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Alpine Art Affair, Winter Park,CO, 2023

Alpine Art Affair, Winter Park, CO, July 8-9,2023

Fees: Jury $25, Booth $215

Medium: Leather: plain and hand carved equestrian, K-9,

   personal leather goods and gun leathers.

Price Range: $4 cast iron skillet handle to $4100, 1860

             reproduction saddle, most items <$300.

The Alpine Art Affair was held in Winter Park, CO July 8-9 in the Rendezvous Event Center (aka Hideaway Park).  This was the 49th year for the show.  Show hours were 9-5 on Saturday and 9-4 on Sunday. Winter Park is primarily a ski resort about an hour and a half west of Denver. During the summer, cycling, extreme mountain biking, fishing, hiking and camping are popular activities. The drive to Winter Park is easy on I-70 and US 40.  The latter is a typical mountain highway with switchbacks and steep grades to the summit of Berthoud Pass and down on the Fraser River side.  The uphill sides have passing lanes.   Going down the Fraser Valley are the towns of Winter Park, Fraser, Tabernash and Granby. Highway US 40 also provides access from Kremmling, CO. Granby is the gateway to the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park and it can be reached through the Park over Trail Ridge Road (US 34) from Estes Park, CO.

FEES. The jury fee is $25, and the single booth fee is $215.  This is one of the lowest booth fees for a Colorado resort area. Others are $350-$425. Participants are no longer required to purchase an annual sales tax license at $60.  Sales taxes are collected by the show late on Sunday. The sales tax rate in Winter Park is a whopping 11.2% (2.9% Colorado, 1.3% Grand County, 7% City) compared to around 8% elsewhere, but the park is a good example of how the revenue is spent.

SET UP AND TAKE DOWN.  Set up starts at 8:00am on Friday.  You unload on the perimeter of the park.  A golf cart and volunteer youth were available to assist.  There is a lower level of multiple booths in rows and an upper level with clusters of 4-8 booths.  Lower-level booths are on grass in front of a stage, and upper-level booths are on grass along curved concrete walkways. There are about 60 booths. Load out was equally easy.

WEATHER. The temperature during Friday set up was in the mid-70’s, and Saturday and Sunday it was in the low 80’s.  There were a few sprinkles Friday afternoon. It was one of those “blue sky rains” with large raindrops from a passing cloud. 

THE SHOW.  This is a well-organized and managed show run by a nonprofit group of local artists.  Student scholarships are funded through the collection of booth fees from participating artists and food vendors.  Graduating seniors, within Grand County, pursuing art studies are eligible for the scholarships.   The crowds were larger than previous Winter Park shows I have done.  The quality of the work was high and there was no buy\sell. There was a good mix of art with a dominance of jewelry and 2-D. Some musicians were performing on the stage Sunday, but nothing was publicized about that.  The Lions had an all you can eat pancake breakfast for $10, and complimentary coffee for artists. They also raise funds for scholarships.  

I had previously done this show from 2011-2014.  In these years, sales declined from around $3K to a little less than $2K, dropping about $150, $200, and $700 each year. During the hiatus, I did Steamboat Springs, CO in 2015 and Jackson Hole, WY in 2016 and 2017. I returned in 2018 planning to alternate Winter Park with another CO July show. Then there was the Covid hiatus, so we returned this year.

Belts were the best sellers, with some nice belt and silver buckle sales, and the usual dog leashes, wallets, checkbooks, and gun leather. I had some people pull out billfolds and cases they had bought earlier, and others commented they were glad I was back.

     Roving booth sitters were available, or you could phone in a request for one.  There was a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception Saturday after the show. There were lots of dogs at the show and we enjoyed each other’s visits.

THE NUMBERS. Saturday, I met my daily goal of $1.2K sales.  Sunday was slower, but we exceeded the two-day goal of $2.4K minimum. I had 45 sales, and the average sale was $58.  Sunday was a slow day. My margin was 59%, and comparable to other Colorado resort area shows.

OTHER STUFF. 

Advice for other artists: Hotels/Motels and restaurants in the resort areas are expensive.  I have found condos or rental houses to be more economical. I found a studio condo on Vrbo for $85/night ($106/night with taxes and fees) which was an amazing deal. There are USFS campgrounds along the Frazier River in dense spruce and fir timber. I sat on the patio one evening marveling at how far the tops of tall spruce and firs move in the wind.

Winter Park is at an elevation of 9052’, As with any Colorado mountains show, read up on altitude sickness and plan accordingly. Bears and other forest critters are around the shows and housing so follow local instructions that are widely posted.

I had an interesting experience with the 6’5” clearance in the condo parking garage. My booth and artwork are hauled in a 1988 Suburban (great mountain beast with second 350-V8) that got new leaf springs and overloads this spring. Getting in loaded was no problem. Saturday night another 2020 something Suburban parked next to us and I commented to Jean, “look, my old Suburban is a foot higher than that new one”.  Sunday morning, I scraped the roof barrier as the new springs had relaxed and raised the empty body up to the 6’5”. I never considered that happening.