Posted by steve appel on October 21, 2010 at 10:11am
i live in the southwest and was wondering if anyone has done shows in the west or southwest could let us know how they did and what the show was like. The Balloon festival we got a report, boulder city art in the park we got a report, Are there any other shows that you all could report on. thanks
Never been to vail. my experiences with shows was loveland (yuk), boulder (decent show) glenwood springs, worst show in the world denver, people's fair when it was good, manitou springs labor day and that is it. it is a two day drive for me motorhome people have no room for my little sculptures. where in the midwest. i was thinking missouri i did salina years ago it was ok but a LOOOOOOOOOOONG boring drive. stayed at a koa campground in my van and first day campground had 4 ft. of water on ground that was an experience.
I meant that Colorado is a great place live; Vail, where my wife taught high school one year, suffers, like Vermont, from 9 months of snow and 3 months of damn poor skiing (slight exaggeration).
I'm a CO artist and I won't ever do another H.Alan show here - my last one was Frisco about four years ago. Like all of his shows, no amenities, poor or little advertising, no corner booths except for his steady followers, shows always on pavement. In the summertime, pavement in CO can get brutally hot, plus the summer winds can be vicious. Main St. in Frisco plus Boulder at the 29th Ave. mall can get winds up to 60-70 mph.
Aspen has always been a crap shoot; Beaver Creek is jammed with waaayy to many artists.
Steamboat Springs is on a back street; two reports told of mediocre sales. Remember, CO is a long haul from everywhere else and it can be expensive in the summer - where do you think much of the Midwest goes to when it's hot and humid out there in the flats?
But, the Midwest is where I go for shows - they buy art!
Vail? Do you sell to tourists in motor homes? Then that's most of your market there, because it's a town of inns, condos, and enormous private homes with people who don't shop at art shows.
But it's a great place to live!
i have been to quite a few sites and i do not stick with them because you are right they tend to be midwest and florida. i will be posting about another show i did in vegas probably in the next day or so. but thanks to all of you who have contributed. it has been real helpful
I can't tell you all how pleased I am to see discussion of Western shows on this site. Many thanks to all of you for sharing this information with us. Sometimes this site becomes too "midwest/florida-centric" and it is a pleasure to read these posts. Thanks for starting this blog, Steve.
Hi Steve, You asked me about CO shows....I recently moved to NM but 1 of my favorite shows is DownTown Denver but unfortunately is an only CO artist only show. So I am bummed I can't do it any more but my next best show is Vail Arts Festival in June. I have done all of the Howard Alan shows throughout CO and all have gone down hill. Not sure if it is the economy or what. Breckenridge is another good one. I have always done well in Aspen until a couple of years ago. I did not do it this year and heard it was terrible. Another good show used to be Steamboat Springs and last time I did that was 2 years ago and they were starting to accept buy/sell. It seems to me that the promoters are trying to get the spaces filled no matter what.
Thanks Steve. I see roller chain all the time. I find it at scrap yards and equipment auctions. The challenge with the auctions is that one has to buy such a large quantity. I have to be careful about getting too much inventory - my wife hates it when it takes over the garage.
you do not want to do garlic festival last time i did i have someone selling fake tatoo's next to me on one side and toe rings on the other. the show has become loaded with buy sell. it cost the public 12.00 to get in the gate. and it is normally above 100 in the shade. had a customer go a few years ago and after 15 mins at show she left. could not take the heat. i love your work.. i was wondering in your travels have you ever fun across roller chain i have bike chain but looking for some bigger stuff that maybe they use on a conveyor just asking. i am into using propane tanks but only to sell to friends around prescott, been making pigs out of them. steve
Steve, it's www.cliftonmetalworks.com . I've never done the garlic festival and have stayed out of the valley in general - never seemed to appeal to me. Joe
what is your website i noticed you worked in metal too. glad you are doing well. maybe one of these days i will go back to calif. i have not done no. calif shows for probably 10 years. last show i did there was garlic festival. then they went up to 650.00 and motel 6 was 650.00 and gas was 4.00 gal that was enough to turn me off. i do not miss driving in the la area or even interstate 5 .
Comments
Aspen has always been a crap shoot; Beaver Creek is jammed with waaayy to many artists.
Steamboat Springs is on a back street; two reports told of mediocre sales. Remember, CO is a long haul from everywhere else and it can be expensive in the summer - where do you think much of the Midwest goes to when it's hot and humid out there in the flats?
But, the Midwest is where I go for shows - they buy art!
Vail? Do you sell to tourists in motor homes? Then that's most of your market there, because it's a town of inns, condos, and enormous private homes with people who don't shop at art shows.
But it's a great place to live!
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