This was the first big weekend for art festivals in the Chicagoland area. Mother Nature did not make things easy on anyone as Carla mentioned below. We got an early start Saturday since it was supposed to rain later in the afternoon.
I had been to Schaumburg in 2009 and found it to be a nice show, a little uneven quality-wise but good enough to warrant a return this year. My cousin (who goes to most Chicago shows with me) said it was a good show last year also. Well, this year it was not worth the trip. There were a few good artists but not many. The layout of the show was totally confusing which I think is unfair to both patrons and artists. We figured if we missed anyone, it probably wasn't a big deal since we hadn't seen much that we liked.
Then we went to Barrington for the 2nd year of Amy's show there. We hadn't even gone halfway down one row when the difference between the two shows became apparent. The quality at this show was excellent. The layout was manageable, we knew where we were going and where we had been. There were enough new artists to make it interesting and enough 'regulars' to feel at home and see how their work had grown since the last time I saw them.
Carla was away from her booth, her husband was there. Her work is bold, colorful and fun. Didn't get to visit with Patti and Bob Stern because it started to rain kind of hard so we left. Hope to see them next weekend in Deerfield with much better weather.
I still think that Amy has too many art shows but she consistently has high quality shows and when you go, you know what you are going to see. She has very few misses. She also has artists of varying price points at most shows. When she has live music, it is always festival appropriate. The food is pretty much festival food (those awful gyros, quasi-Greek vendors are all over, the same signs even as I saw in Florida) but atleast there was one booth that seemed to be above average, a local vendor, not the same-old, same-old usually found at all shows.
The Chicago season is off and running.......
Comments
I have done the Schaumburg show several yrs and this yr did Barrington. Would have been a good show if mother nature wouldn't have ruined it! But, everyone was safe which is what counts. The layout of the Schaumburg show can be confusing. I was always in the back row and it was hard to find me (plus it meant hauling my stuff up the hill.. and like a luge run during tear down). And yes, I have found Amdur shows are run like a well run machine especially during set up and tear down.
Glad to have you back reporting on shows, Geri! Missed your transition months.
And therein lies the difference, an event run by people once a year versus a well-oiled machine that really knows the business. This does not necessarily mean where an artist will earn better, but there are many lessons to learn from Amy's operations.