Hello
As I am writing this I am in the process of getting ready for the long drive to Houston, Texas to do the Bayou Art Festival. I feel fortunate that I was able to get off of the wait list to do the show. I was also wait listed for the Tempe spring show as well and was able to get off of the wait list for that show. However yesterday I found out that I was wait listed for the Edina Festival in June. I am beginning to see a trend here that I do not like. Personally I hate being wait listed. I feel it is even worse than being flat out rejected. Being wait listed puts your whole schedule in turmoil. The only way I feel to combat this is to apply for multiple shows for any given weekend in which you want to do a show.
I was talking to a very close friend of mine about the Edina situation and he said something that really struck me. He said Dave "The Art Show Profession is the only job that he has ever had that he has to continuously apply to do his job over and over up to 30 times a year." WOW he really nailed it. He is right on the mark. Think about it every-time you jury for a show you having to validate yourself in front of a jury that has the ultimate decision whether you can make a living.
Now don't get me wrong I appreciate the work that juries do to make a show successful. However I see a lot of room for improvement in the system. As I was getting ready for the Bayou show I was thinking back to the time I spent in the planning & zoning profession. I was a planner for the county in which I live here in Washington. It is a hard job with very little outta boys through in for the work that you do. However when I was involved in that profession I had the option to become a certified planner. All I had to do was put in six years of experience, pass the exam and then I was certified.
This got to me thinking about what if we as artists were able to be certified by an independent body of professionals that specialized in each of our mediums? This independent body could judge our work and determine that our work meets the highest degree of professionalism. Once certified the promoters of art shows could then select artists that were certified to fill the spaces in there shows by mediums knowing that those artists selected have met or exceeded the highest degree professionalism in their medium. Individual artists who are not certified could still apply for the show but would need to go through the normal jury process.
What I am trying to get at is finding a way to have us as artists have some degree of certainty, instead of throwing darts at a dart board blind folded, hoping and praying that we get into XYZ art show as we throw the dart.
Maybe I am way off the mark here. But as I start my 7th year of doing art shows full time I feel that it is getting harder and harder to stay a float, and I really love to do the shows. Anyway let me know your thoughts. I wish all of you the best as we start another season of art shows.
Sincerely,
David Forster
Light Capture Photography
Replies
Speaking from the history of the venue, as I experienced it . . . . . you will probably be writing this same or very similar post when you have been doing shows for 20+ years. Some things have changed; others not so much.
It did seem that it got easier especially if you made it a point of looking for those really good shows for your work that gave you some sense of set regularity based on how they handled the process.
If memory serves me right, we had a pretty filled year with those types - 57th Street, Old Town, Krasl, Ann Arbor (whichever), Plaza (with their rotating medium re-invite method) are the ones I can think of off the top of my head - some may have changed their method in the years since I have done any shows.
Then maybe you can in a few more where you win an award and can count on being in the next year.
All these things added a bit more sanity to the look ahead from year to year.
It is a good idea, but how do new people break into the shows? Fewer and fewer spaces would be available to them. Me, it would be cool, been around so long I think I could make the list. But what about all the people who want to be "us?"
I think that as long as there are competing shows on the same weekend and artists that double apply, not to mention sudden illness and accidents, wait lists are a necessary evil for the show promoters. I would rather a show promoter have a wait list than leave empty booths in a show. The only method for getting accepted rather than wait listed is to up your game. Your idea might be a good way to keep out buy-sell but still, who is going to set this criteria?
David - good to see you here on AFI!! Having been waitlisted for the Spring Best of the NW which we've done for the last 4 years, I understand the frustration. One thing to consider is that shows might want to change their artists each year, to a certain degree. We both know we've been in shows where the shoppers seem to indicate it's the same crowd every year and they'd like to see something new which is one advantage of having the jury members change each year. How do you address that?
The problem is that everyone you're competing against is already certified with at least six years experience and has passed the test.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
It's a good theory but how do they whittle down the 50 certified jewelry artists that apply for 20 jewelry spaces in a show? First come first serve? Lottery? You'd end up prequalifying to be juried but there would be some subjective decision anyway.
Some shows (like 57th St in Chicago) only "rejury" certain categories each year. I did not have to pay a jury fee this year, just had to make sure my paperwork was in and (assuming I read the instructions as they were meant) I am in. As a result getting in once may get you several years if you continue to attend. I see better luck building on the concept of having shows give returning artists an advantage. It would build relationships and loyalty. Of course, if someone shows up and has buy/sell or booth/work that doesn't match photos the director would need to disqualify that person.
What do you think?