Blog

February 5 & 6
Fort Myers, Florida
Downtown Fort Myers
Option to participate in Opening Night: February 4
Friday 5pm-9pm, Saturday & Sunday 9am-5pm
200+ Artists
Deadline: September 10

We are beyond excited for ArtFest Fort Myers 2022! ArtFest Fort Myers is coming back as you knew us pre-COVID, 200+ artists with a great layout overlooking beautiful Downtown Fort Myers alongside the riverfront and yacht basin. A FREE, non-gated event for all members of the Southwest Florida community to come shop your artwork.

As a result of the Coronavirus Pandemic, many home buyers and new residents from big northern cities are making their way to smaller cities in Southwest Florida. The cities seeing the most migration are Fort Myers and Cape Coral who are adding 50 new people on average a day according to David Cobb at Market Watch 2021. With all of these new residents there is an overwhelming desire for art to fill attendees’ hearts and enhance their homes.

How do we promote for you?

All advertising messages and media will be targeted to bring art buyers to you! Drawing in art lovers, experienced and new collectors and educated buyers, who are year-round residents and those visiting Southwest Florida during the peak of season, is our primary goal.

$175,000 Marketing Campaign targeted to art buyers from Marco Island to Sarasota to West Palm Beach and beyond. We are getting the word out about your fabulous art work via TV, radio, digital billboards, glossy magazines, theater/symphony programs, our website, eVites, and year-round Facebook, with paid ads and organic postings. We know the importance of online advertising and having a social media presence. Social media works best when artists & art festivals work together.

How do we assist with artist success?

We have multiple resources to help build your business to create more revenue streams. We have also partnered with experts to bring you video trainings on the power of video, Images for Jury and Websites, and much more. There are opportunities for artists to participate in Artist-based promotions leading up to the festival. Please feel free to be in touch with any questions. We love talking with artists and we want you to succeed in all aspects of your art business.

If you are new to the idea of selling at an outdoor Art Festival, please contact us for any support you may need- we love to help.

Learn More Here

At ArtFest Fort Myers, you will find:

• Two-day, FREE to the public, community event, with 90,000 attendees

• Year-round professional staff, with 22+ years of consistent management

• New and cutting-edge art is equally at home with more traditional work

• Loyal base of dedicated art buyers/VIP members who are focused on YOUR work

• Attracting young professional families with free fun art related activities for kids of all ages

• Encouraging the next generation of artists and art supporters with a high school art competition; sidewalk chalk competition; kids art activities.

How do we take care of artists?

• Oversized booth spaces – 3 feet between booths & ample storage space behind
• Easy Friday Set-up with scheduled staggered drive-up access beginning at 8:30am
• Artists' Hospitality includes daily complimentary continental breakfast, water, and private indoor restrooms
• Dedicated Artist Ambassadors and Booth Sitters
• Discounted hotel rates at area hotels & Luminary Hotel & Co.  in the heart of the festival with including covered parking with special artists rates.
• Reserved free artist parking with complimentary trolley transportation
• Professional 24-hour security
• Learn More Here

Be a part of ArtFest Fort Myers:

• Apply from May 14th – September 10, 2021 at ZAPPlication.org
• Visit our festival website ArtFestFortMyers.com. The Info for Artist page provides artist specific information including hotels, set-up, jury success & many other helpful tips.
• Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram where we feature festival artists and engage patrons year-round

Apply Now: ZAPPlication.org

Questions: Erin Jackson, Community Engagement Manager
Erin.Jackson@ArtFestFortMyers.com

Covid-19 has prevented many art fairs from taking place this year.  One show that will definitely look different is the Uptown Art Fair.  While the Uptown Art Fair will be canceled, it will be adapted for the changing times. 

The Uptown Association decided to cancel their traditional art show which was planned for August 7-9, 2020 to protect the health and safety of the artists, art patrons, guests, neighbors, and volunteers. 

However, art will still continue to take place.  The Uptown Association will host the Uptown Art Fair Heals - Mini Event.  This new event will showcase the art and artists of the Minneapolis Community in a new kind of way.

After George Floyd's tragic death many local artists in coordination with local businesses were called upon to paint over 50 murals on the plywood that boarded up buildings through out the community in an attempt to heal the community through works of art related to George's untimely passing.

There will be about 50 local artists in the surface lot at Calhoun Square in Uptown Minneapolis.  Other events will take place all over the Uptown community at various businesses and locations including sidewalk sales, artist demonstrations, musicians, food, and drink specials.  Participating businesses at this time include Calhoun Square, Granada Theater, Amazing Thailand, Kitchen Window, Local Motion Boutique, Daymark Uptown Apartments.

Click the link below to read about Jill Osiecki Gleich's idea to turn the blank boards covering local businesses into works of art:

http://mspmag.com/arts-and-culture/painting-uptown-with-awareness-and-hope/

If you are able to attend the Uptown Art Fair Heals event, let us know what you thought.

**A Month Full of Art Fairs
News from photographer Evan Reinheimer -- After so many cancelations over the past year, it's exciting to see that I have a full month of art festivals planned for February!

It all starts this weekend (Feb. 6 & 7) in Fort Myers, FL at Art Fest Ft. Myers. The festival is open 9am-5pm on Saturday and then again on Sunday from 9am-4pm. It takes place in downtown Ft. Myers, right along the river. You can find me and my artwork in booth 329, near the Look Out Pier on Hendry St. The GPS address for the festival is 1375 Monroe Street; Fort Myers, FL. 

Learn more: EvanReinheimer.docx

**Clyde Butcher. Do any art fair artists ever "make it big?" Well yes, Virginia, quite a few do. It doesn't happen over night, but because entrepreneurial and creative people are drawn to the art fair opportunity, many of them keep scrambling and trying new things to see what works. 

One of them is Clyde Butcher. We first met Clyde in the early 80's. We did shows together for years and visited one another between shows. He'd recently moved from California to Florida and was trying to turn his photography into a way to support his family. He would show up with color photos, black and white photos, kept trying to see what would click with the buyers.

His love was landscape photography and he fell in love with the Everglades. His lucky break was being able to buy a piece of land deep in the Everglades, rarely available, where he and his wife Niki (also a photographer) built The Big Cypress Gallery. The rest is history ... gallery exhibitions, collectors, honors and awards.

More: https://www.aarp.org/work/working-at-50-plus/info-2020/

**GULFPORT, FL — First Friday Art Walk returns to downtown Gulfport this Friday, Feb. 5 with nearly 20 of the region's most innovative emerging and professional artists showing and selling their creations along the stores, restaurants and galleries on scenic Beach Boulevard. The event runs from 5 to 9 p.m. and is hosted by the Gulfport Merchants Chamber.

**From Sunday Minnich at the Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras in Morgan Hill, CA:

With the uncertainty of holding large events due and evolving developments with COVID-19, and taking into consideration the scope of work, size, attendance and the upfront costs of the Festival, it is with a heavy heart that the Board of Directors of the Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras, Inc. have made the decision to cancel the 2021 festival and are optimistically planning it’s return May 28-29, 2022. www.mhmmg.org

**Real vs Virtual Art Sales, how's it going? How buying art went digital and why it won't go back

Mike Steib, CEO of Artsy says, "I think two things have happened during the pandemic. The first is that more people have become interested in bringing art into their lives, and second, Artsy has made it possible for those people to come into the art world, to discover what they would love to buy.

"The percentage of revenue that galleries are generating online has tripled in the last six months," Steib said. "I've never seen an industry go back once it's becoming digitized. This [was] the year that the art world [became] digital." 

Interested in what he has observed? https://businessinsider.com/MikeSteib

Do you have any news you'd like to share? Send it to us: info@artfaircalendar.com

• Limited to 65 artists
• Significant paid advertising and news coverage
• Easy drive up unloading
• Experienced artists friendly organization
• Free parking and RV parking

Apply: www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=8694

As with all art fairs by Integrity Shows, artists are juried on a three-year basis, allowing artists to grow with the show. If you are accepted by the jury, you are assured of acceptance annually and re-jury in the fourth year.  Of course you still need to apply on time and your work has to be relatively the same. We believe that artists should be able to plan at least a part of their schedule.

Mark Loeb, Integrity Shows President, has been producing and consulting with events since 1982 in metro Detroit. In addition to these events, he consults with art fair and event organizers.

Intentional events for extraordinary results: www.integrityshows.com

In addition to a Purchase Awards Program that provides an average of $10,000-$12,000 in art sales, Artisphere distributes $15,000 in prize money to eleven award winners each year.

Renowned artist hospitality includes: 

• Convenient set-up and load-out
• Parking, security
• Reduced hotel rates
• Volunteer booth sitters and complimentary meals

July brings the BIG shows and if you're not doing an art fair this month (especially if you live in the heart of the country) you probably aren't too serious about this business. (Just my opinion).

Photo by Miles Glynn, Best of Show at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival

Art Fair on the Square in Madison, WI, hosts nearly 500 artists on the state capitol courthouse square and the crowds show up! For some artists this is their best show of the year and getting in is paramount to their yearly success. Here are this year's prizewinners who will be returning again next year:

Ceramics:                                           Michael Imes (565)

Digital Art:                                          Ed Myers (334/336)

Fiber / Leather:                                  Samuel Yao (520)

Furniture:                                            Ron Dekok (649)

Glass:                                                 William Ortman (839)

Jewelry:                                              Mary Filapek & Lou Ann Townsend    (641)

Metal-Works:                                      Kurt Ruby (253)

Mixed Media 2-D:                               Nestor Yulfo (244)

Painting:                                              Luke Stretar (162)

Photography:                                      John Scanlan (719/721)

Printmaking, Graphics, Drawing:        Robin Lauersdorf (136/138)

Sculpture and 3-D Mixed Media:        Thomas Wargin (462/464)

Wood:                                                  Matthew Hatala (571)

Then there is the real darling, the Cherry Creek Arts Festival in Denver. How do you like these winners?

October 5 - 7
Louisville, KY
Presented By: St. James Court Art Show Inc.
700 Artists

Deadline: April 15

Application Fee: $40   Booth Fee: $575 

More than 700 fine artists and craftspeople from throughout North America converge the first full weekend of October for the Saint James Court Art Show. Ranked in the top ten fine art and craft shows in the country by the industry's Sunshine Artist Magazine, this autumn tradition draws over 100,000 visitors every year who come to purchase unique handcrafted items directly from the hands that crafted them. 

The show is held in the heart of historic Old Louisville, which boasts the largest collection of Victorian homes in the country. Old Louisville is an elegant backdrop for this display of fine arts and crafts, which will be exhibited and sold along Saint James Court, Belgravia Court, Magnolia Avenue, and the adjacent blocks of Third and Fourth Streets. 

Event organizers work diligently to cater to all artistic preferences and budgets. The result is a tasteful selection of high-quality original works that include paintings, sculpture, pottery, leather and woodcrafts, photography, textiles, glass art and other fine arts. Proceeds from the show fund various community charities, art scholarships and neighborhood maintenance and restoration. 

Admission is free, and the event is held rain or shine. No pets please.

Testimonials: Insider Louisville called it "The MacDaddy of all art shows"
 
Marketing:
Our artists are important to us. We work hard all year long to make sure Louisville knows you are going to be here the 1st weekend of October. Our annual marketing plan includes Louisville Magazine, Kentucky Monthly, Nashville Arts, Playbill Cincinnati, StyleBlueprint, ArtFairCalendar.com, Insider Louisville, Ad Network Kentucky, Art FM WXOX 97.1 FM, WAVE 3 TV, Facebook, Instagram, and subscriber based e-newsletters.

Please note:

The show is comprised of 6 sections which operate simultaneously and contiguously. St. James is the original show and hosts 250 of the 700 total number of artists. You may apply to as many sections as you wish, but can only accept an invitation to participate in ONE section in a given show year. At this time there are several ways to apply to the 2018 show depending on which section of the show you would like to participate in. 

Which Section should I apply to?
All 6 areas have good traffic flow. When a patron comes to the Art Show they don't really know when they are walking from one section into another. We don't advertise the different sections to the public. There are several differences that I like to tell artists about. You are welcome to call me and I can explain further. 

Applications:

4 sections are listed on Zapplication and only take digital images and applications through Zapp, http://zapplication.org. The other 2 sections, West End Baptist Church and 1300 Association only take paper applications which can be downloaded on our web site under "Exhibitors".