Writing helps me wind down after an art show final and tear down day. My artist wife is conked out and asleep, I'm a late nighter. We do decorative Raku, been in the art show business for about 12 years, I left my 8 yr day job as a daily newspaper ad rep in 2007 and am now a full time business partner, Raku firemeister, and general grunt guy. We are both 62. We moved from our 10 year home in Montrose, CO to Paonia, CO last year, remodeled a downsized home, new studio and firing facility. We do shows mainly within a 1 day drive in CO, WY, NV, AZ, NM, UT, have wandered into TX.
To help understand my perspectives and observations, I've been a photographer, created and directed one of the first 24 hour crisis centers in the U.S., published a 7 state specialty newspaper for singles, plus done a variety of other odd work situations.
My wife, Lynne Anderson, has been an artist and art educator, working in numerous mediums, fell in love with clay when she was getting her Masters in Art Education, thus double majored in Art Education and Ceramics, has taught all levels, last teaching at college level before having to choose between teaching and her growing art business.
We've learned a lot from other artists, like to help others when we can, and continue to learn along the way. Art Fair Insiders is a great way to expand learning, I'm a new member here and as I have time, would like to poke at sharing what we know and are learning. We love the art show business, and despite the hard work, sometimes brutal hours and economic uncertainties, like so many other artists say, would rather do this than punch a time clock.
So, about the new Park City Howard Alan art show, held one week after the "famous" Kimball Art show.
(disclaimer: my accuracy on names, spelling, some facts, etc. may be questionable at this hour, in the future, as a trained journalist, I will work more diligently on getting the facts correct)
I started the post title with "bits & pieces," meaning this writing will be just that, probably not well thought out, I know the Sunshine Magazine routine of sales amounts, average, high, low, etc., but my brain can't handle that type of thing at this point, and I'm not sure those kind of statistics really tell much of a story anyway.
The Howard Alan Park City show was "good." By "good", I mean the following:
First, we art show artist get to choose and work with 2 main kinds of art shows: 1) private promoter who may really like art, but mainly is in it to make money. 2) art and community organizations who want to make money, but also like the "glory." Both have a lot invested in image and ego. Each handles art shows, and artists a bit differently.
As our first two Howard Alan art shows, Park City and their previous weekend show in Frisco, CO, revealed the following to Lynne and I:
Top notch professional. The staff team of Helaina, Joe and Scott did it all right; great layout in the Redstone Mall "main street", the big shopping area of Park City and location of what they call the "Newpark" development of residential, business and entertainment. Same was true for Frisco show.
Heard Joe talking about coming in, seeing a part of the layout done by the property owners that would piss off 9 artists, made quick changes to give them better traffic flow. Got the sense that they understand the importance of booth placement to give everyone their best shot at customers.
The mall allowed a more spread out layout, 12' space for 10' booths, some got more space, no jammed up feeling, a little more room for storage, weights and air flow. On the subject of weights, they make sure everyone is properly weighted so you don't have to worry about someones under weighted tent being blown into yours.
They were very organized, cruised the show, talked to artists, got you your tax forms, etc. RV and rig parking was provided for both Frisco and Park City, they know the logistics artists have to deal with. Set up and tear down well organized, they were always around and visible though the whole process. Ever been at a show where the promoter or volunteers all disappear at tear down?
Advertising, they sent us an email of advertising and promotion listings, impressive. Numerous folks showed up in our booth who had come from Salt Lake just for the art show.
So bottom line, how were sales? As typical with any art show, some did great, some so so, others not so good. Attendance was a bit thin, probably for a number of reasons, Kimball art show weekend before, new art show, etc.
We did what has become the new answer to "how'd the show go for you?" OK, which usually means now we covered expenses and made some money, but not "great" like the good old "before the recession" days.
A painter across from us in the final hours sold a $5800 painting for a bit less than he'd usually come down to, but that painting also generated a commission on a modified version that made him real happy, happy overall. Several bronzes were wheeled out. Saw folks carrying off framed paintings and prints. Since we double team our booth sales, I didn't get a chance to ask many other artists how they did.
We did better at the Frisco show, but feel fortunate to have done as well as we did at this show.
Now we take the more engaging "chatty kathy" approach with our customers, greeting folks, explaining what Raku is, asking them where they are from, etc., No hard sales, but recognizing that many people come to art shows to also "engage" and "connect" with the artists.
We discover things like 2nd home or condo owners, they just bought a new place and are looking to decorate it, etc. I'm befuddled when I see artist sitting in their booth reading or not acknowledging people who have come into their space to look at their creative work. I know, many artist are shy and hate the sales part of the business. But don't complain when your sales suck. All you have to do is take an interest in your potential customer, ask some questions and share some stuff about who you are as an artist, etc.
Bits and Pieces, so what else?
Oh, big major item about the Park City show, need to approach this cautiously and carefully. So the Kimball show was weekend before. A number of artists at this show have done the Kimball show. A number of art lover attendees always check out the Kimball show.
These comments were not solicited, but numerous folks said, "the art here is of such higher quality than at the Kimball show." Yee Gads, what does that mean, "quality of art" is such a subjective thing? Does it mean the Howard Alan folks have a stable of "higher quality" artists? Is their selection (jury) process more highly tuned? One of the people saying this was a member of the art council that puts on the Kimball show.
No doubt there will be some fussing about this whole thing, new art show in town that is perceived to have "higher quality" of art. Would love to be a fly on the wall on some of the Kimball meetings.
But, a fair number of attendees didn't even know about the Kimball show, they were just in the area visiting, etc., so in places like Park City, Frisco, other resort areas, you'll have a mix of locals and visitors. One thing you can usually count on is that folks at art shows in western resort areas will likely have some money to spend on art.
One of my hobbies is watching the world go by, like to do a lot of reading about the evolution of our planet, economy, social issues, etc. From what I've gathered on the current state of the economy, it appears 2008 was the bottom, 2009 and 2010 has been a slow recovery, folks who still have money who have been sitting on it and have been repressing their usual freedom to buy stuff, including art, are starting to feel it's ok again to start spending money on art.
You know, when your 80 million got whacked down to 60 million, you started with shock, then caution, now, ok, it's looking better, out comes the charge card and checkbook.
Sure, a big chunck of Americans are still grappling with unemployment and economic uncertainty, but a bigger chunck still have money and I think are enjoying spending it again, and some of it on art.
Ok, I've written myself out now, we pack up and head home tomorrow, get to "rest" and good road chat time, then another show at Keystone, CO, followed by a 25 day recharge time until our next show, the Colorado Mountain Wine Festival, one of our favorite 1 days shows. I'll do more bits and pieces later, look forward to questions and comments that might come from this. I've noted that Insiders is predominately East Coast, but maybe us'ns from out West here can jump in a bit more. Noted Crested Butte show has got some mention, we did that one in the past, may try again though that's another tough show to get into.
On the subject of "tough to get into" I've heard one of the issues with shows is they are starting to look at bringing in more out of state artists compared to area regional artists so they can promote "artists from all over America." Pretty soon foreign artists will start arriving and it will be "Artists from around the world." Ah, doing art shows is such a weird business. Like the issue of collecting gadzillions for zap aps, new income center source. The jury process is beginning to be questioned on how many aps actually are seen by "the jury" and how many are pre-screened out without being seen by "the jury." Is it fair?
How does that saying go? Nothing is fair in Love, War and Art Shows?
Maybe it's time for art shows to document that your expensive images along with your application fee were actually seen by a "jury." Or, because of the huge number of entries, are they not hiring the number of jurors it would take to screen all those applications and just pocketing the application fees via some kind of "pre-screening" process?
So more details on shows noted to come later, maybe some pics, We dropped our subscription to Sunshine Artist magazine couple years ago, realized that it wasn't providing the kind of info we needed on shows. This website and forum seems like a potential good alternative.
Comments
At a show in Steamboat Springs, micro burst came in and turned several Ez-ups into kites, didn't touch most of the other tents and then went away.
Course winds can happen at most outdoor art shows anywhere around the country. One of the reasons we invested in our heavier duty Trimline and use 280 lbs. of weight. We've been through some "blowers" and survived quite well. When we can stake, we use dog screws and ratchet straps. At setup, I always look around at what additional trees, light poles, etc., I can quickly strap to if a big blow comes in. And, if we can't stake, at least on grass, I have stakes at the ready in case of a big blow, I'd rather break the rule than lose our tent. For concrete and pavement, I suppose one could carry one of those shell powered drivers that shoot nails into concrete. Maybe also carry a small tube of concrete patch paste. No charge for the artistic way you fill the hole.
Seems most shows we do nobody really checks weights. If someone sets up next to us without weights, we'll first talk to them, then to show management if they don't do anything. I chuckle at what some folks think are adequate weights, such a water filled 1 gallon jug on each corner. 1 gallon of water only weighs 8 lbs. Some shows require at least 35 lbs. per corner, we like to double that.
When setting up a tent, especially an Ez-up, folks should have weights ready to connect as soon as it goes up. I've seen situations where the person sets up their Ez-up, goes to get their weights, comes back to a tipped over, bent and cranked tent. Even a little breeze can upend an Ez-up really fast.
Rain we can handle, but we really do hate the wind.
Your right that it is not a real high sales show, but we've always done ok. With a Jazz Festival now going on same weekend, seems to have helped a bit. This year the Jazz festival sold out noon Saturday, lots of folks were disappointed, but wandered down to the art show. We agree it's a fun show to do, beautiful little pine forest park, the pine shavings they lay on all the paths add a nice aroma and keep dust down. Volunteer staff do a great job, setup and tear down go pretty well. We're hoping they work the tax license thing out for next year, if so maybe we'll see you there.
Maybe they will change for next year and I can go back up to the Frazer valley.
, and as space is available, they use 12' spaces and about 2-3 feet behind. Provides for a little better breathing room, weights, and storage.Or, one could say having more art shows in good art markets opens up more opportunities for artists to get into a show in a good market for art, that it's really not competition, it's offering more options to the art buying public and artists to sell their work.
Many of the customers attending the Park City Alan show had never heard of the Kimball show. They were there visiting at that time and were delighted to have a art show to attend. Is the Park City area big enough to support two art shows? From what I saw of Park City and it's near access to Salt Lake City, I'd say yes.
Same thing applies to Frisco, CO. Lots of folks coming and going, Mountain resort areas probably have more people who are just there at that time than residents. They know not, or can't time their visit for other art shows.
Probably in some communities the 2 show syndrome killing the old or maybe both may be true. How "unethical" this I don't know. Maybe it falls in the realm of a McDonalds coming into a town with a Burger King and either or both folding. Should art shows be protected from competition, or not?
I do know that while there are a lot of art shows out there, it is getting harder and harder to be accepted dependably and having more options helps with the show scheduling and making a living selling art.
Much has changed in 25 years. Here in the Western mountain resort areas, there is now a huge population of 2nd home and condo owners who come here 1,2 maybe 3 months to escape the heat. If they are art lovers, they love having more than one art show to go to. Here in CO, and same for UT, there are also a lot of weekenders and one-dayers who escape to the mountains throughout the Summer. So for this part of the country, a one art show pony town leaves many folks without an art show to visit. Multiple art shows in our area work to the benefit of everyone.
The biggest bugaboo is the damn economy, though here in this region we are seeing positive improvement. And in mountain resort areas, you can figure that anyone even just there probably has the money to spend on art.
So in our area, I thank Alan for offering more opportunities for more artists to sell their work and make a living. In this part of the country, he is not putting other art shows out of business, he's making an effort to tap art markets that can support multiple art shows. He makes money, we artists make money, the art buying public is happy with their great art finds. A win, win, win.
As to suggesting a "lack of creativity" in producing a show, I'm not sure how creative one has to be compared to having to do a lot of grunt work - research, talking to towns, working out street closures, police, fire, advertising and all the other logistics that go into producing an art show. I'm guessing his track record and professionalism help a lot. And as you mentioned, he selects good art and good booth presentation.
No doubt other parts of the country are suffering from having too many art shows. Here in the Western Mountain Region, it's "bring em on."
Course, the economy is still in a sort of nip and tuck state, while it seems to be improving right now in the art buying world around this area, it could still take another downturn. And there are also issues of types of art, quality of presentation, effectiveness of the artist's ability to interact with the buying public, weather, etc.
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