Hi Friends.....Here is my review of the Great Lakes Art Fair Spring Show 2013 in Novi, Michigan. As usual, I will break it down into the positives first and then the negatives, enjoy!!
The positives: Load in for the show was easy, easy, easy. This show is indoors in a very nice convention center. I arrived to find Andrea Picklo, show director and her assistant sitting at a desk just inside the door. They checked me in and were very nice and offered me a large cart to use to unload my van. I got my whole rig moved in in just 3 trips with that cart, it was so nice. I set up everything and went to my hotel for much needed rest, that was Thursday night.
This is a 3 day show that began Friday afternoon. Friday had good but light crowds. I sold my first piece within the first hour of being open.
I met my neighbor, Paul Adams on Friday and he turned out to be a great neighbor and a very nice man. We visited a lot and I bought a piece of his work. I also met Debbie Ferenbach on Friday and we had dinner on Friday and Saturday nights. Everyone I met at the show was very nice and friendly.
Saturday was busier with bigger crowds. I feel that the crowds were light-medium throughout the whole show. It wasn't overwhelmingly crowded and it wasn't too light or thready either. I sold well on Saturday, selling 8 pieces between $100-$300. I never had to "sell" the work. The people were interested in what I had and were buying. I do found object sculpture with pricing from $75-$600. Saturday ended up putting me ahead of all expenses for the show. There was an artist reception Saturday night with nice hors d'ouvres and free drinks/cocktails. We were given 2 free drink tickets from the show and if you wanted more drinks they were available for purchase. They announced the winners of the awards as well.
Sunday was a bit lighter on the crowds than Saturday, but I noticed a change in the type of patrons that were there. It seemed to me that the show had a more affluent, serious art buyer crowd on Sunday. I sold well again on Sunday and within the first few minutes of the show opening, sold a $300 piece and a $200 piece. I sold 3 more pieces throughout the day, finishing the show with all expenses covered and a nice, "paycheck" profit for the show. I was very pleased with my sales.
Boothsitting and artist amenities: First of all, my sincere compliments to Andrea Picklo, show director and her staff, they are all amazing. I do shows alone right now and need booth sitting usually a few times a day. The show gave us a phone number to call to request a sitter and within minutes they were there. On at least 3 occasions, Andrea herself was my booth sitter! Talk about hands on. I was impressed. They have a roaming snack cart that comes around with drinks and snacks, good snacks and you can have whatever you want. Coffee and donuts, bagels and healthy items every morning. They also had a show office on the floor of the show where you could rest if needed. It was very comfortable at this show.
The negatives....
Ok, there were a few things negative about the show. First, while I felt the show was well juried, and had a good mix of artists in fine art and fine craft, I do not feel that a Tarot card reader belongs at an art fair. Call me a purist or a b+++h, whatever you choose, but that did not sit well with me. I am sure she is a nice person, but not appropriate for this type of show. I felt this cheapened an otherwise nice event. The other negative about the show is this: There were some wonderful artists there that did not have good sales. I felt bad for them, becuase their work was wonderful. For whatever reason their buyers just weren't there. It always sucks when good artists have bad shows. We have all had them, but I just hate to see it. That's it on the negatives!
In summary, I felt this show was very well ran, organized and artist friendly. It is always nice to have good sales, but even if I hadn't had a good show financially, I could not see how this show could have done any more to promote itself and take care of the artists. I personally saw the promotion efforts first hand: I saw the billboards as I was driving in, saw the ads in the newspaper, and saw postcards at the hotel I stayed at and a restaurant that we ate at. I think they did everything possible to promote this event. Special thanks to Connie Mettler for placing me and 9 other artists in her special newsletter for this show. That was a touching surprise and the piece in the photo sold!!!! I will give this show an A+ for promotion, organization, artist treatment, good patrons and people enthusiastic about purchasing art!
I will do this show again and most likely return for the fall version of this show in November 2013.
I will be in Stillwater, Oklahoma this coming weekend for the Stillwater Art Fair and will post a review on Monday. Thanks for reading! Elle
