This was the 22nd year for the Garage Sale Art Fair. I love coming to this show. There is something for everyone here. This show is held the last Saturday of February. Winter can be rough in Kalamazoo and by the end of February people are ready to get out and shop.
The show is put on by Bonnie Blandford and Michael Kifer of Road Wife Productions LLC. The show is held in the Kalamazoo County Expo Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is a one day show and this year was held on February 25th.
The show is held in 2 large rooms. Artists set up on Friday. Bonnie and Michael provide refreshments during set up which was very much appreciated.
Shoppers show up first thing in the morning. There is usually a large group of them waiting to get it. I have been there when there was a very long line to get it. Shoppers can sign up for drawings that take place hourly throughout the day . If your name is called you win shopper bucks to spend at the show.
Bonnie also makes announcements about special deals all day long. Artists will occasionally make a special offer to draw people to their booth. The special deals seem to be very popular in the afternoon towards the end of the day when artists decide they don't want to take some stock back home.
You can find great pieces of art to buy at this show. Most of art work doesn't have so much as a single flaw. Some pieces are for sale because the artists want to make space for their new show stock. Plus, you can also find some strange things that artists are trying to get rid of. I have seen pieces of iron sewer pipe, a microwave, booth lights, an antique photographer's tripod, and much more. I am always surprised to see the huge variety of things you can buy and sometimes even more surprised that it has disappeared at the end of the day.
Alison Fox, whose booth you can see above, is a stained glass and mixed media artist. She always stocks her booth with some great pieces of art work. She also stocks it with all kinds of weird objects that she collects throughout the year for her art work. Alison will sell everything she brings to the show. I have walked by her booth and watched her get rid of everything by mid afternoon. She is amazing!
The show goes til 4 pm. It is not uncommon for some artists to be sold out by 2 pm. That has to be a great feeling for an artist.
I'd like to mention the yellow shopping bags. Shoppers will buy themselves one of those nice yellow Garage Sale shopping bag and fill them up. By the way, what a great idea to have those shopping bags available. It is not uncommon for shoppers to get to the show and buy more than they planned on and realize that they didn't bring anything to put all their purchases in. I have seen so many people walking around with those nice bags which are usually full, too. The shopping bags help to make more purchases easier to handle. What a great idea!
This photo was taken in the morning around 10 am. Shopping is well under way. The selections are good. There is something for everyone. People come to this show with the full intention of shopping and buying.
There are 145 artists at this show. There is a nice selection. I didn't think any one category was top heavy.
I took photos that better showed the crowds but those photos were blurry.
Below you can see two
shoppers that are looking intently over
some ceramic pieces. oh hey, it is Connie Mettler. You never know where she will show up.
This show will be held February 24, 2018. That gives you almost a year to fit this show into your schedule.
If this show is out of the question for you there is one in Wisconsin and Ohio that may work out better for you. We all hold onto stuff we don't need anymore. This show is a great way to get rid of some of that.
Until next February 24th, oh, I can't wait.
