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Bayou City Memorial Park - Could the recession be over?

Posted by R. Michael Wommack on March 31, 2010 at 4:41pm
Bayou City spring is set in Memorial Park, quite a beautiful setting, with the bucolic scene tempered a little by the challenging access. The show is in a circular paved drive surrounded by tall trees, that protect you from beating sun, but don't block too much light. Most locations seem to be good, but I wonder about the booths on a spoke that runs from the circle to the food area. (the artist breakfast was quite good).
This show is very well run with everyone including the director asking if everything is okay. You couldn't ask for a nicer staff and numerous volunteers running around with water and snacks. This was good, 'cause the food court got very crowded, and we had no time to wait in line...
because we were too busy in our booths!
Friday was a little light on the attendance, but that's to be expected, nevertheless there were buyers scouring the show. Saturday and Sunday, perfect if breezy weather not getting in the way, were very busy and crowded. Patrons are bussed to the gate from remote lots, but this seemed to deter no one. My booth was close to the gate, and I saw more art work being carried out of the show than I have seen anywhere in the last 3 years.. There was a sense of real buying energy, which for me reached a peak on Sunday, typically a bad day for me.
My shows in Texas have been among my best, Fort Worth being my best ever. This is my second year here in Memorial Park, and I doubled what I thought was a decent show last year. My neighbors also had good shows, and I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Tags: Bayou City, Houston, Memorial Park, Spring
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Comments

  • Roy Robaldo April 12, 2010 at 10:22pm
    Michael, I could not agree more with you, this was my second Memorial Bayou show and I honestly had no time Saturday and Sunday to even think about eating or even taking a hmmmm bodily function break. Friday was good but Sat. and Sunday were outstanding. This was my second best show ever only to be topped by the downtown fall show the year before last (2008). Yep Texans have no idea that there's any problem with the economy .
  • R. Michael Wommack April 1, 2010 at 9:46pm
    Lee - I think you might be thinking of the Fall show, which takes place on the streets of downtown Houston. There is a small park, with the bulk of the show in the streets. By the way, also a good show.
  • Connie Mettler April 1, 2010 at 2:17pm
    This all makes my heart sing! If they can do it in Texas, hopefully as the economy slowly but surely revives, there will be good news coming from other areas as well. Congratulations to these participants. I hope the news from the rest of the Texas shows is just as good. Can anyone tell me, is this good news for Texas when the price of oil goes up?

    Geri, this fair is one of two, called Bayou City. The spring event is held in Memorial Park in Houston and the fall one is held downtown -- and did used to be called Westheimer, a pretty notorious show for eccentric behavior and dress :) Now, under the direction of Kim Stollis and Kelly Kindred an excellent destination for art lovers.

    Thanks for this report, Michael.
  • Paulisa Winsong April 1, 2010 at 12:21pm
    This is in response to Lee Hill's comments. To answer your question about Bayou City being smaller, the answer is no. This festival is in a park and has no other activity in conjunction with it. The booths are set up around an existing paved path to allow the public to have a safe and clean path to walk and also helps to keep the dust down on artists work, I would think, as people pass by. If the show is smaller, it could only be by a few booths. I went on Saturday and it took several hours to make the rounds of all the booths. I'm so glad to hear some many artists did well. This is one of the most organized shows I've see in Houston in years. I'm so glad the artists have such a good show for their work. I hope to be able to get into this show in the next year.
  • Lee Hill April 1, 2010 at 11:27am
    Judging from your review and another comment about the show being set up in a circle.... does that mean there no longer are booths on the streets as well? If there only are booths in the park area, the show must have decreased drastically in size, which might account for the robust sales. Anyway, I'm glad it was such a success!
  • Ginny Herzog April 1, 2010 at 11:18am
    Thanks for the review, Michael. I'm thrilled for all the artists who had a good Houston show. I was sorry I needed to cancel - a tough decision for me. But I was able to make good progress on my commission work inthe studio. I'm also glad the weather cooperated - as FL's was not kind to artists this year. I wish you the best at Ft. Worth. Keep it rolling!!
  • Dennis and Clair Thompson April 1, 2010 at 12:54am
    We were also encouraged by Texas, but wonder if it is a true sign of recovery? After all, Texas has a lot of oil dollars floating around and is just not typical of the rest of the country. Still optimistic that the economy may be heating up a little, guess time will tell.
  • BenJamin Stielow March 31, 2010 at 11:52pm
    I agree that this was a very successful show, Load-in was good, Load out was good, artist support great, buying public- and alot of them! I liked how the show was organize in a big circle, it gave folks an easier time to find your booth when they were ready to buy.
    I did my 2nd best show in sales, and many of my neighbors did well too!
  • geri a. wegner March 31, 2010 at 7:42pm
    I heard from a ceramics artist and she had a wonderful show, almost sold out.

    Is Bayou City an outgrowth of the old Westheimer Art Festivals? They had two a year, same time frame. Despite its size, Houston does not have a lot of art festivals so that may also help drive up the demand. Hmmm!!
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