What a weekend! I've been a patron for the Main St Fort Worth Arts Festival for years...and I mean all the way...taking a long weekend off from work so I could attend on the less crowded Thursday and Friday and spending all day, just taking a break for my Schmidt's bratwurst and cream puff...I'd check in with all of my favorite artists and look for treasures to bring home to add to our collection.
So when I felt like I was ready to apply for my first art festival, I picked Main St. It's a personal favorite, it's close to home (about an hour away), and it has an Emerging Artist program, so I could give it a try without investing in a tent. The downside? I'm a felter and I heard from a lot of friends that the DFW area is a tough market for fiber artists, especially in April when the weather can be in the 80s or 90s.
But I screwed up my courage and applied. A quick word for other newbies. If you're thinking about this, check to see if a local festival has an emerging artist program. It's amazing to have training wheels like this. I was able to apply without submitting a booth shot, I received plenty of communication from the festival organizers, they supplied the tent, and I was able to participate at a lower emerging artist rate. It's an amazing opportunity. I also made sure I attended the open jury day, allowing me to see what my jury photos looked like on the big screens (yikes!).
When I was accepted, I vacillated between being incredibly excited and terribly nauseous. I wasn't sure if I could pull together enough work for the show, but decided that it would be worth the experience...could I survive a four day show and would people be interested in my work? Plus, it would give me a chance to take a booth shot in order to apply for other shows.
So what did I learn?
1. Bring twice as much work and business cards than you'll think you'll need. I was running low on pieces by Saturday and could tell my sales slowed down when my pickings looked too slim. I was prepared to talk to people about doing custom pieces, but when I ran out of business cards I was in trouble there too.
2. Have two versions of your explanation of what you do or what motivates you. A lot of people visiting with me weren't familiar with hand made felt and some were interested in the longer explanation and some got the "glazed over, I have somewhere else to be" look about 20 seconds in. I had to pull together a graceful fallback short form explanation.
3. Be ready to smile all weekend. Mostly it was easy. People were friendly and interested and even the people who looked at the price and noted that they were more than they were prepared to pay were gracious about it.
4. Know what your answer is when people ask you if you're willing to discount. I think everyone determines their own answer, you just need to know what it is so you don't fumble. I had one person ask if I discounted for cash, but my pieces just weren't expensive enough to make that worth while so I declined, but I hesitated. Would have been better if I knew my answer before she asked. She still bought the piece, just decided to use her card instead.
5. Make your hotel reservation the second you get into the show. I thought I had a few weeks to book at the artist rate before it expired and when I called, I found out the hotel had sold out at that rate very quickly. Even if you're not sure, make your reservation. You can always cancel it later, but you can't get the good rate if you miss out.
We wound up getting rained out on the last day so I have to guess that I would have made it the full four. It was exciting and fun and I'd definitely do it again. It was a real honor to be included in a show with so many artists whose work I respect and admire.
Oh, and I'll need to rent a tent to take that jury shot. I found that some of my display ideas didn't work out quite as well as I'd like and my booth was cast in shade the first morning so I couldn't really exert any control over my jury shot. I'll need to rent a tent and put it up in a more controlled environment to give this a shot again.
Ok, that's all I have time for now, but I'll add to this thread if I remember more things. Final thoughts? I had a blast!
Comments
Good Job! It was my first time there this year and this site helped me plan for the unique weather, set up etc so I was a calm, cool cucumber. The show was awesome and I hope to be invited back!
Congratulations on your 1st show. So glad to hear ir was a success. From what I've seen renting a canopy is as much as buying an EZ Up from Sam's or a comparable one from Costco. Plus both have very looses return policies. Hope to see you in some shows further north where we need warm felted wraps.
Great points on the aspirin and the wipes! The wipes would be a super addition especially considering I sell wearables. Ha, I try to encourage everyone to touch my pieces so they can feel how soft the wool felt can be...but I'll freely admit that when I saw some people walking my way with those giant turkey legs I'd start clicking the heels of my little lime green crocs and wishing they were in Kansas :) Wipes would have been a perfect solution!
Great article for someone like me who has yet to do her first show.
Remember number 3 down the road. There are so many artists who forget that, and it's hard on the patrons, hard on the artist's wallet, and mostly hard on their spirit when they forget to smile and have fun.
Add aspirin to number 6 too. It's my must have.
Christine , I would love to see images of your product, Felted wears. Thanks, Virginia
Congrats! I'm a newbie as well and it is great to hear about other artist and their 1st show. Thanks for sharing your experience and the helpful advice, especially the "emerging artist" programs. I find the more I read the more I need to learn. Thank you.
Well, congratulations! You've inspired me to go ahead and try for some summer shows, thanks again...
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