The Coconut Grove Arts Festival is a very well run show. Attendance is high all three days, but the type of audience varies significantly over the weekend. Monday's crowd consisted mainly of tire-kickers, strollers and museum-viewers. Sunday was my best day, although the serious buyers were out early on Saturday morning. Sales for higher-end work seemed strong in our section of the show all three days, however. I was on Pan American Drive, almost at the end of the show. Traffic was slower than on Bayshore, but I still had a booth full of people until about 4PM every day. After that, it tapered off. We did have our share of fun people, including this guy who wandered in off the street.
Communication is generally good, although load-in instructions were vague. There were no instructions on how to actually reach the load-in entrance most appropriate to your booth included in the packet, just general instructions on a Google map on how to reach Coconut Grove. The load-in instructions specifically stated that no booth setup was allowed before 3PM, yet when we arrived at 3PM, it seemed like half the show was set up already. We drove around a bit before finding the right parking lot entrance. And I'm familiar with the Grove -- for artists that had never been in that area, it would have been a nightmare. Traffic in the area is very heavy, especially after they close Bayshore Drive. Expect to wait a bit. Patience will be rewarded.
Artist treatment is very good. There were many volunteers available to booth sit, and the zone captains were on hand to make sure that logistics ran smoothly. Security is great -- the show is fenced on the perimeter to allow them to collect the $10 gate fee, and it's locked up tight as a drum at night. Never had a worry about my work being safe in the tent overnight. They have a terrific hospitality area, with breakfast every day, and a nice artist awards dinner on Sunday night. They give you tickets for lunch too, but only one per booth, so if you have a spouse or a partner, you end up sharing the food. Which is decent. We had rice and beans, chicken, a bit of salad, and plantains every day. Plus a little sandwich. Enough to keep you going without having to resort to arepas, hot dogs or slushies. No free tequila, however. Boo.
The booth fee is higher than many shows. At $800, I suspect that it covers not only the venue, but also the labor costs involved in mounting the show, as well as an extensive ad campaign. There are many volunteers, good security at the entrances, and security 24/7 during the event. I even saw a volunteer on the street directing artists to the well-hidden artist dinner venue at the Atrium. Well-done, volunteers! And the artists have their own air-conditioned trailer potties, near the convention center. Bonus! And the free t-shirt was also a nice extra.
Patron traffic is very high, but the percentage of buyers on the low end was much lower than I expected. I made one really good sale, which helped to cover my expenses for the weekend, but overall, I was expecting better sales based on the reputation and the high booth fee. I did not sell a ton of bin prints, like I expected. Many of the artists near me did well, however, including two painters and a sculptor with larger work. Of course my work is less focussed on tropical themes, and here that does make a huge difference.
Reserved parking for artists at the expo center lot as well as at Lot 67, next to Pan American Drive. At $30 a space, this is a bargain. Thank you Coconut Grove, for providing affordable parking for trucks, trailers and vans. There seemed to be enough spots for everyone's trailer and van, too.
All in all, a great experience. The show was above my expectations for the artist treatment, weather and logistics. Sales were just average for me, but many of the folks around me went home very happy. The painter next to me made a great sale after closing on Monday night, and our friends up the road also had a good show. Others did not fare so well. I heard the usual rumors of zero sales, slow sales, no sales. I know I was expecting more sales than I had.
One artist did bail on Monday afternoon -- packed up, dollied out around 2:30. The show sent a golf cart down to block his vacant spot, as patrons were walking through the booth behind to get to the other side. (I think there's a chicken joke in there somewhere). Don't think he'll get invited back again.
Coconut Grove is a difficult area to navigate, and the police, security detail and show organizers did a fantastic job of getting everyone in and out of the show. The quality of the art is very, very good. The show is well-run, well-organized and deserving of its reputation. We made some new friends and connected with old friends. I'd be happy to do the show again. Four stars.
Comments
Nice review, Jim and great contributions from everyone. This is what a review should look like.
Jim, I hope to see you down the road this year. -- LC
Andrea, great to hear your good news on sales. I do know of this phenomenon, supposedly at Ann Arbor people go to the "Original" show to see what is fabulous, but it is considered "high end" and then go to spend their money at The Guild show on State and Main. In actuality these big events bring people from all income levels and they spread out and the really serious shoppers see it all, and/or someone stops in your booth and can't resist making the purchase regardless of which show you are participating in.
We did South Miami a few times, a nice tie in after The Grove, easy to do on Red Road, right? But mostly just an excuse to spend an extra week in Miami and cover the expenses of doing that.
I commented in Nels webbie blog about my Grove experience. To sum it up, it was disappointing, covering expenses, but not much more. As stated above, great artist amenities, humongous crowds, but sales just weren't there for me. I know my neighbors behind and on one side had great shows, as did others. (Every jeweler I spoke with was happy) I also spoke with several 2-D artists who were bemoaning their sales.
I was two booths down from the cake booth, who was in under 'sculpture'. I spoke with them on Monday, and they said they had a huge number of orders to fill. I'm sorry, but I just don't see where this belonged in a fine art show. Are they looking to add culinary arts to the show as well? You can't be everything to everyone and be successful. My 2 cents.
I was at St. Stephens (the "other" Grove show) and it was fantastic!
Daisy Lewis-Salazar and the 200 of the church members did an incredible job. The gate entry was $1, which they use for local charities, so we were busy from very early to closing, with great sales. This was my best show since I started doing them 3 years ago. Very few Florida artists with most coming from far and wide and the quality was very high, the best I've seen in this area. The customers were happy and I saw folks with "wads" of big bills, just spending, spending, spending! I did hear many comments that they go to the Grove show to look, and then come across the street to St. Stephens to buy. The artist from Flagstaff next to me sold so much $$$$ that it was hard to believe. I kept an eye on his display while he took 3k purchases, one after another to the entrance for pick up! Now that was a "wow" !
They gave many cash awards, in unusual catagories, breakfast, and a sunday dinner along with real bathrooms. It was great.
I did S. Miami Art Festival last week end (Feb. 26-27) which was a disaster (buy/sell) except for all of the customers who had been at St. Stephens the previous week end and came to buy more and pick up orders!
The St. Stephens show was really a high for me and renewed my faith in art shows! It was too bad that the S. Maimi Art Festival didn't keep up the "high"!
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