First, I would like to thank my fellow artists who diligently provide information regarding shows they have attended. Needless to say, I wish I had acquired more information from the 2010 poster before applying to the Piccolo Spoleto Craft Festival (Wragg Square, Charleston, SC). This is not a complaint report per se. It is more of an FYI.
The Show overall was a good show. Volunteers were outstanding. Artist hospitality spectacular. Would I apply again? No, unless they changed venues. The problem in one word, "Dirt". Not dust, which is in the air for every outdoor festival, but dirt! Just think, soft black beach sand in and on everything! Our weekend was extremely windy which may have contributed to the high levels but from what I was told from veteran artists it is the norm. I have included some pictures so that if you choose to apply you can think of ways to prepare and protect your work. These were taken @ one hour after having wiped down my cabinets. The Swiffer shot was from one shelf.
Comments
Wow! Those pictures are amazing! The only thing worse is that kind of dust on a hot day when a body gets a little "glow" going and it all combines to make a new kind of skin scrub or mask depending on just how much of a "glow"! :-)
yes.......it was the first time we did the show. I read some where it was an international show. It was our worst $ in 5 years. The weather was great, the dirt didn't bother us at all, we do about 28 shows a year, in addition to running a brick and mortar. In my opinion the attendance was very low compared to what I usually see at art shows. We did enjoy the town, perhaps we can find another show in that area to try. Seems most folks didn't know what to think of our funky folk-art.....oh well.
I'm glad to hear that sales were at least good after all that dirt Tonya! Lots of cleaning chores after that show.
Unfortunately, I didn't fare well there. My sales were about the worst I've done in many years. Nothing sold on Friday, very little on Saturday and just a little more on Sunday. Another photographer, a local, did terrible on Friday and Saturday with sales even lower than mine, and he finally pulled ahead on Sunday when he sold two good sized canvas prints. Another photographer did $1200 for the wekend. I did $105, yep that's right; only one zero in there. Half of that came after Saturday afternoon when I went ahead and hung a series of $20 humor pieces of GI Joe and Barbie in plastic frames. I hadn't planned to hang those, but the flagging sales didn't look like it was going to get better. BTW, the next show I did was much better.
Thanks Kathy! So is yours.
Tonya, it's good to know your sales were good. You have beautiful work!
I was there the first weekend as well. It was the weirdest thing. The crowd was not the throngs that you see at some shows but more of a meandering flow and it was wonderful. I was able to spend time with customers and hear myself think. My sales were very good considering that I was low on inventory and would have probably done better. Like I originally stated I would definitely go back if the venue changed. It was an A+ show all around except for the dirt.
Thank you so much for this review. This would absolutely wreak havock on my sinuses not to mention the product. How was business?
Sorry you had a bad experience. My first question would be,"Did you make money there?" and then, "Was it worthwhile?" Seems not, so I can imagine that it wasn't profitable enough to make it worth the headache.
Dust can be a problem for many shows. Streets or park, you're outside. It's gonna get dusty, especially if there's been no rain for a few days. Rain can make it mud, instead. Take your pick.
That said, my dustiest show ever was Vero Beach, Under the Oaks. Being under the oaks in the spring, we had a constant source of oak pollen. Got into everything, under the glass on the framed work, in the bins, on every flat surface. When I got home, most all of the bigger pieces had to be taken apart. The plexiglas had to be replaced on five or six pieces. That's when I gave up on plexiglas. Dust is especially hard on plastic surfaces, tends to scratch and scuff.