As it turned out that part worked very well. All area hotels were full for three nights, the restaurants ran out of food and the stages were enjoyed by thousands into the wee hours. But the city wanted something more than partyers so we brought the more civilizing activities of a nighttime lighted Boat Parade, children's activities (interactive stage performances, art activities and the carnival) and an art fair.
The Blue Water Fest opened on Thursday to horrid weather and 70 mph winds around 6 pm and lots of
Painter Kathleen Spellman makes a really big sale!
Load in: piece of cake, drive up to booth
Load out: pretty easy, everyone worked well together to make it easy for all
Parking: just around the corner in a reserved area
PR: billboards on the outlying freeways; 2 1/2 hours of TV spots on the local Fox affiliate (out of Detroit, I think), TV and radio interviews with artists, stories in local papers. Pretty good outreach.
Although the Boat Race was the feature of the weekend everywhere I saw gave the art fair equal billing(!) on the billboards, buses, other print media and we only had 42 artists, perfect for a new event.
Attendance: to my eye it was thin-ish on Friday (11 am to 9 pm), the weather was really hot and
Woodworker Don Lake makes an early sale
Awards: We turned this on its head and asked the artists to choose the award winners. They turned in their ballots and here are the winners: Finest Art: painter Larry Smith, Funkiest Art: Steve & Lynn Cebula; First Place, Tom Michael (glass); Second Place, Charles Bingham (wood); Third Place, Maria Pfropper (painting). Also, Serena David (jewelry), Rick Dery (photo), Candiss Cole (fiber), Anne Jenkins (painting), Susan Lane (painting), Fran Mangino (painting), Angela Sample (ceramics) and Sheila LaFave received the pink ribbon for the pinkest booth. The ribbons were recycled from our 30 year collection of art fair prizes.
Saturday dawned hot and humid again. The boats start the race in the early morning and then the
Workers & artists taking shelter from the wind.
Do you see Rick Dery & Ruth Heginbottom?
But you know what happens when everyone is told to go away. Many of them just don't come back. Artists who were skittish about their work continued to pack and some of them left early. The rest of the day we just didn't regain the momentum of earlier. Too bad. This was an eclectic mix of artists from very fine to very funky with a wide variety of price points.
So the good news is nothing got hurt, but the bad news is that we just barely got started. Like any other show some did not make booth fee, some did well and many fell somewhere along that continuum.
Tequila report -- I was so tired on Saturday evening that when I was offered a pina colada smoothie w/liquor of my choice I couldn't remember that rum was the correct answer. Ever had a tequila pina colada? There was excellent food to be had. Just around the corner from the show was the Black River Cafe with mussels that almost had you licking your plate and amazing sushi. Sunday morning I found a Bistro near the St. Clair River with a fabulous brunch, way beyond bacon, eggs and waffles!
Highlights for the weekend: meeting some new artists, helping newbies learn the ropes, spending money with Serena David (earrings for me), Barb Quenneville (earrings for my daughter-in-law), recycled journals from Butch Cash, a treasure box for another daughter-in-law from Ruth Heginbottom and a mahogany jewelry box from Don Lake, a member here (good to meet you Don). Also, Lisa and I enjoyed the Saturday night Parade of Lights (the boat parade) and on Sunday I got to rollerblade along the Blue Water coastline. Don't you love a Friday and Saturday show when you can take Sunday off to enjoy the local scene?
I give Larry Smith the Finest Art award -- he says he got the purple ribbon for "the best use of purple."
Many thanks to the intrepid artists who took a chance on this new art fair. You did all of us a favor. Art fairs come and go, some lose their steam, committees change, and we always need new ones coming along. If no one tries the new ones we lose our livelihood. I encourage all of you to help your regional events with advice and your presence. Keep art fairs alive.
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Here is another storm damage report from the Maple Grove Days Art Fair in Maple Grove, MN: http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=860001&cat...