I was in too much to a hurry to number ask for help; number two lift properly? So don't ask about my back and already bad knee. Well let's just say the two kept me from sleeping Friday night and it took my minutes to stand and walk when I got up. I spent most of the night slowing moving from a recliner and the bed in my room. Now the show was run great. I made some new small enamel pendents for the show and was anxious to see how they were received. I sold half, so am pleased with my new direction. The crowd was nice Saturday. My warning for early set up arrival on Saturday morning...there is a marathon and it took us and extra 30 minutes to find an open entrance into the park that would get us where we needed to be. So between not getting completed in my set up the day before and asking teenage volunteers how to get around the marathon I was still arranging my jewelry during the judging. Which I don't think about the judging too much anyways, I just don't like running late. I will say that "be backs" were quite good at this show. And the show is one of the best run and full of amenities. I was also surprised to learn from some of my customers that they come from Dallas and Pennsylvania every year just for this show. And they do it annually and are not visiting family, they just come for this. They quality of art is fine and from what I heard the craft side is good too. They run a patron program and really try to promote our work. One patron kept returning throughout the day with new ones just gushing over my work, and cursing himself for buying a new car the week before. At first I thought he was just blowing smoke, but he kept returning with someone new in tow. It was very flattering. Sunday morning started with a light rain. And the crowd just never really formed. I had some " be backs" return. And I got to visit with another enamelist whom I've admired his work in magazines and we really had some time to brainstorm and share some secrets. We exchanged contact info, so for me in long run the slow Sunday will pay off. I added up my sales and was a bit down and then remembered it was a two day show and not three days and Fridays and Saturdays have always been my best days. So my two day show total was a bit low for my norm, but not by much. Salina is a small town, so the number of years one can successfully return and do well, I am not sure.I do feel that one might do better the second year because I got the impression they like to get to know you, but four years in a row one might find you've run out of buyers. I forgot to mention that there are helpers and beverage barriers that are check are your needs frequently. There are eager helpers from set up through teardown. So if you do shows alone, have no fear here. From talking to other artists, some did well, some did ok, some didn't do well. There are seasoned pros, those that are learning and those in the middle. I would say it is the best run show in Kansas and perhaps the second top money maker in Kansas. Prairie Village probably makes more money because it is in a Kansas City ( well a suberb of KC) and put on by the same folks as Brookside.

Replies

Wendy Newman June 29, 2011 at 10:30am

I did this show, too, for the first time this year. I was really impressed, and I've been doing shows for a long time:) The people in town treated the artists like rock stars. I had a pretty good day on Saturday, mainly because of the purchase program, but a really slow day on Sunday. The weather was perfect all weekend. I'm not sure why they just have the "fine art" for the two days. I heard the "crafts" (most of which were really good quality) had their best day on Friday. I'm assuming that the patrons want the pick of the "good stuff" on Saturday morning.
Annette Piper June 13, 2011 at 6:18pm

Thanks for the review Michelle - your poor hubby having to drive all the way home and back ... one of my nightmares is leaving something integral for a show at home!
- S. Michelle Babcock > Annette Piper June 13, 2011 at 9:16pm
  
  Believe it or not we have a list. The trick is to use it. Last year we did a show in Aspen and left the panels for my stands leaning against the dining room table. We found an art supply store and cut black foam core the night before the show to cover the stands. I quess we're slow learners.
  - Ruth Finkenbiner > S. Michelle Babcock June 15, 2011 at 12:51am
    
    We also have a list, but we've learned the hard way just to make sure everything that is unloaded makes it into our storage room (off the gararge) and then when we think we're done loading the truck for the next show we each make a tour of the storage room to make sure we've left nothing behind. Our lastest trick was to have shelves that are just dedicated to the show items for storage between shows and when those are empty we know we have everything. Of course, it's just a lot easier to leave it all in the truck but not always practical when you have a long break between shows and need the truck for the other things in life!

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