I had to create an account with the Belleville show to read their image requirements. Their booth image requirements are long and detailed. Could this be the future? Shows defining the booth slide so clearly that artists may need a few different booth slides. And actually the first paragraph says it all...
EVERYTHING THAT IS VISIBLE IN YOUR BOOTH FROM THE FRONT OF THE BOOTH AT THE FAIR MUST BE SEEN IN THE BOOTH SLIDE. YOUR ENTIRE BOOTH, FROM CORNER TO CORNER, MUST BE VISIBLE TO THE JURY.Chairs and other types of seating are the only exception.
BROWSE BOXES, FLIP BINS, CASH CARTS, AND THE LIKE MUST APPEAR IN THE BOOTH SLIDE SHOULD THEY BE VISIBLE FROM THE FRONT OF THE BOOTH AT THE FAIR.
The booth submitted in your booth slide must be EQUIVALENT to the booth you intend to use at our fair. Setups typically intended for indoor use are generally not appropriate for outdoor venues. ALL BOOTHS AND INSTALLATIONS MUST BE REASONABLY ABLE TO WITHSTAND INCLEMENT WEATHER, this must include adequate weights at all four corners.
THE ENTIRE BOOTH MUST BE SEEN BY THE JURY. SHOWING ONLY ONE CORNER OR JUST TWO PANELS OF A THREE-PANEL BOOTH IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. The jury must see the entire space from corner to corner.
ALL WORK TO BE SHOWN AT THE FAIR MUST BE REPRESENTATIVE OF WORK SHOWN IN THE BOOTH SLIDE. Work not representative of the juried work appearing in the booth slide will not be permitted at the fair.
PANEL RISERS OR EXTENDERS THAT INCREASE WALL HEIGHT AND/OR EXTRA PANELS THAT EXTEND LATERALLY BEYOND THE LIMITS OF THE SPACE WILL NOT BE PERMITTED AT THE FAIR nor will infringement on a neighboring artist's space or public spaces. Attachment of any kind, the primary intent of which is to attract attention, must be approved by the Standards and Compliance committee, or be removed..
WORK SLIDES AND BOOTH SLIDES MUST BE ACCURATE REPRESENTATIONS.Images that have been enhanced with image editing software are not acceptable.
Larry Berman
Digital Jury Services
http://BermanGraphics.com
Test Your Jury Images and Presentation
http://JuryImages.com
412-767-8644
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Ah, yes. Okay I just pulled this off the NAIA site, courtesy of Michael Kopald:
This booth photography discussion reminded me of an old story I once heard about Picasso. (Related to the best of my memory)
Picasso meets a young American soldier in a bar in France during the war, and after talking for a while, Picasso invites the young man back to his home for another drink and to see is paintings. Upon viewing one of Picasso's abstract pantings of a woman, the man laughs and remarks that it sure doesn't look like any woman to him. Picasso asks the young man if he has a girlfriend, and smiling the man says sure and pulls a photograph from his wallet and hands it to the artist, ,who looking at it says, "My goodness, she sure is small."
Larry Berman > Connie MettlerOctober 23, 2009 at 3:07pm
Hi Connie,
As a show director, what do you think of the micro managed booth slide description? How does your description read?
Belleville's booth requirements seem a bit anal, but the need for a good booth image is necessary for the jury to see how you present your work. In the olden days of art fairs before there were standard canopies for artist to buy, there were quite a variety of structures made to keep you and your work safe from the elements. Then there was the tables covered with bed sheets or cardboard boxes for flip bins! Oh my! We have come along way from then with supportive industries making tents, panels, flip bins etc.
Have been a "street artist for over 24yrs I have seen the good, bad and plan ugly and unsafe displays. Artist should be required to weight down or stake their booth, or have white tents, it give a professional look to the event. Don't get me wrong, I love a good flea market and the jumble of tables and boxes to look through, but I sure don't want to sell my 14k handcrafted jewelry at one and most shows don't want the show they are promoting to look like one either.
I also have been on the jury for a number of shows, things that a jury will look at in booth slides is what is you are really selling, panels or tables full of small stuff, or racks of earrings when your other slides are say 3 big beautiful vases, or lovely neck pieces? There may be a quality balance issue there. The booth slide is your store front, it pays to put your best and most accurate image forth. And let me note here the accurate part, don't present your display as one thing and show up with some other look all together.
Generally speaking, Larry, I think there is way too much jumping up and down about this kind of an issue. Similar to the calibration issue.
How many shows do you think this is going to effect? Belleville is a fine show. They have the right to make the rules, to know what is going to show up at their event. But, I'd guess 90-95% of the shows out there are just pleased to death to get enough good work to apply so they can have a respectable looking event.
Now that other 5-10% can call the shots. More power to them. Are you applying to those shows?
The days of all events having more than double or triple the applicants to their shows are gone!
As a show director, and as a partner of an artist who used to do the art fairs, I can pretty well read a booth slide as to what is going to show up. When you see an empty card table with a table cloth on it set up in front of a garage, you know.
When you see a tent crammed to the gills with products, you know.
When you see a display so spare that you don't know how anyone can make any money, you know.
When you see an image with a name sign, the neighbor's chairs and bins crammed in, you know.
I did get fooled on a display recently though. Very cool work, sculptural, but didn't notice the size. Whoops! He showed up with about ten pieces that were clearly manufactured. Send him home!
None of the events I work on have a description for the booth image.
Larry Berman > Connie MettlerOctober 23, 2009 at 6:52pm
Hi Connie,
The calibration issue has been there from the beginning and the only saving grace is that each artists images are viewed under the same conditions.
The micro managed booth slide description from Belleville is a direct result of a presentation given at the show director's conference in September and seems to have been taken too literally. When contacted, their reasoning was to weed out buy sell but as Carla pointed out, no booth slide will weed out buy sell.
If they get confused questions from artists or fewer artists applying, they may change their wording next year. And at the same time, it's creating a hardship for artists who try and follow the rules by forcing them to set up a new booth shot after the outdoor art show season has ended. And it seems that they are confused about the height of a booth because they are asking whether the height that they specify be the height of the walls or the height of the canopy.
It seems all very intimidating. I agree with most of you about booth slides. Perhaps someone should ask them why such detail on booth images. I change the look of my booth at most shows because of space available and different art hanging. I am gathering it is for a professional looking set up. You really want them to screen out those not up to par. Last show I did, my neighbors canopy blew away several times because of lack of weights and lots of wind on the bay here in VA. No one wants your neighbor falling into your space. I wonder if they judge the safety of canopies.
Juries can't enforce canopy safety, but security can to some extent. I see the people who are the biggest culprits are those who have never set up a canopy before, with an exception or two from those who feel in the past they didn't need to and its ok to not to. All instructions that come with canopies state it is necessary to anchor/weigh down canopies, but I really don't think people read that or at least ignore it. I see flying and falling canopies at every show I do and it is truly a nuisance and BIG hazard, but there isn't much anyone can do - it's up to the individual and they seem to learn quickly from experience.
My guess and reasoning behind this is to ensure there are set standards that must be reached to show they are putting on a classy show. I am sure only white canopies are allowed and seeking specific types of artists from specific mediums. I can imagine that if you say this is what you sell and a photo backs it up it would help eliminate re-sellers or make it easier to spot culprits OR deter them right from the beginning. It sounds a bit much, from the description as stated by Larry, however I think it could be worded slightly different to not make it sound so specific or as if you have to jump through even more hoops to get into the event. It seems to send me a clear message that they mean business.
The only thing I disagree is that I too, like William, is I like to switch my display too as it depends on where a majority of patrons are most likely going to see my booth. I put my best sellers on the side that has most visibility depending on how patrons walk a show. I guess it wouldn't matter if the show draws tons of patrons now would it?
Sheila Evans > Michelle SholundOctober 23, 2009 at 1:55am
I planned to apply to this show and was alarmed when I saw the booth slide requirement. I shot my booth image a month or so ago and put all of my booth equipment into off-site storage last week. Because of my one-panel front wall, I had shot my booth from an angle to show as much as possible of the interior, rather than directly from the front. I emailed the Belleville show director to ask if the image would be OK. She said many other artists had similar questions, and she had them (and me) email her the booth image for review. This morning she actually called me to tell me that the booth image would be fine since I had already put everything away. She also indicated that she would be happy to answer booth image questions for other artists if they email her the image.
The reason they set up these strict requirements has to do with their nervousness about switching to digital jurying, and with some bad experiences they have had in the past with enforcing rules at the show. They are trying to use the booth slide to weed out as much trouble (buy/sell, junk, items that were not juried in, etc.) as possible ahead of time. I don't think they are really that concerned that your display layout be absolutely identical to the slide---it's more about what is in the booth. Anyway, if anyone is planning to enter and isn't sure about something, just ask. They are really very nice about it.
Sure hope the shows around here (Virginia) don't add similar wording. I never set my booth up the same way! How I set it up varies a lot depending on the weather, and if there is a booth right next to me. I can understand the basic requirement of showing a picture of what the booth will look like in their show, but not the requirements with that specific detail.
Replies
This booth photography discussion reminded me of an old story I once heard about Picasso. (Related to the best of my memory)
Picasso meets a young American soldier in a bar in France during the war, and after talking for a while, Picasso invites the young man back to his home for another drink and to see is paintings. Upon viewing one of Picasso's abstract pantings of a woman, the man laughs and remarks that it sure doesn't look like any woman to him. Picasso asks the young man if he has a girlfriend, and smiling the man says sure and pulls a photograph from his wallet and hands it to the artist, ,who looking at it says, "My goodness, she sure is small."
As a show director, what do you think of the micro managed booth slide description? How does your description read?
Larry Berman
Digital Jury Services
http://BermanGraphics.com
Test Your Jury Images and Presentation
http://JuryImages.com
412-401-8100
Have been a "street artist for over 24yrs I have seen the good, bad and plan ugly and unsafe displays. Artist should be required to weight down or stake their booth, or have white tents, it give a professional look to the event. Don't get me wrong, I love a good flea market and the jumble of tables and boxes to look through, but I sure don't want to sell my 14k handcrafted jewelry at one and most shows don't want the show they are promoting to look like one either.
I also have been on the jury for a number of shows, things that a jury will look at in booth slides is what is you are really selling, panels or tables full of small stuff, or racks of earrings when your other slides are say 3 big beautiful vases, or lovely neck pieces? There may be a quality balance issue there. The booth slide is your store front, it pays to put your best and most accurate image forth. And let me note here the accurate part, don't present your display as one thing and show up with some other look all together.
Annette Morrin
How many shows do you think this is going to effect? Belleville is a fine show. They have the right to make the rules, to know what is going to show up at their event. But, I'd guess 90-95% of the shows out there are just pleased to death to get enough good work to apply so they can have a respectable looking event.
Now that other 5-10% can call the shots. More power to them. Are you applying to those shows?
The days of all events having more than double or triple the applicants to their shows are gone!
As a show director, and as a partner of an artist who used to do the art fairs, I can pretty well read a booth slide as to what is going to show up. When you see an empty card table with a table cloth on it set up in front of a garage, you know.
When you see a tent crammed to the gills with products, you know.
When you see a display so spare that you don't know how anyone can make any money, you know.
When you see an image with a name sign, the neighbor's chairs and bins crammed in, you know.
I did get fooled on a display recently though. Very cool work, sculptural, but didn't notice the size. Whoops! He showed up with about ten pieces that were clearly manufactured. Send him home!
None of the events I work on have a description for the booth image.
The calibration issue has been there from the beginning and the only saving grace is that each artists images are viewed under the same conditions.
The micro managed booth slide description from Belleville is a direct result of a presentation given at the show director's conference in September and seems to have been taken too literally. When contacted, their reasoning was to weed out buy sell but as Carla pointed out, no booth slide will weed out buy sell.
If they get confused questions from artists or fewer artists applying, they may change their wording next year. And at the same time, it's creating a hardship for artists who try and follow the rules by forcing them to set up a new booth shot after the outdoor art show season has ended. And it seems that they are confused about the height of a booth because they are asking whether the height that they specify be the height of the walls or the height of the canopy.
Larry Berman
Digital Jury Services
http://BermanGraphics.com
Test Your Jury Images and Presentation
http://JuryImages.com
412-401-8100
The only thing I disagree is that I too, like William, is I like to switch my display too as it depends on where a majority of patrons are most likely going to see my booth. I put my best sellers on the side that has most visibility depending on how patrons walk a show. I guess it wouldn't matter if the show draws tons of patrons now would it?
The reason they set up these strict requirements has to do with their nervousness about switching to digital jurying, and with some bad experiences they have had in the past with enforcing rules at the show. They are trying to use the booth slide to weed out as much trouble (buy/sell, junk, items that were not juried in, etc.) as possible ahead of time. I don't think they are really that concerned that your display layout be absolutely identical to the slide---it's more about what is in the booth. Anyway, if anyone is planning to enter and isn't sure about something, just ask. They are really very nice about it.
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