Thought I would lend another voice to the recent Artigras show.
Geoff Coe did an excellent review of how it is structured,run and all the things that make a show easier to do. I agree with him on all points.
What I want to talk about is the all-important subject of sales going on there.
First, I have lot of experience with this show. First did it when it was on RCA Victor Blvd in the late eighties. It was smalltime then.
Then in the nineties it moved to the PGA Gardens Mall. It really took off here. Sales were outstanding for just about all of us. Sure, it was no Grove show, we weren't making those kind of figures. But it sure was a great alternative if you didn't get in the Grove.
Then the McArthur Foundation sold off all of the land around the mall, which was used for all-important parking for this show--artists and patrons alike.
Hence the move to the present location at Abacoa near Jupiter.
It is a clean, new community built up from scratch. But the demographics at Abacoa are nothing like what we saw at the Gardens Mall.
We started to see much more low end sales for just about everybody. We also saw sales going in a more conservative, almost commercial direction. Good luck trying to sell much of "Art from the Heart."
Which brings us to now.
This year's show was the worst Artigras I have ever seen. In my days at RCA Victor Blvd, with less crowds, I did much better.
Most artists did not even make $2K in sales. Your nut for this show is about $1K. As always, there were exceptions--I'd say about ten-percent of the 280 exhibitors had a real good show (Say $4K or better) but for the other eighty percent it was terrible.
Yes, we had big crowds on Saturday and Sunday, but most were just walking and looking.
Mondays are always a drag at this show. If you make more than $500 you are doing really good.
All I saw for sales were lowest common denominator images and really drekky, hum-drum subject matter images go by me, most of them on canvas, most of them photos, and most of them cheaply priced.
This crowd has no taste. All they want is drek, drek and more drek.
I don't see this changing in the near future. I have seen my sales steadliy decline each year for the last five. I always have lots of new images to sell, trouble is, I don't have lots of new buyers.
I know Geoff is happy with his sales, so is Steve Vaughn, but I know many others who are disgusted. Look for a lot of old regulars to drop out next year.
BTW, on another important note, I hear the Grove, greedy little grubbers that they are, is planning on increasing the booth fee up to about a grand. They increased exhibitors this year to almost 380.
What this will do is drive out even more good artists with original work, who can't sell enough to top their overhead costs. If they go to a grand, then with everything else tacked on, like parking, meals, hotels, gas, cgs--an exhibitor will have almost $2.5K tied up in breaking even.
Sorry folks, this is a bad trend, plus now lesser shows will raise their fees, the thinking being, "Well if the Grove can get a grand, why can't we get $450 where we used to get $275."
Our industry is going down the tubes fast, folks. A business model that has rising operating costs with diminished revenues is not one to emulate. It is surely not for the faint of heart. It only inspires the most commercial to truck on.
Comments
Artigras just sent a post-show survey to all participating artists by email. It linked to a survey website, and on the whole the survey was quite well written, with ample space for artist comments. I especially liked the last question (and I'm paraphrasing): "What have you seen done at other shows that worked well, that you'd like to see us do"? I'd love to see other shows do e-surveys instead of handing us a piece of paper (i.e., Sunshine Artist feedback form) while we're tearing down.
Its disappointing to hear of another show taking wrong turns and being less than what it once was. Lucky (or unfortunate) that artists are eternal optimists, eh!?
Thanks for the post, Nels. Appreciate the historical perspective. I must say, there are times I'm happy that I'm a relative newbie in the business. If I had been writing orders with both hands at shows like this and the Grove in the 80s and 90s, it would probably be bumming me out too. My "baseline" for sales comparisons, of necessity, can't extend farther back than 2008...about the time the business and economy tanked.
What's an artist to do? For me, I'm learning to be happy selling larger stuff, at higher prices, to fewer people. It's a tough adjustment for me, since I like to keep busy (writing orders with both hands, even if they're small orders). But, like you, I don't see the middle class rebounding anytime soon.
Misery loves company! I don't have the experience you have Nels. This was my 4th Artigras and my worst. All previous years I have been on University near the main gate. This year I was on the south end of the show. People just seemed to be parading by. After all our expenses, I think we made a couple bucks. Not much for a three day show
Nels, very well said. My husband (metal artist)did Arti gras for years , started when the show was over in the mall parking lot,he never seemed to make as much at new location, last year was the first year he did not apply and from what you have written it sounds like the right decision, I just completed our income taxes it opens your eyes to how much we spent on show applications and booth fees not to mention hotels, FOOD, gas, do we really get paid for our time? after a long 30 years of exhibiting artigras is one more show off our list.
This was my 2'nd year at Artigras, and my sales increased my 2'nd time around. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones who had a 'good show'. That said, my sales were what I hope to get from a 2 day show, so having $1K tied up, plus spending THREE days (instead of 2) to make it to that total, is not good. I have family in the area to stay with and visit, otherwise I would probably skip the show. I'll still apply next year, because of my family and the fact that I made some $.