This past weekend we participated in the Frederick Festival of Arts in Frederick, MD. We did the show last year and had a terrific weekend – perfect weather, big crowds, great amenities and excellent sales.
This year was a mixed bag. The Frederick Arts Council has undergone some changes in leadership. Last year’s show director is gone and her spot was filled by an acting director. The acting director and her staff worked tirelessly to put on a great event but there were some noticeable differences, particularly in artist amenities.
Last year: Welcome reception with free drinks and a big spread of snacks/hors d’oeuvres. Free lunches provided by local restaurants that offered a wide variety of sandwiches, wraps, fruit, etc. that were served in an artist VIP area. Water wagons made regular visits to the booths to offer free cold bottled H2O. Sunday breakfast with lots of options including a waffle station (I think this is right – might have been eggs.)
This year: Welcome reception where artists paid for drinks and the snacks were very limited (salsa/chips, strawberries, mini brownies). Free box lunch – turkey, ham or veggie sandwich, apple, chips delivered to the booth on Saturday. Health department said “No” to that on Sunday. The same box lunch was offered in the VIP area on Sunday. No water wagon. Limited breakfast on Sunday (full disclosure – we did not attend but heard it was just muffins/bagels.)
Bottom line, we think budget issues made for a real dollar crunch. The booths were not cheap ($400 and $475 - corner) so I’m not sure where the shortfall came from but this year was not the same delightful artist experience we had last year. A letter in the welcome pack that explained the situations/changes would have surely gone a long way to mitigate some of the disappointment.
Don’t get me wrong – we’re not looking to get pampered but when you have expectations based on an experience from the prior year, the changes we saw were glaring. Also, I must reiterate that everyone who worked on the show, both staff and volunteers, was terrific. The new, permanent director stopped by our booth and we had a good discussion about the show.
Show specifics: The load-in here can be a challenge depending on your assignment. You will be dollying for sure as the venue is along a pedestrian-only area that lines both sides of a very pretty canal in the heart of downtown Frederick.
We arrived around noon on Friday, had lunch and then parked the van in one of several “artist only” reserved spots that was very close to our spot. After getting the first load to our spot, I went back to the van to discover a $50 parking ticket. Yikes!
It seems there was supposed to be an “unloading” pass in the Welcome packet to be displayed on the dash. Our packet didn’t have one. A quick visit to the parking “court”/ticket-stand about 100 yards away produced no joy. We explained the situation to the show staff and they took the ticket and said they would see what they could do. Welcome to Frederick!
We got set up in pretty short order but with frequent breaks for water – it was very hot.
Saturday dawned clear and pleasant. The show opened at 10AM and by 11:30 we were up about $800. This was going to be great! Sadly, at about 11:35 the temperature had hit about 90 and the buying energy disappeared. The crowd that had been smiling, enthusiastic and eager to shop had become lethargic and almost zombie-like as they moved down the aisles. Sales did pick up again around 4PM but what had started out so promising ended up being pretty mediocre.
Sunday was cooler but off and on light rain and the threat of thunderstorms kept the crowd down somewhat. We had a good day and salvaged the weekend but we ended up doing about 65% of where we were last year.
I know there were some other AFI folks at the show and would love to hear how the weekend ended up for them.
Load-out was an easy dolly as we had arrived at the venue at 6:30AM to secure the best parking spot for our location. (The Loading pass was cemented firmly in place). The show ended at 5PM and we were on our way by 6:30.
We will definitely apply again next year. For the most part, the quality of the art here is very high. I didn’t get to see every booth but I saw no signs of buy/sell
We love the venue, our sales have been good here in the past and suffered this year, I believe, only because of the heat on Saturday. We will lower our expectations for amenities and maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Comments
I used to love to do this show. Love that town and its antique shops. Tricky load in and out, but what a setting! Thanks for this report and everyone's comments. A friend of mine, potter Jan Richardson was on the organizing committee for this show when it started and we participated several times. I well remember driving like mad men, leaving Frederick, stopping by our home/studio in Michigan, reloading and taking a deep breath as we finally arrived in Denver for Cherry Creek, the following weekend. Two great shows in wonderful neighborhoods.
I did the show too, and felt the energy drain from me and my roadie on Saturday.
Loading in was kind of a pain, as the booths closest to the entry point were setting up and so close together, it was impossible to bring in pro-panels without carrying them through a very narrow point. We did have a terrific volunteer section "captain" who really monitored our progress and parking - we were out in just over 45 minutes!
Sales were not good - I think I just broke even with hotel, gas, booth, etc., and Saturday afternoon was just a mess of sweaty, cranky patrons... the traffic was slow Saturday, but I wouldn't have ventured out in the heat, either [not blaming the show]. Sunday was better, but the threat of rain cast a pall... tearing down in rain is impossible.
I have noticed that many of the shows I participate in are really more a destination for families with young children and couples with dogs, and folks out for a walk. Very few are really interested in seriously looking and/or buying...neighbor on one side [a painter] zeroed, my neighbor on the other side [jeweler] did okay.
I can't tell you how many times, at this particular show, I had groups of 6 people or more chatting in front of my booth - and I just didn't have the heart to ask them to move as there was no where to move to - unless they took a dip in the canal.
To me, the show delivers people, and they are very nice people indeed. Many seem as though they have wonderful taste and some discretionary dollars, so my expectations were high.
Thanks for your input Carrie. Glad it was okay for you too.
You are absolutely right about the dogs/babies. I saw one infant who couldn't have been more that 2 weeks old. Then there was the woman with a dog who sat down on the carpet in our booth (in the shade), pulled out a bowl, filled it with water and let the dog lap it up. While I was shocked that she would do this in our booth, I'm also a dog lover and was glad to see the pooch get some much needed water.
Hi, all - I did the show, too, and had an OK weekend, not great, not horrible.
I had a great place to park during load-in, but it was still a hike, and brutally hot. A couple hours in (I am a one-gal show, so it is all me), I stopped sweating and got the chills, a sure sign of dehydration/heatstroke. I stopped for a few, drank more water, and carried on.
The show started well for me on Saturday, as Bill said, and then the buying just stopped. Again, it was terribly, horribly hot - and no one was buying.
Many people brought dogs and infants to the show both days. On Saturday, I saw dogs nearly dead from the heat. I saw several who could not stand still, the brick pavement was so hot on their feet. Why anyone would bring an infant to a 90-plus-degree art show is just beyond me, too.
Sunday was a better day for me, with the sale of a large painting and a couple small ones. Monday proved good, too, as several people called wanting paintings and commissions. So it turned out well.
Load-out was tough again for me. Frederick is a nightmare for driving and parking, and I ended up lugging my loaded handcart two long, uphill blocks to my van, which is too high to fit into the parking garage nearby. For the final load, I was able to get close with the van, but it was still difficult.
As an aside, one artist pulled out Sunday morning, in a snit over dollying in and low sales.
The quality of the work in this show was good, I thought. And in spite of its crazy one-way streets and tight parking, Frederick is a lovely and interesting town, with great shops and restaurants.
Here's a photo of part of the show, one morning before most folks arrived
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Hi Geoff, I keep waiting for your Hilton Head review! We'll see you this weekend in New Jersey at the Paragon show. Sounds like a lot of rain is possible on Saturday. Oh well.
Nice review, Bill! Keep it goin'!
Very nice meeting you both at Hilton Head. I am hoping that it won't be the last time we run into each other at a show.
I know this area well; it's on the way between Carlisle PA (my college town) and DC, where I used to live. I wish only that it made sense for me to show there (it doesn't). But a prettier area cannot be imagined.