This was our second year doing this small show (it's third year in existence) and we were overall pleased with results.
This is an indoor show held in the small but lovely Garfield Park Arts Center. The organizer is very accommodating and goes out of her way to communicate all aspects of the show - from advertising/publicity to food arrangements. Organizer also arranges to have a few musical/dance groups perform periodically which enlivens the crowd.
The unjuried show is supposed to be a fine arts show and for the most part succeeds very well - the calibre of art being fairly consistent and not "craftsy" in nature.
Load in is very easy - you're able to drive right up to doors that open into the main vending rooms. You can load in late Friday afternoon prior to the Saturday/Sunday show dates as well as Saturday morning. I like to take over my display fixtures and set up Friday and then bring in my art Saturday morning to finalize the set up. Total set up time alotted between 2 days is 6 hours - which is more than enough.
For a small fee - food is provided for both days (breakfast, lunch and snacks). Beverages are provided to all artists at no cost.
Cost for booth is nominal ($75 for a double booth - which is well worth it space wise).
As to traffic - about 1,000 attendees over the 2 day event. Not a large crowd overall - but for the size of the venue not too bad. Saturday was the better day sales wise, we always contend with a drop off on Sunday because our local Pro Football team is very popular (although they ultimately had a loss this weekend).
We work in a variety of mediums: Painting (watercolor,oil and acrylic), Photography, Pencil Drawings and Wood Turnings. We sold a bit of all this event - mostly in the under $50 price range. Small items: miniscapes - (miniature acrylic paintings complete with easels) and photo card sets sold the best at $20 and under.
Most artists around me seemed to be doing well also - in the smaller price range and I heard a couple had nice larger sales.
Load out was just as easy as load in - we were packed and out in about an hour.
I was disappointed to hear two artists talking - and one said she was going to have buttons made up to wear that read "Cute doesn't feed my kids" and "Pretty doesn't pay my bills". I found this to be a very distasteful attitude - our booth visitors are not obligated to buy - and nobody forced us into this art venture.
For my husband and I - this has been a wonderful experience. We are producing and sharing our love of art in a way we enjoy. And while it's not today enabling us to quit our "day jobs" it does provide an outlet for something we would be doing anyway. We both demonstrate as we work our booth - I work on commissioned pet portraits (it's great dedicated time to paint) and he draws. We have found this draws people into the booth and stimulates conversations. We also very much enjoy talking with kids that are interested in what we are doing and think we might be encouraging future artists in this small way as well.
Next up for us: the Winter Market at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis December 4th. That show's a bit more costly but has been a good show for us in the past as well. I'll review it after the show.
Happy and safe holidays to all and happy arting!
-k-
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