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  Scott Martin April 26, 2010 at 8:13pm

  How are sales for functional pottery at artscape. My price range is $20-$275. Or sales of the show in general?
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  Camille Ronay March 5, 2010 at 8:58pm

  Connie, I was asking Barry Bernstein, the man who made a comment about dividing up the income festivals make among the artists, about belonging to NAIA.
  
  I know you have long been with NAIA. And, yes, it is an excellent idea that NAIA would encourage festival directors to assess the economic impact of their events on their communities.
  
  A local arts organization does a pottery show every Fall. The director always announces his sales. One year, they paid $11,400 in sales tax on their sales... money that comes directly back to their county. The next year, the organization asked county commissioners for $2000 for signage for the show. The commissioners refused, until the director reminded them that they'd brought in $11,400 last year. They got the signs. Sales went up. The commissioners patted themselves on the back that they'd succeeded to bring more money to the county.
  
  In many instances, economic developers working directly with the arts understand the benefit of nurturing them. But as one climbs the chain of leadership past those hands-on developers, any benefit of art is hazier and hazier. Facts and figures are SO important!
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  Connie Mettler March 3, 2010 at 6:44pm

  Are you asking me personally, Camille, if I belong to NAIA? Oh yes, I am a founding member, have worked on the committees and attended almost all of their conferences.
  
  Funny you should mention this -- I was thinking today that this information might be a good focus point for the NAIA in reaching out to the show directors and the communities where our events take place. I'm distributing the article -- do you suppose we could get some grass roots activity going here on this issue?
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  Camille Ronay March 3, 2010 at 4:37pm

  Do you belong to and support the National Association of Independent Artists (http://naia-artists.org)? This organization advocates for artists' rights. And it strongly encourages artists to understand the business of selling art. Read the website. The NAIA has opened the dialogue between artists and show directors.
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  Barry Bernstein March 3, 2010 at 10:13am

  Here is something to consider: Most artists in other mediums get a share of the gross receipts. Musicians, writers, movie actors, all professional athletes, get part of the take. It wouldn't be a stretch for artists to ask for and get a portion of the gate from shows that charge an admission. Let's say a show charges $10 to get in and attracts 150,000 people, the gate would be $1.5 million. The show would get $1.35 million and the artists would bet $150,000. If artists got 10% of the total, and there were 300 artists, then the participating artists would each get $500 back. That would be reasonable because if there were not artists, and they held the event, there would be no gate receipts. Unfortunately, as promoters are reading this, they are putting me on there blacklist branding me as a trouble maker. However, someone has to say this. More of us should stand up for our rights. So many of us are afraid to speak their minds for fear of being blackballed from shows. Connie gets lots of comments from people who want to be heard but are afraid to put their name to their post. To this I only have to point to the NFL. Before they got together and asked for their fair share, professional football players had to get part time summer jobs to be able to live because their salaries were meager. Most of them then lived in poverty after their career ended. Now they get around 45% (this is just a guess) of the revenue generated from TV, and attendance. When you compare all other industries to our own, what I'm proposing is almost insignificant.
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  Camille Ronay March 2, 2010 at 8:28pm

  One of my commitments to creative entrepreneurs in Georgia is to map their economic impact on the State. Even though Americans for the Arts' numbers are always very low, as of January 2009, Georgia has 20,212 artscentric businesses employing 82,322 citizens. We have 500+ festivals. Their economic impact on communities is huge.
  
  Tourism and economic development are natural partners of creative businesses. Unfortunately, few of the partners "get it", because it hasn't been spelled out in facts & figures here in Georgia.
  
  Baltimore is to be commended. These figures are the language their legislators and authorizers understand. We ALL need to be doing what Baltimore has done!
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  Connie Mettler March 2, 2010 at 9:33am

  Thanks for the previous comments -- I am in total agreement with you Barry and Michelle! This information really needs to be disseminated. In fact, I am going to make sure I get this article in front of all the art fair organizers who subscribe to my newsletters. Barry's points are so well taken -- maybe we can take some kind of initiative on this.
  
  Several years ago sociologist Richard Florida wrote an important book that dealt with the impact of the "creative class" on making strong cities. The term "cool cities" came from this book. One of the points that really stuck out for me was that cities get a better return from their money by creating cultural institutions and supporting cultural activities than for the stadiums they are building. People hang around, they spend money, they don't just drive in from the suburbs and then exit without leaving any dollars behind.
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  Michelle Sholund March 1, 2010 at 10:58pm

  This is a big news article on major news stations here in MD. Can you believe it? Art in the news??? These events are BIG events - they all get a great amount of press whether you are a fan of art or not, you have heard about these three events. I cannot tell you how happy I am to hear that they finally got a marketing research team to do their magic. It is only when you get this information that you can present it to the "powers that be" and they will listen. Those $$ amounts really make big businesses listen and realize hey that their money can be invested wisely in the arts and will in turn get quite a good return on their investment. Art brings in money - revenue - maybe new jobs??? Oh yeah, baby! We, as artists and those who support the arts have been saying this until we've turned blue, but only when we can get the facts and figures to present to the powers that be it really puts art on the map. It was reported somewhere around $400,000 went to food - concessions and in town restaurants. Not to mention souvenirs, art purchases, hotel revenue, and additional tourism money that goes to museums and so on - all that money adds up. That is a lot of money and this can stimulate the economy - invest it in the community - the arts (starting and maintaining non-profits, art colleges, art fairs, galleries, art districts, etc.) Many jobs can be created through the arts and guess what - it supports art and crafts that are MADE IN THE USA . I strongly feel it is the best way for us, as Americans, to ease off foreign products and become more self sufficient, an investment in our own culture keeping the money within our borders. Thanks for posting this article - its definitely good news!!!
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  Pauline Ross March 1, 2010 at 6:12pm

  I agree with Barry B.
  If there is that kind revenue as a result of these events then what is the problem with helping those that attract that kind of money into the city or community. It would help artists actually make a decent profit. And Barry no crumbs for artists. We simply deserve better then crumbs.
  
  Thanks for sharing that article Connnie.
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  Barry Bernstein March 1, 2010 at 3:27pm

  This is what I've been saying for a long time. That our events generate millions of dollars, which is why we should be asking for things like free parking and drastically reduced rates for hotels/motels, show fees, etc. The city should be providing us with what we need because we generate income for them. At all the shows I've doing in Florida, it seems that they all have there hands out for donations for their art programs, etc. Nowhere was the concept considered that maybe they should buy the artwork from the artists, at a reduced price, and then auction it off for their charities. They all want us there, but, more and more artists are sleeping in their vehicles because they can't afford the room price. That's becoming out dirty little secret. When rock groups come into a city it's written into their contract that their basic needs are taken care of. It's not unreasonable for us to ask for a few crumbs. I just did an event where there were no porta-patties and the nearest bathrooms were 1/4 mile away. I can hear the promoters crying now that show fees will be so much more if they provide these things. Baloney!! The cities and local businesses should provide these things because they are the main benefactors of us being there.