After retiring from teaching art for 32 years i have had the chance to get back into the studio. Last year I did three shows. Two were inside and the one outdoor show provided a tent for "emerging artists". So this June will be the first outdoor show on my own. I purchased an eze up 10x10 tent last fall when eCanopy had some great sales. Used it Winterfair Columbus, an indoor show, worked great. But I have not yet purchased/made weights that I will need for the June show. This show is on parking lot surface so the tent can not be staked, just weights. I need some advice on weights to secure the tent. How many pounds? How to best tie to the tent? do I purchase the weights? Do I make something of my own? Would appreciate any advice.
Advice (6)
This is my first year of getting back into doing art shows after an almost 20-year hiatus. As such, I am very much a newbie and relearning the ropes, including what types of shows to watch out for. Reading the call for artists for the Old Town San Diego Art Fair, I was expecting 20,000 customers to come through with money to burn. Oops. Not so much. Of course, part of it can be blamed on the fact that gas prices leapt by 40 cents per gallon that very weekend (!) and perhaps a lot of San Diegans were reluctant to get out and about, but I think that my husband's observation of Old Town being a tourist destination was also a valid point. Many of the artists I spoke with were having a stinker of a show. A couple of nearby booths seemed to be hauling in the bucks, however. What I noticed about them was that they had great price points for impulse buys, such as less than $25. I mention impulse buys because one customer said to me that my prices seemed high for impulse buys, and so I learned something here: tourist destination shows are something very different from shows that people go to specifically to buy art.
The show was organized by two entities: West Coast Artists and the Old Town San Diego chamber of commerce. The people I met from these groups were VERY nice and helpful at the show, but I had some issues about getting juried into the show: 1) Artists had to pay the usual application fee, but also had to pay the booth fee up front at the time of application. I had never seen this before, and I didn't like tying up my money, not knowing if I would be accepted. I would not apply to shows like this in the future unless experienced artists told me directly that the show was worth it. 2) The organizers were very slow in letting me know if I had been accepted. When I called West Coast artists three weeks before the show to ask about my status, I was told that the Chamber of Commerce people hadn't even sent them my photos yet. As an out-of-towner, this gave me short notice for being able to arrange lodging and send out announcements to my email list.
I would love to get feedback from seasoned pros about what to look for in shows where the art buyers go, and what to watch out for in the future. Thanks!
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This is a very useful, down to earth, letter from a woman who runs an art fair in northern Michigan. What I especially like about it is this:
- this is not a nationally ranked show, much like most shows around the country
- the tips are very pragmatic
- it is a great example of what many smaller art fairs should be saying to their applicants
READ ON and LEARN:
I'm sending this to everyone who applied this year, so don't take it personally unless you think you might need to.
We did our jury last night and I have a few comments about image quality. The whole jury process is very competitive and this should probably go without saying, but I'll say it anyway. IMAGE QUALITY MATTERS!
Some of you have been sending the same images for quite a few years. If you have new work, we'd like to see it.
A few of you sent images that were the wrong size. Pay attention. If you send us things that are too small to be seen, it's not helpful to you.
A few of you just sent bad images. Getting professional photos of your work done is very expensive, I know. It may not be necessary, but you do need to make sure that the things you send are of good quality. You have a lot of competition.
I'm going to talk mostly about the booth slides. I sent out an email to many of you last year and it was obvious that you listened. Thank you. It's not important to me that your booth shots be good, but it's VERY important to you.
If you have new work, we need to see a newer booth shot.
The booth shot represents your whole body of work. If your booth shot is blurry or messy looking...
We try to do a blind jury, so would prefer that neither your name nor your face appear in the shot.
The jurors see four images. If they see three amazing pieces and then something different in the booth shot, it WILL affect your scoring. Perhaps you did three really great things in grad school or three great pieces this year. We need the booth shot to be representative of the work you will be bringing to this year's show. If there is a disparity between what we see in the booth and the other images, the jurors can't help but wonder. Some of you just need to update.
The prize for worst booth shot this year goes to someone named David. Perhaps you know who you are.
We really want to see you do well - we care.
Good luck to you all - responses should go out next week - Donna
Many thanks to Mike Barnes for forwarding this excellent letter to me. He gets the first AFI bumper sticker!
Hi,
I just jumped into this forum and there is a load of info here!
I will be doing Crested Butte this year and it will be my first real outdoor show of the summer.
What are the experiences there? I paint abstracts (all originals) on canvas and planned to take some large show pieces and lots of small to medium work. What price range is typical buyer in CB looking for?
I'll be doing just a few festivals this year and I'm trying to get into decent ones. I sell pretty good locally, in my galleries and from my website and blog. I run a graphics business full time and wife is a professional so I don't have to sell tons to support my art habit just yet.
I'm wondering if I'm nuts to start going to festivals, but a couple of small ones have given me the bug.
Thanks!
Mark
