(May 13-15, 2011): It is testimony to a show that when faced with the challenge of weather: constant, wind driven rains for both show days and falling temperatures from the 80s to the low 50s, that the organizational structure is in place to still deliver a strong show for artists and patrons.
I wrote a detailed review about this show last year (see below) and the show this year was every bit as good as last year. The big difference was the weather -- two days of constant rain. It was a challenging two days, but volunteers from Patty Gregory on down didn't miss a beat. The year of planning was executed flawlessly. The commitment and pride of each volunteer (and patron) was incredible and very humbling to this artist. Micheal Stipek's review of this year's show depicts the scene well, so I won't repeat. Instead, I would like to expand on a few aspects of the show.
Art Dollars Program: This is a key component of the show and did much to ensure attendance in spite of the weather. For Belleville, this show is solely about the art and artists! It is embraced by the entire community, everyone from the Mayor down has an active role in its success and all are proud to have this event be a part of their community. How else can you explain that before the first artist crossed the town line, $104,000 had been collected in prepaid Art Dollars? This isn't money raised by a few big donors, this is hundreds of Belleville residents contributing for a full year. Art Dollars are given as gifts for birthday, Christmas, Mother's Day, Valentine, etc. and can only be redeemed on the days of the show. The program began 10 years ago when Patty approached 10 of her closest friends and ask each to find 20 of their friends who would each contribute $100 dollars to the Art Dollars program. In that first year, they exceeded their goal and raised $32,000. In the last 10 years, the program has continued to grow by leaps. The Art Dollars program commits the community to the program and brings attendance out even in the worst of weather.
I had a constant flow of patrons in my booth throughout the show. When receipts were tallied, I had solid showing, selling in all price points. I can only imagine what this show would be like with good weather! Of course some did better and many did not, it is the nature of our business.
Artists In Residence Program: I arrived in Belleville a day early to participate in the Artists in Residence program. About a dozen artists were asked to participate and I was fortunate to be one of the artists selected. The goal of the program is to leverage the artistic talent coming to the community by placing artists within the public school systems. I visited Waterloo High School about 30 minutes south/west of Belleville. The art program in this small town has experienced drastic budgetary cuts and staffing is now reduced to one teacher for a 1000 students. She was thrilled to have an artist come to her class. Going into the schools was a fabulous experience. I met with 5 art classes that included students from freshmen to seniors. A great group of teens and so appreciative and very inquisitive, asking questions on topics related to techniques, arts shows, artist's inspiration, etc. One of the local businesses sponsored me, paying for my lodging for the early day and giving me a small stipend to cover other expenses.
As artists, we need to do more to reach out to young artists. If you look around at shows these day, you quickly realize that we (including myself) are aging. It is so important for us to encourage the younger artists who are developing in our schools. The Artist in Residence program is well conceived by the Art on the Square committee. Thank you Deb Harriman for all of your efforts.
In closing, this is a tough show to get into as only 100 artists were selected from a pool of more than a 1000 applicants. Should you get selected, you will soon learn that this is one of the crème de la crème of art shows. Hats off to everyone in Belleville, patrons and volunteers for a job well done! - LC
P.S. I would be interested to learn of other shows that have Artists in Residence program.
P.S.S. Paul Zerjay, thanks for stopping by during the show. I was a pleasure meeting another AFIer!
----- Read Last Year's Review -----
Comments
Great to get the perspective from a local artist. As to your question, I collected a little more than 2k in Art Cash. -- LC
I'll give a report from a different perspective. My jewelry is at the Galleries at Sole Survivor, a juried gallery in downtown Belleville that showcases local artists. We've been open since November, so no, we are not a competing show. The weather that weekend was disappointing, but we still saw steady traffic making it's way down to the gallery (1 block down the street). Our sales were a little less than we hoped for, but still good. I can say with the weather I was somewhat relieved to be inside a real building with heat. I walked the AOTS show, & it was nice to meet some fellow AFI artists. Sunday seemed to have a decent crowd looking, buying & leaving. The weather reduced the number of people hanging out, eating outside, & listening to the entertainment, but they still came out for the art.
A local's perspective on the AOTS marketing - Patty, the Mayor, and locals in general are very proud of AOTS and do a great job of talking it up year round. Because of my husband's job, I cross paths with them at monthly events, and AOTS is mentioned or featured often. I would venture to say it is the yearly event that the town of Belleville is most proud of. There are billboards all over the whole St Louis metro area, the St Louis TV5 did a feature piece on it Friday morning, & the Belleville paper has extensive coverage. The artist in residence program & HS art show are wonderful programs to promote art in the younger generations. Overall more marketing and community involvement than I've seen with most art shows.
Now about the pre-sold art cash, some of the artists I talked to on Saturday/Sunday still hadn't seen any of it. Speak up and let us know if you had many sales using the pre-paid art cash.
Tina
Michael, great composition. I really enjoy the lighting and emotion that you captured. I agree with you about the international flavor of the photography. There were a few though that did very nice still life. I was particularly intrigued by the work of Glen and Gayle Wans.
Phillip, thanks for the info on Smyrna Beach Atlantic Center, I will have to look into this. I think Coconut Grove also has a program something like this?
Carla
I know I would have sold better if I had been juried in with my regular photography, but such was not the case. The series I showed was in Mixed Media, never shown before at a show; the public seemed to be a little put off with painterly depictions of people in various situations.
Leo was down two booths from me and he deserved to sell well. His wife Carole and he were friendly to the public, in spite of the chilly, rainy, windy weather. And his work struck a chord with folks who weren't into the tuscanytuscanytuscany stuff that seemed to be at a few too many booths at this show (from the images on the website of accepted photographers, Italy didn't seem to be so prevalent).
New Smyrna Beach Atlantic Center of the Arts has a Artist in Residence program.