Ever notice how some shows get labelled for reasons that are not entirely under human control? Well this show is turning out to be a hellish show to do and attend. This is entirely because of the weather. Temps in the 90's, no clouds and very little breeze did not make for a fun time. This happened last year also.
This is really a pity because there was some great art at this festival. There were artists I hadn't seen in several years and some I had never seen before. I love when that happens.
I'll let the AFI'ers that actually worked at this festival tell Nels and everyone else about load-in/out, amenities, etcetera. I have other things to discuss.
I understand that artists are trying to hit a wide variety of price points so they can attract all customers but if you jury in under one category, bringing something else into your booth that will be a lower price point (cough, jewelry, cough) just doesn't seem fair to the other artists. At the same time, promoters are being hit with either not enough applications for their shows or artists are canceling more than before due to the economic situation. This means that artists that would not have ordinarily gotten into a show, are getting in to fill up the spaces. I saw jewelry that I could have made in 5 minutes with beads I bought at Michaels. I saw other things that were of poor quality when seen close up.
I got to see Carla Bank before she melted, Diane Ferguson wowed my friend with her jewelry and I finally got to meet Bo Mackinson and see her wonderful photography. (Bo-the guy across from you sold 4 climbing people in a matter of 10 minutes after I saw you.)
Maybe next year the weather will be a little more temperate so everyone can have a great time at what is a very nice show.
Comments
We had a OK to Good show, but having never been there before we have no baseline..... I figure that if we hit the "green zone" by the middle/end of day one it is a good show.. green zone in first 3 hours = great show
I keep a show list on the web site- dorldor.com of where Deborah & I go.... we are off the road till fall, and are still working to fill out our shows for next year
Jay, I wish I had known you were going to be at this festival. Did you have a good show?
My frozen tea melted in record time so I knew it was hotter than usual. This weekend isn't going to be much better but there isn't much that can be done about mother nature. she is a fickle lady.
I had a great Saturday,two custom paintings and great sales besides those jobs, the heat was strong but manageable, then Sunday...OHHH SUNDAY!!! For a Mexican girl that grew up by the beach with high temperatures all her life and be complaining, that's big! Sunday I was SO hot, tired, in a bad mood because the heat exhaustion, head ache,my sales were not good,I noticed less people that Saturday because the temperature, so I just wanted to run out of there. I fell asleep on my chair for about 10 mnts because the heat but my neighbor that was selling jewelry would not stop talking so I woke up. She even had speeches/jokes for clients that she repeated over and over without changing them but God bless her because this worked for her. She never stopped selling, all the booths around her were just giving each other looks and smiling thinking "what the heck?? Doesn't she get tired of talking in this heat"???? and I guess she had an spectacular show. Her jewelry was pretty and her price points from 30.00 to 300.00or more but I've never seen anything like that, the heat never stopped her. We didn't even had a chance to know her because she never stopped selling.
Buffalo Grove volunteers were amazing, bringing cold water every 5 mnts, asking us if we needed a break. Amy Amdur on top of everything running up and down, checking on us, trying to make a DJ from a restaurant in the plaza to tone it down because he played techno music all day Sat and Sunday.I guess that was a party place so they had this DJ that not even the cops could shut him up.
Amy's staff as always working like crazy, all of them friendly and nice, always helpful, I've never seen them resting or in a bad mood. They are always asking if you need a break, if you are OK, changing garbage cans, cleaning, fixing things or problems etc etc
Set up and break down so easy. Right by your booth. I enjoyed seeing artist friends and meeting new ones (except the jewelry lady that nobody met because she was too busy selling)
I drove home, it took me 20 minutes to get there and thank God because longer than that I would be able to make it. I took a cold shower and my skin was so hot feeling like steam was coming out of my body. I lied down at 7pm and woke up today Monday at 10;30 am. So rested and ready to paint more for next week's show!
I'm sorry to hear the heat affected the show Geri and that there were a few people that slipped in with low quality work or brought non-juried work in.
I do a show that is actually scheduled for the last days of spring, but EVERY year it has been so hot (40C + ) we've been lucky that ANYONE ventures outside of their airconditioning to come and visit us at all! I don't know why that weekend is always so hot, but we just sweat it out and hope for a breeze every now and then.
It's late in July, what are you going to do? When my husband and I go out and the weather is like it is right now (no matter the time of year) we call it "Ann Arbor weather."
We did this show the first year and it was in a park/field. The weather people were saying "don't go outside. It's dangerous." Some people did come, of course, (this is the Midwest and people love their art fairs) and luckily met a man who continued to buy from us just about every time we went to Chicago. He even came here to south/central Michigan for an Open House.
Here's an article about the show from Patch.com: http://buffalogrove.patch.com/articles/crowds-brave-the-heat-at-art...
Geri, You are correct, there were many, many talented people showing there. But it was hotter then I could EVER imagine! I had been warned about possible high heat conditions but thought, no way will it be that way another year in a row. I was wrong :( Ease of set-up and take down was easy (except for the heat). Water from the staff was plentiful. Staff & volunteers helpful as always. Buying crowd was sluggish but I know there were good sales around some of the booths. But the excitement of the day for me came when a woman had what was likely a heat stroke in my booth close to the end of the show. The first aid and paramedics were fantastic and ready to deal with the situation. (hoping tonight that she is okay and recovering).
Just a friendly reminder to all my artist friends - Keep hydrated. And, a shout out to Donna who bought me two bottles of gatorade during tear-down so I did not end up getting a ride to Northwestern Hospital too. I would give the show another chance.