I notice some people using the word "vendor" to describe us lately, and also recall seeing this word used to describe us-in materials passed out to me at the art shows from the promoters.
So, yesterday when I was opening my email packet from another show-there is was-
*Instructions for the VENDORS.*
This comes from a been-around-some-time art organization composed primarily of older watercolorists- if anyone doesn't want to use the word VENDOR, it should be them, right?
I was reading another packet this morning for the show I'm doing this week, and this show is referring to me as an EXHIBITOR. I like that word.
Just some thoughts.
Replies
After reading two pages of previous replies, I believe there's a more important point to be made. In critiquing a newbie artist's booth it was pointed out that consistent use of frames would enhance the look of professionalism.
In marketing "real" art, which I think most of us want to do, the word you use for the artist MATTERS a LOT.
I saw a few comments accepting the word "artisan." It's not the same thing people in our language group think of when they hear the word "artist." An artist does not make cheese or bread, things which recently have begun taking on the "artisan" label.
If the product you make is more like cheese than an oil painting, then embrace it at the Craft fair. If your works are one of a kind, I suggest you are an artist.
This isn't just for us. It's to help the event organizers properly label their event and those who make it what it is so customers can have their expectations fulfilled, not disappointed.
The "V" word is poison to this effort. Vendors sell hot dogs, soda pop and mass-produced items. We should remove it completely from our marketing and communication about our shows. Even a little 3 x 5 card gets seen by the outside world. Details matter.
I guess Vendor is still better than ART PEDDLER. I don't like EXHIBITOR either after seeing "The Full Monti" yesterday evening. ARTISAN is still a good word I however still like ARTISTS and CRAFTSMAN or even FINE ARTISTS and SUPURB CRAFTSMAN. Is is time to call PROMOTERS...…... SHOW BARKERS
I agree - especially for fine crafts.
Let me start with the word "exhibitor" first. What comes to mind is someone showing or displaying something but it's not necessarily for sale, but could be for sale.
Now, "vendor". Technically a vendor is someone who is selling something. Are we not, in fact, selling something when we attend these shows? I do not attend shows just to sit there and display my work. I am there to sell it. Otherwise I would stay home. Sure, I prefer artist, craftsperson, etc. Really what I do isn't either one in the truest sense. I am a picker and an upcycler of most everything I have in my booth. I use paint, wax, and other supplies but it's no on canvas, paper, or any other traditional medium. I don't throw pottery but I have some in my booth that I have upcycled. I don't blow glass but, again I have some upcycled glass pieces in my booth. I don't soter (sp?) metal but I have upcycled metal pieces in my booth. Same for wood furniture, resin, etc.
I could get bent out of shape if I wanted to because someone refers to me as an artist/crafter or a vendor. Yes, there are techniques of both in what I do but it's not the full story. Do I quit shows because they refer me to me as something that others deem "less than"? No. With all the technology we have to communicate ideas, it should make getting this point across easier right? Well, it just goes to show that people are communicating but not getting their idea across.
Down here in all the shows I've done, we are all referred to as "vendors". I have done everything from very small shows at churches and schools (not anymore but in the beginning) up to shows at the historic Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, LA. There is some beautiful work out there and I'll end with.... "a rose by any other name is still a rose."
Hello Cindy,
Yes, it is always less stressful to acquiesce to whatever someone wants to refer to you as, knowing inside what you really are. But this whole issue is about Titles, Badges of Honor, Terms of Respect, etc. The title "Artist" conveys credit, credibility, expertise, subject matter knowledge, proficiency, above average insight, a unique perspective, and a million additional kudos that "vendor" just can't approach... in fact, "vendor" actually goes just as far in the opposite direction.
As an example: a certain ficticious person I just invented does not want to be refered to as a mere "Care Provider", this person wants to be known as Jane Doe, multiple medical doctorate holder, head surgeon at XX best medical facility in the world, Chief of Cardiology, Pulmonology, Oncology, and Neuro Surgery, etc., etc., etc.
Sort of a ludicrous extreme, but the point is: we want credit --and respect-- for what we are and what we do. "Artist" does this; "Vendor" does not.
[On a side note: craftsMAN, too, is outdated. How about "craftsPERSON" or "craftsPEOPLE"...?]
--Chris Fedderson
Chris, I certainly appreciate what you're saying. I am trying to spend less time caring and worrying about what other people call me or think of me and more time loving what I do and just doing it. :D
Older I Get.jpg
Hello, again, Cindy,
I agree with you and actually feel the same way. I generally have an air of: “if you don’t like what you see here, then go somewhere else”. And this works well for me in my own social vacuum; inside my studio, while I’m running my daily errands, etc. The glitch happens when I want/NEED people to like “what they see here” — at an art show where I’m trying to get them to part with their cash.
Here I need them to view me and my work with respect, admiration, esteem, value, etc. And the first step in this starts long before they have even laid eyes on me or my work. It starts with the show promoters and their “gut” feelings about us and how those attitudes are conveyed in all their advertising, their artist/promoter relations, and their various communiqués and interactions with the public. And this starts with how we portray ourselves to the promoters.
We need to command [and demand] recognition for who and what we are, and for what we do and have accomplished. A Title does this. Artist [etc.] does this. Vendor does not.
Cindy, what do you think…?
—Chris Fedderson
Chris,
I agree. I just don't know how we change the tide of public opinion.... specifically those who promote shows. I wonder if the attitude they have is because they come strictly from a business or non-profit field and are not artists or craftspersons to begin with? And ... as long as they come out with a profit (if it's a for profit show), the promoter is happy.
I can visualize one of us, being the only one, standing on a soapbox in the middle of a show, shouting, "I am an artist! I am NOT a vendor!" LOL
WHERE'S MY SOAPBOX?!?! ;->
Cindy, I know it seems a futile pursuit, but what if we ALL stood on our soapboxes...? Hhhmmmmm...
--Chris
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