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I applied by accident meannint to apply to madisons show of the same name. I did notice and apply to madison but i got in to this lake forest one and Iam not sure to accept or not as the reviews i could find seem very old from 2013 and 2011 a friend sent me two others that where not great but had no date on it. If you have done or know if this show any more recent advice would help. thanks so much! I do 2D mixed media with lots of color btw.thanks again

October 15 & 16

Olmsted Linear Park
Presented by: The Atlanta Foundation for Public Spaces
225 Artists

Application fee: $25; Booth fee: $275-$550

The Fall Festival on Ponce is an Atlanta arts and crafts festival held in the historic Olmsted Linear Park.  Visitors will enjoy the gorgeous landscape designed by one of America's most celebrated landscape architects, Fredrick Olmsted St., which was carefully restored by the Olmsted Linear Park Alliance.

An estimated 20,000 visitors will attend this event with over 125 displays of fine art and crafts, folk and "outsider art." In addition to the abundance of unique art, there will be a children's area, local gourmet food, beverages and a small stage for acoustic musical performances. 

This is the 6th year that AFFPS will hold an outdoor arts and crafts festival in the chain of parks on Ponce de Leon Ave. in the historic Druid Hills neighborhood.  This event will be very conservative, with sensitivity and consideration for the park and surrounding neighborhood.

I would love to talk with artists that have been accepted to the annual art festivl.  Two years running i have buffed up my booth, taken what i believed to be amazing photos, wrote precise descriptions, and bam, rejected.  In the body of the rejection email KRASL made it clear that people are rejected often several years running, and please try again.   It baffles me.  Granted i work in wearable fiber and wonder often if that is a limiting factor.  

They do invite artists to attend the jury process, which is refreshing and rare... sadly i live 5 hours drive from there, and could not break away to be there for the jury.  I also wonder if that is a limiting factor.

If you have done the event, can we chat either on this blog or via email?

July 11 & 12 

Noteworthy:

People wonder why ATL shows are hit and miss?  Here is a recent news piece that focuses on a group that has added 12 new annual events to the Metro Atlanta Art Festival calendar. Since the population has not grown at quite the same rate, many existing shows have been damaged. Shows like Dogwood, which by the way is preceded by an event organized by this group and is less than two miles away.

http://www.cbs46.com/story/27294043/money-to-popular-nonprofit-festivals-may-not-be-going-to-charity

A couple of months back I wrote about selling my first piece through a gallery.  As exciting as that was (and it was REALLY exciting), I recently had an even more exciting experience. The person who bought my image called me up and asked if I’d sign the mat board that surrounded the picture.

I’ve seen other pieces where the photographer did that very thing, but it never occurred to me to do it myself.  While I don’t mind having a signature on the back of the picture, I personally feel that writing on the mat board detracts from the overall image.  But, hey, if someone buys a photo of mine and wants the autograph, I’m not gonna tell him/her “no.”

So I was cool and collected when I told my buyer that, yes, I would be happy to sign the piece, but inwardly I was floating on air for days.  To be honest, I’m still flying.  We made arrangements to meet so I could sign the mat for him, and he graciously agreed to have his picture taken with me, so I could commemorate this awesome event.  Craig joked about me being his “famous baby,” but there was definitely some aspect of fame in what I was feeling.

As I mentioned before, as an artist, it’s wonderful to hear that someone likes your work; whether it be a book, movie role, or piece of art.  Then, when someone likes your work enough to buy it, you feel like you’ve “arrived” somehow.  And it goes a long way to making you feel like you’re a professional artist.

But to have someone ask for your autograph on said piece of art is a whole level unto itself.  You find yourself speculating whether or not others will want your autograph when they purchase something of yours, or if this someone will become a collector of your artwork.  I found myself wondering if this buyer will look for more of my pieces in other exhibits.  There’s a level of excitement that comes from thinking someone might own more than one of my pictures.

And now that Craig and I are gearing up to work art fairs, there’s an even bigger possibility that people will like our work enough that they’ll buy more than one print.  The thought just makes me giddy because it’s our dream to be able to make a living off of our art.

But for now, it’s enough to know that someone wanted my signature on a piece of my work.  Here’s hoping that it won’t be the last time.

This was our 4^th time in 6 years participating in this show in Coeur d’Alene ID.  The show is the first weekend of August and can be very warm and this year Sunday seemed especially hot as the temperatures came close to the triple digit mark.  I reviewed this show last year, not a lot has changed other than our results.   I really can’t explain why, but by the end of this show we had our highest ever numbers at Art on the Green.  Maybe it was because we skipped the shows in Spokane this year and it was the first time we’ve been to this area in a year. 

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/coeur-d-alene-art-on-the-green

Load in and load out really didn’t change from last year’s write up.  I didn’t see as many volunteers this year, but maybe that’s just because we were busier than last year so I might not have noticed any of them checking to see if we needed a booth sitter.  I also know I didn’t spend much time wandering this year, another sign that we were busier.

Sales on Friday started a little slow but we had a very steady afternoon and by Friday night had covered booth plus expenses which for us is just gas and meals since we tow a travel trailer and they offer free onsite camping.  Saturday sales started early and were fast and furious the first 4 hours of the show then slowed down as the temperatures climbed.  We had a small rush of sales early evening and ended the day with our single best sales day we’ve ever had at Art on the Green.  Sunday was HOT!  Not sure what the official temperature was, but our thermometer in the booth  was showing 97. Crowd was small, sales were slow and ended as our slowest sales day of the show.  Overall, we were still pleased with the results and most likely will be back to this show.

It was also fun to see AFI’ers David Forster and Dennis Brady.  We’re seeing David at several shows this year and it’s always fun to hear Dennis’ perspective on shows in this area as it is his home base. 

Word of caution for those of you considering the other shows in town this weekend (the show in the park or the Street Fair), all weekend we were hearing very negative reports from artists at both shows and know a few artists who have done the show in the park for a few years and have sworn they won’t return as they’ve continued to see the other 2 shows go downhill.  This town really cannot support 3 shows in one weekend and think that all the artists are going to have a reasonable rate of return.

You may think that I have it out for Madison “On the Square.”  I don’t, and it may only look that way.  I have always loved that show. However, they keep making these decisions that are questionable at best and are at worst are illegal.

Now, the latest decision is they have made is to charge an additional fee on top of the booth fee if an accepted artist wants to pay by credit card.  The fee is $20 for a double booth and $10 for a single booth.  I am not a lawyer but I am somewhat familiar with credit card fees.  As I understand this, it may not be illegal to charge the fee, but all the major credit card companies have clauses in their contracts that do not allow for this fee to be charged.  They have that fee so that people will use credit cards instead of paying cash or using personal checks.   This sounds to be like an illegal practice.  And that is only my opinion.  In addition, they could get away with it, if they told artists that they would give them a $10 or $20 discount is they paid in cash, but the Madison “Art Fair on the Square” is making it a penalty to pay by credit card.

I hope that artists will question this practice and put a stop to this.

I am going to forward this to Annik Dupaty, the Madison, AFOS, Director of Events and see what her response is.

I do come up with the same conclusion that I did for the jury blog I posted earlier in the week.  JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DOESN’T MEAN THAT YOU SHOULD. And I’m not even sure that it applies if it is an illegal fee.  And again it appears as if Annik is more concerned with the bottom line than the ethical running of an organization.

I have been approached at several of the shows I have done recently by gallery owners asking me about wholesale prices for putting my work in their gallery and additionally asked about selling my work on consignment. I know most want a sizable discount...which is somewhat understandable.

My 1st. question to anyone who does wholesale your work ...or send it to galleries on consignment is what type of positive and negative results have you experienced?

If you send it to a gallery on consignment what is a reasonable time to leave it in the gallery to be sold or when should you decide it is time to remove it?

 If it is an out-of-town gallery what expectations should you have from the gallery to ship it back to you if not sold in a reasonable amount of time?

What type of contracts/agreements should be expected between you and the gallery?

What is considered a fair and reasonable commission or wholesale discount?

I realize these are alot of questions, many of which might have possible been discussed before...but I haven'y been able to locate the discussions.

I appreciate your advice and help...

I have a suggestion to those of you talkative artists and crafters out there. A good way to make money and do some good for future buyers is as follows:

I gave my children each the gift of buying one favorite work of art a year-or two if i felt we could afford it and by the time they had their own homes they had a fabulous collections.

I tell parents when they enter my booth with children usually 10 and up, that have some interest in my work, about how as a past art teacher (i only lasted one year with middle school art classes-aargh) I found that when a child grows their taste and understanding of art changes.

To further this quality a yearly purchase will open up new thought patterns such as about texture and color and dimension. Art pokes holes in the brain to let in air--it helps them do better in other subjects and life (as we all know). If they realize you are an artist and what that entails, and the materials you use and are invited to touch respectfully, they are likiely to want to buy your work as their first purchse.

I have this happen ten times a show

I think it is good for all of us to get kids in the early stages and to give their parents a new way to spend money on their kids.

what do you think?

I just finished exhibiting at the Belleville, IL, Art on the Square.  Without a doubt, the artists' treatment, care, hospitality and wellbeing is paramount to the people who run this show.  I can't really remember when I've had so much attention paid to my needs!  From continual water, snacks, food, buffet meals, volunteer booth sitters, runners for cocoa - it just doesn't get much better than what Patty Gregory, the director and chief cheerleader, and her seemingly endless number of concerned helpers will do for us street urchins!  And the buffets - Sat. night for the high school art exhibit to the Sun. awards banquet - I gained weight from all of the tasty foods offered to us artists.  And the pre-show money raised in non-refundable tickets sold solely for the purchase of art:  $104,000!!!

Even in the bitter cold winds and ceaseless drizzle (more about the weather later), volunteers were always available to take of our needs, even to watching our booth while we made a mad dash to the port-a-potties or to grab a bite to eat from the nearby food booths (which had good - and hot food at reasonable prices).

Unfortunately, the weather was a total downer.  On Thurs., those of us who wanted to set up could do so.  We had from about noon on.  It was hot - 86F - and humid.  The weather forecast was for some winds and a lot of light rain/drizzle from Fri. night to Sun. night, with a storm front hitting the area late Thurs. night

And the storm did hit!  The boomers woke me up about 2 AM.  Concerned for my booth, though I had cross braces, cement blocks, a bunch of sandbags (also another thoughtful consideration by the show folks) and a Lite Dome booth, at 2:30 AM, I found it to be taking the wind without a problem.  Not so for a lot of other booths.  There were a number of them with corners bent under, EZ-Ups mashed, even Lite Domes and Trimlines tossed about, with several of them spun around or upside down.  The wind was howling and the rain relentless.  Much of the damage, even to the better tents, came from poorly weighted corners and so many artists didn't use the sandbags offered in huge numbers or used them inadequately.

In spite of terrible conditions, there were about a half dozen Belleville firefighters and another half dozen Belleville police officers, plus a number of the volunteer show staff - all of them valiantly struggling to save tents.  A lot of artwork was loaded into police vans and carried to the police station to protect it.

I can't say enough good things about all of these people - watching them get soaked and battered by the wind while trying to save artists' tents.  Even the mayor came at about 3 AM and went to work helping out!

Well, Fri. night was chilly, so the public turnout, from artists who had done the show before, was down a bit.

Sat. and Sun.: temps in the low 50s, with a windchill factor near freezing from 15-25 mph gusts and almost non-stop drizzle (when it blows horizontal most of the day, everything and everyone gets wet) really reduced the size of the crowd.  From the artists I talked to, sales were from down a little to down a lot.  BTW, Fri. night is patrons' night, Sat. seems to be for folks coming from St. Louis and Sun. is when the local towns come to the show.

The forecast for the show?  I don't think anyone will hesitate to apply again next year.  According to Patty Gregory, over the years, the average temp for the show is 77F. - always a good temp!  I didn't do well, but I'll be sending in that jury fee next year!  How could I not, what with treatment like I received.  Now, I just have to lose that weight....

Okay, so we won an award on Fourth Street for Best Booth Display- lights, check..rug, check..draperies, check....sales....no check! For 18 years and a 4 hour set up..including lights at every show(thanks to my husband, Bob, of course) we were finally acknowledged for all the hard work and we appreciate it...and thank you..BUT, did the great , bright display, more inviting than a Mothers arms help our sales? No siree...I won't repeat all of the fine points made already regarding the reasons for a bad show this year...we sold a large piece first thing Friday morning and thought that this was a great start...well, it was the only large piece in three days.

We love our street, Fourth Street, for alot of reasons...we are situated in front of the nicest couples home...they would win "Best of Show" for nice.The wife bakes for three days, allows us to us their bathroom and plug in to electric....we are in love ....with them!

We will be back- I think this year was an oddity..it was our third year on this block..the least amount of money earned.We think the World Equestrian games which drew 50,000 wealthy horse lovers to Lexington(an hr. away), cut into the well healed crowds not being there..don't know what we would do differently to pull in more money next time...but we have a year to think about it....