ArtBirmingham, the perennial favorite once known as the Birmingham Fine Art Festival, returned to Shain Park in downtown Birmingham, Michigan for the second season since the park was redone in 2011. The show is run by The Guild, by artists, for artists, and generally they did a fine job. Put on in conjunction with the Birmingham/Bloomfield Art Center, this show attracts well-heeled buyers from Birmingham, West Bloomfield and the surrounding communities.
Setup on Friday afternoon and evening is well-orchestrated and orderly. The folks in the middle of the park and near the bandshell get to come in first and then the folks on the surrounding streets. The layout is open, and somewhat spread out, so it's pretty easy to drive to your space (if you're on the street), or dolly if you're in the park.
Saturday morning was chilly, as predicted, and cloudy. It got up to about 58 degrees or so, and people did come out. Last year's show was moved to the weekend of Memorial Day, and attendance suffered as a result. This year, the show got moved back to Mother's Day weekend, largely due to the efforts of Annie VanGelderen, President of the BBAC, and Max Clayton, Director of the Guild. And the turnout seemed to reinforce that good decision.
I saw quite a few packages walking by, and a couple larger 2-D pieces wrapped in black plastic. But it was a tad cold, colder than normal for spring in Michigan. Frankly, I was surprised to see as many people as there were on Saturday. I sold a few pieces, one to a previous collector, and had some good conversations with others, considering a purchase. Others I talked to didn't do as well.
Sunday was a different story. With temps predicted to rise only to the mid-forties, and 50 being a far-off dream, Mother's Day turned up a much sparser crowd. The sun was out in the morning, and made brief appearances all afternoon. But overnight the wind had picked up, and took out at least four booths that I counted. One glass artist near the fountain had left work on shelves overnight, and much of it bit the dust during the evening hours. Another clay artist lost a shelf full of work with a loud crash heard round the world. Several artists packed up and left early, expecting the worst, or having tents unable to withstand the predicted 40mph wind gusts. And it was cold. Did I say it was cold? At opening, it was around 40 degrees. Brr, chilly.
By noon, there were people walking the streets. Many of them walked quickly, only stopping at the booths they wanted to see. A $20 bill blew down the street, and I trapped it under my foot. (If you lost a twenty, contact me off-line with the serial number, and I will return it to you). Sales for me were pretty slim. Had lots of browsers, but it was too damn cold to do much but shiver. Then it started to sleet. Nice round white pellets of graupel. We took down some of the art in the front of the booth, as it was getting peppered by the wind and the sleet. The snow stopped quickly, though, and the sun came out again. A few more people trickled in, but generally nobody bought in our neck of the woods. My booth was on Martin Street, at the corner of Bates, near a new four-story condo, and got the full effect of those forty mile an hour wind blasts. It was a struggle keeping the tent on the ground, even with 75 pound weights on each corner. The wind was blowing straight into the tent. We left the back door open to vent the pressure, and that helped some. It was a bit like sailing a 40 yacht on Lake St. Clair in a gale. We kept trimming the sails, and turning the boat, to keep from capsizing. The sun went away, and it sleeted again, briefly. We did the shiver dance. A few patrons blew by the booth. As the afternoon wore on, we wished for an end to the deep-freeze. At three o'clock Max Clayton came by, and said, "Only two more hours!" Thanks, Max!
Saw a few friends. Barry Bernstein dropped by. His new work is captivating. He said he tried Nels' trick of running out into the street, and holding patrons hostage till they produced a platinum Amex card, but that didn't seem to work. Doug Remien was there, with his beautiful nature landscapes. Bruce Reinfeld, another photographer, was kitty corner from me, and didn't seem to have the trouble with the wind. Stephen Huyser-Honig was down the street with another double, showing photographs of Michigan in the lee of the condo, and didn't have the wind issues either. My advice? Stay away from booth 030 if you are accepted into the show! Elissa Brown stopped by and introduced herself. She had on the most marvelous blue hat. Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to see her mixed-media work. Next time, perhaps. The inspiration for the headline came from Elissa's blog, though.
All in all, the show was a success for many. The weather definitely played a role, but I heard from several artists that they had good sales. Our sales were up from last year. Others did not fare as well. It did seem to prove the point that bad weather won't keep the serious buyers away, but it did keep the traffic down. The dog walkers were definitely there though. Lots of dogs. And a few strollers. Would I go back? Yes. It's local for me, and traditionally the start of the Michigan show season. There are buyers to be found, and the buy/sell seems to have been eliminated from years past. It's a nice venue, parking is within a couple of blocks, and there are many fine restaurants in the area. With the support of the artist community, this show could once again become the jewel that it was years ago. Certainly the venue is lovely, and the move back to Mother's Day marks the start of spring and the show season in Michigan.
After pack-up, we celebrated the warmth with painter Diane Sicheneder and her husband Gary with tremendous margaritas and mole enchiladas at Miguels in Rochester. Two pitchers of margaritas later, we rolled home and into our warm beds.
Comments
No music.
I was wondering if there is music at the show? This is my first year and i am right in front of the bandshell. Just want to bring my earplugs if necessary. Thx! Jill
I should clarify: the crowds (and I use that term loosely) were good, for Birmingham and for the weather, such as it was. I agree wholeheartedly with Barry that the community does not support this show as it did years ago. When I was dating my lovely wife, back in the dark ages, we used to go to this show, and it was f**king fabulous. You couldn't get close to some of the booths for the people stacked up outside. Now, we're lucky to get a streetful of folks. But it seemed to me that there were a few hardy souls who did venture out to purchase or gawk, or something on Saturday. I had okay sales, for me, for this show. I remember a couple of years ago having my double booth placed next to a booth selling clay flowers in tiny pots. The weather was terrific, in the upper 70's, and folks were lined up outside her booth to purchase these little $5-10 giftees. I sold four small prints of a chipmunk that day. That was before the Guild took over the management of the show. And I haven't seen the buy/sell flowers since. Good thing, too. That would be the kiss of death for me.
This is a well run show. The Guild does a really good job. Too bad the weather was so bad. This was the first time I have ever left early from an event. I half expected my booth to have blown over by the time I got there on Sunday morning. Everything was intact, but, others were not so lucky. There was at least 3 booths that were destroyed overnight. It was really windy and the weather report called for sustained wind at 20 mph and gusts of up to 32 mph. A whole day of that, plus temps in the 40's told me that there was going to be hardly any customers and a day of stress. Still, I was hesitant to leave until I saw Alan Teger leaving. That was the push I needed and I was packed up before 10 AM. During the day, other people started packing up. I stuck around for a while. There were loud crashes. I had some of the best work I have ever done, clearly a step above what I have been able to produce, and for the first time ever, I thought I might lose pieces to the wind. Too bad. This can be a good show. For various reasons, the last 3 years have not been very good here because of the conditions.
I have to disagree with Jim's assessment that the crowds were good on the first day. I remember what it was really like years ago. I'd say the crowds were down 90% from the years when the area embraced this show. And don't start telling me about the economy. BS!! The economy of this community is as good as it has always been. The problem is that Birmingham, like most of Michigan, is now run by incompetent morons with no sophistication or good taste, and these new people do not support this show or the arts like it used to. Most of the customers were old customers. Just my opinion. I could be wrong. It could be the weather. For years, the weather in Birmingham, on this weekend was excellent. Today it is the 80's and sunny.
I want to reinforce the fact that The Guild does a great job. Something that impressed me is that they sent around a newsletter on Saturday saying that if you felt uncomfortable in the high winds and bad weather, you could leave. Having done a show this year in 35 degree weather, where they required you to keep your booth open until the end, I really appreciated the option. It showed that they had the artists best interest in mind.
We were at Birmingham also. Seems hard to believe we were at the same show. We were in Booth #10, but I swear it was an ice wind tunnel!! There were only 5 artists on our section of Bates Street. Not a good place. Didn't see any of the "crowds" that must have been by other booths. Those that considered coming down our street barely made it to our booth (we were the middle of the 5), kinda peeked past us then left. I'm sure it was the cold, nasty weather. Those people missed some fabulous art!!!! The wind literally blew away the two artists between us & the rest of the show--it did feel like this area was an "after-thought" as it was so out of the traffic flow. Once they ended up leaving (one had her booth, weights & 2-D work which was hanging from the walls get totally rolled over like a tumbleweed!) we were the one getting the brunt of the wind. We removed all our booth side walls and even 100# of weight on each leg didn't hold us down. We moved our vehicle up into the vacant booth spots & tied our booth down to it. The artist on the end of the row had to do the same as she kept losing her booth & display units. (A top award winning jeweler!) When the middle artist had to leave due to a family medical emergency, we all left--about 3pm. (Sorry Max! We were prepared to stay as long as we could, but there was no way to stay on the ground!) We didn't make booth fees, let alone any other expenses. Still, Birmingham is a decent area and with a different booth spot we would consider returning. But I don't think this area of booths should be there--it's just too out of the traffic flow. Only those customers who parked in a spot that enabled them to walk to the show via our street actually seemed to look at all 5 of our booths.
Great review Jim, felt like I was there... and shivering with you!
Think of all those Memorial Day holiday weekends where it's been 45 and raining - the whole weeekend! That's May in Michigan - you can never count on civilized weather. I got married at the beginning of May in 1977 and it was 89 degrees that day!
Great to hear from you here, Jim. For many, many years we did this show in the park in the Spring and then again the Common Ground show in the fall -- same park, lovely art patrons, lots of money coming through. Shain Park is our favorite park in all of America.
People will come, but like everywhere else the economy doesn't make them as excited to buy as they used to -- but they do like the show. They do have the wherewithal and they love to come out and see their friends and "do the show." Back in a previous century it snowed at this show also. I also remember the year we had a corner booth and after tying down to the fire hydrant, the street drain, Norm finally rolled the huge dumpster next to the booth and tied to that. A challenging show, but always a decent paycheck.
Good for The Guild and the BBAC for coming back to the old date even though it has more weather-related issues. People like to come with their families and do nice things for Mom. Like Warren we kept watching the weather report and thinking of everyone in the Park. Aren't you about due for a warmer show? What's next?
Artisphere is a lovely show. I was happy to be home for a show this weekend, though. Glad Ellen had a good one.
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