Dunedin was okay, just that, okay. Of the three shows in central Florida for this weekend (Halifax, Lake Mary, Dunedin) it is probably the best. But not by much. The layout is confusing. Buying energy was almost non-existent and if a potential customer walked away to “think about it” they would have a hard time finding you again. My space sucked. I bought a corner. My first thought upon seeing my space was “I can’t believe I paid extra for this”. It should not have been a space at all, terribly unlevel with some major dips in the ground that never did get filled in despite promises. Too close to the water. If I had leaned back in my chair too far I would have ended up in the pond. Obviously it was rather damp which is just lovely for work under glass…. To add insult to injury when they emptied the trash they placed the bags of trash for pickup about 15 feet away from my booth and only picked them up in the evening after the show ended.
One very high point for me – they actually had SODA along with the beer and wine at the artist dinner. And not poured into little tiny cups either. I got to have an ENTIRE bottle of diet Coke. I’m not being sarcastic here. It is a huge pet peeve of mine when the artist dinner has beer, wine, and water only.
Load in and out wasn’t bad. In my area you can drive right up to your booth.
What seemed to be moving most, for me and others, were low cost impulse items. I saw very little framed or large work leaving the show. The people were very hesitant to buy. I heard “Let me think about it” many, many times.
In the end, I did about average for a fall Florida show. I made a little money. I was hoping for more, but it was …. okay.
Comments
I opted for the Howard Allen Venice show this time instead of Dunedin since I agree with the majority. Last year I was stuck in the dirt in a tail wind you wouldn't believe. The year before was the best show I have ever had and you know the competition with jewelry. I had done really well at the Venice show in March so I thought I would try November. I was busy and had good sales but one product I had in March and ran out of, I made extra for this show. Everyone kept picking them up (rings) and putting them back down after I told them how much they were ($45- which is lower than I had them marked in March). One lady even remarked they were expensive. I sent my husband around to look at the other booths and he was shocked at how crafty the show was compared to March. There was another jewelry booth selling $20 rings. No wonder mine weren't selling! I won't be back next year and will probably try the Art Harvest again. I still haven't figured out how Howard Allen juries their shows any way.
Not to worry Nels. I came down for Disney and Deland and just threw in Dunedin as a third show. It's not a super money maker line up but I have to come down to Florida once a quarter for my day job so I might as well throw in some shows.
Great reviews. I came as a visitor on Sunday and purchased several prints for family and friends. My fiance was disappointed because some of the work I bought was similar to some of the pictures I shot while traveling in Europe this summer. I told her that it's good karma to support fellow artists in these tough economic times.
I would have bought some framed items if I weren't an artist myself and buy frames in bulk ;-)
I'm heading to Sarasota to check out and support the artists there and then I'll be showing at Artscape St. Pete and Howard Alan's Delray Beach Thanksgiving Weekend.
Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!
Bob S., that is actually a true comment! Nels is so right, when it was run by the Junior League of Dunedin the show was so much better. They kept the number of participants down and the quality was very high. We used to do some pretty serious numbers here in sales. Then the advertising became minimal, the greed factor came in by expanding the amount of artists and very confusing layout for patrons to boot . We stopped doing the show the year after these changes were made. The last time we did the show our sales decreased by 50%. The money people that live in surrounding areas (and they are there) do not come to the show any longer. And I don't blame them!
Hmm, Bob, are you reinforcing the myth of the starving artist? Sorry, you're post hit my "funny bone" tonight so I just had to ask, even though Florida is way out of my way from a travel perspective. Just making sure I'm interpreting the comment as it was meant!
Once you've done Dunedin you'll be done eatin!!
Good review Alison. That is a long way to come,from Virginia, for a mediocre show--hopefully you have another show to pair it up with.
Now here is my skinny on Dunedin, I started doing that show in 1982 and did it sporadically for years since.
In the golden days of this show it was run by the junior League of Dunedin only. It was prestigious fall show. great artists, great awards and surprisingly, great sales/ it was a biggie.
Then, years back, the Clearwater Junior League started partnering with it and things have gone steadily downhill since.
Granted there are other competing shows in the area now, so Dunedin is not the only one. trouble is the Junior League acts like it is the only one. They kinda take it for granted that everyone knows it is on the first weekend of November. They could advertise a lot better than they do.
Then they expanded the show--typical show greed by the promoters--247 plus artists is just way too many. the area doesn't support it. Too many old people on limited incomes, and houses already full of art, so who ya gonna sell to? Not enough of the right people with disposable income show up/ Consequently a lot of great artists opt out from doing it. No chance for good moola.
If the Junior League is serious about making this a great show again then reduce the number of exhibitors--fat chance of that happening.
Dunedin Art Harvest was disappointing for me despite perfect weather. I agree with Alison, people were hesitant to buy and had very little interest in spending much. My largest sale was $90, and most of my sales were under $50. I know of a few artists that had exceptions to this rule, but for the most part I think this held true for most. 247 artists is too much for this market apparently.
Fortunately, because it was local I made a small profit and I would try it again if I am not doing Pensacola. With home being 12 miles away, I was back home having dinner by 8pm on Sunday night. After traveling all summer, it was so good to be home!