A first year show strongly supported by the community benefiting the Morada Way Arts and Cultural District. They made it into a 4 day art weekend starting with the third Thursday artwalk of the local galleries, artist setup on Friday culminating in the Patron/Meet the Artists party on Friday evening with a good bar and some seriously yummy eats and then the show on Saturday and Sunday. I’m a total softie for community sponsored shows like this and so made it a mini vacation with my Mom to get her out of cold, snowy Ohio for a week or so. Also, the Florida Keys in January trumps cold and rainy Charlotte any day of the week! Show was on Zapp. Jury fee was $25 and booth fee was $300.
Check-in couldn’t have been easier. Volunteers were easy to spot with their bright green shirts and were everywhere. They walked you to your spot and made sure you had everything that you needed. Setup couldn’t have been easier. Pull up to your spot and set up at your leisure. Breakdown was the same way. Break down your booth, pull up and load out. Parking? You could park and walk if your hotel was close enough or you could park at the local bank that was closed on the weekend. Show staff was even willing to ferry you to and from your hotel since parking is at a premium in the area. Limited RV parking was within walking distance. Lots of hotels/motels at all price points within a short drive.
The show was laid out in a ‘T’ shape with the top half much longer than the bottom.
Was it crowded? I would say for a first year show with good advertising, it was pretty steady. but you can never have too many people, can you? A lot of people I talked to were just driving by and decided to stop. Traffic was steady in my booth but it was never so crowded that people were waiting to get in. It tapered off well before closing on Saturday but there were many last minute lookers on Sunday. $5 admission fee. The people that came through were pleasantly surprised at the high quality of the work at the show. That it was more fine art and fine craft than what they were used to seeing. People also liked that they could easily walk the show in an hour or so and then go about their day unlike some of the larger shows. The show was very well juried with maybe a couple of misses. I would have to go back and count but I think there were around 50-60 artists.
Sales? Well, sad to say that my type of glass just wasn’t what anyone was looking for on this particular weekend…I sold one piece on Saturday…and a follow-up sale on the drive home of 3 other pieces which put me at slightly over the break even point (the gentleman had taken pics of his faves on Sunday and sent them to his wife. Once she signed off, he called to place the order. Thank heavens!). I talked to several artists who had a slow Saturday but pulled it out on Sunday. One ended up with a 10K weekend. Hopefully, there were more like that.
Amenities? Well, there was the aforementioned lovely beer, wine and nibbles at the Patron Party… Saturday breakfast was a hot yummy ham and egg on cibatta with fresh fruit and orange juice provided by Ma’s Fish Camp. Sunday was a $5 breakfast put on by the Moose Lodge who also kindly provided access to their lovely restrooms throughout the weekend. I’ve found that indoor plumbing is a luxury at these shows that shouldn’t be taken lightly! I loved that the Moose Lodge folks came around toward the end of the show and thanked all of the artists for coming and supporting their community. And enough cannot be said about the 3 youngsters who tirelessly pulled a wagon with a cooler of cold water up and down the show all weekend. They were there at least once an hour and sometime more depending on who was pulling the wagon. Water free to artists and $1 for art show visitors. The dollar went toward funding a school field trip. Did I mention that the volunteers were like energizer bunnies? They kept going and going and going…and were awesome! And they ordered up fab weather. Mid-high 70’s with a light breeze…
So that’s my tale of the Islamorada Fine Art Expo. I believe this show has good ‘word of mouth’ possibilities as people think of this as THE show to attend while down in the Key’s. The passion is there with the organizers. Just need to keep the quality of the art up and get the people in the door next year. I hadn’t planned on going to Florida this year after just breaking even at Beaux Arts last year but this was a nice mid-winter break with my Mom; in the Keys; in January; so was worth it. We’ll see how Sarasota Masters and Mainsail go to see if I do Florida next year… I know I wasn’t the only AFI’er there but will leave it to you if you want to chime in here…
Comments
Great review/comment, you two!! You make it sound enticing: I may have to think about this one for next year.
For a first year show, the quality of the artists was very good. There were artists that I had never seen in South Florida before and top quality regulars. There was a shuttle to the parking lots for the patrons who didn't park across the street and it ran regularly with extremely friendly drivers. There was the wonderful trailer washrooms for the patrons with a/c so we were as happy as Kathy was!
One of the forces behind this show was Gallery Morada. This is pretty much the only gallery I will buy from since I prefer to buy directly from artists. Laurie, the owner, has wonderful taste. She finds wonderful work from all over the country. The committee for the festival worked with artists to ensure that the amenities were what the artists wanted. The advertising was handled by the main sponsor Sotheby's Realty and while it may have been good down in the Keys, I thought it was sparse on the main land. I never saw any advertising in the Miami Herald or the local suburban papers. It is a wonderful, not too long drive to Islamorada from the south Miami area and well worth it. If they decide to continue to do this show, and I hope they do, I am sure this will be corrected for next year.
This show would be a wonderful add-on to anyone who is also doing the Key West show the following weekend. The distance between the two shows is great enough that there isn't much of an overlap in the patrons attending and spending time in the Keys between the two shows, well it doesn't get much better than that.