Held May 30 & 31, 2009 we had perfect weather for this enjoyable show in Deerfield - an affluent North Shore Chicago suburb. Friday night setup followed by get-together available. We chose to make the drive Saturday morning. Drive up to booth setup & teardown very smooth. Booth spaces had 3ft either side for spreading out art and 5 ft behind for chairs, desk & supplies. Kudos to Debbie Netter - D&W Events for well advertised, well coordinated event.Volunteers came around every hour or so with water and checked artists needs. Took menu orders for lunch and delivered. Food & entertainment court at one end with yummy, healthy food choices.Layout was two rows across from each other on pavement for about 150 artists. Nestled between beautiful and well used Jewett Park and the Metro Train Station. Relaxing flow as many families made a day of it picnicking & playing in the park and attending the show. With reasonable fees of $25 jury & $275 entry, it was easy meet expenses Saturday morning. Art Savvy patrons were careful with their purchases, but seemed to easily part with their money. Jewelry went well. It was the first show for the talented pencil drawing artist next to me and I was glad she did well. Many large paintings and photography pieces seemed to do well, as did I.Consistent flow of patrons both days, but not a crowd of people at any given time.No complaints from me, we had a marvelous time and enjoyed the laid back easy flow of the event. Great attention to artist by Debbie - well organized.You Tube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1ZWdtpI3fY&feature=channel
I didn't do particularly well at the Deerfield show, selling about half as much of my jewelry as last year. There were way too many jewelers in my opinion and some of the non-jewelry artists also were selling jewelry, further diluting sales. Several jewelers that I met last year did not participate this year because of low sales. And I believe there were even more jewelers at the show this year. So I'm curious how other jewelers did and whether they were selling any higher-end jewelry.
Some of the artists around me were doing well, in particular a painter who took in close to $5,000. Other artistss were barely making their booth fees and planning to scratch this show off their lists for next year.
I could see the impact of the economy on my sales as several people who admired my jewelry commented that they could not buy my work, or anything else at the show, because they currently were unemployed.
Linda is right that Debbie runs a well-organized show and takes care of her artists. I'm not sure what kind of advertising Debbie does so I can't comment on that.
But you can tell from Linda's video that crowds were very small and they weren't very large last year, either.
It's a pity more patrons don't attend this show because other than low sales (for me, anyway), it's an enjoyable one to do.
Comments
Some of the artists around me were doing well, in particular a painter who took in close to $5,000. Other artistss were barely making their booth fees and planning to scratch this show off their lists for next year.
I could see the impact of the economy on my sales as several people who admired my jewelry commented that they could not buy my work, or anything else at the show, because they currently were unemployed.
Linda is right that Debbie runs a well-organized show and takes care of her artists. I'm not sure what kind of advertising Debbie does so I can't comment on that.
But you can tell from Linda's video that crowds were very small and they weren't very large last year, either.
It's a pity more patrons don't attend this show because other than low sales (for me, anyway), it's an enjoyable one to do.