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KDKanopy Majistic tent.  Used sparingly over 5 years $500.  Excellent condition,

4 - 6' Black Propanel walls Excellent condition

4 - 45lb Dumbbell Weights $35 each

6 - 15lb Dumbbells for anchoring easels $10 each

7 Artists Loft Easels $35 each.

6' 40 slot greeting card stand

3 large matted print stands

2 small matted print stands

Phone: 520-820-5081

This year was the 62nd annual Talbot St show and the 1st annual attendance for me.  I sell functional fused glass pieces in the $35-50 range plus some decorative work that goes up to about $200.

Talbot St is on Talbott Street and a couple of side streets between 17th and 19th streets just north of downtown Indianapolis.  Hours are Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 10-5.  My impression was that the art and fine craft were of good quality with good displays and affordability, perhaps a level or two below the premium national shows with the highest-priced art. 

Others have written about this show previously so you can find many details in past blogs.  Here are my additional observations.....

Thunderstorms threatened much of the weekend, but didn't finally break loose until about 30 minutes into tear-down.  I don't know if the forecast affected the crowd size or demographics.  This year the first 3-4 hours on Saturday were packed with shoppers who were interested in the art and buying it.  Then at about 1:30 the crowd shifted to youngish couples with kids and the mood shifted from art sales to free entertainment.  Many artists I talked to had far fewer sales during the afternoon.

Sunday was similar.  Fewer but motivated art lovers/buyers in the morning and early afternoon, then a mighty thin crowd for the rest of the day as the rain got closer.  Lots of us made only half a dozen sales during those hours.

This show is run like a well-oiled machine.  They get it, and on top of that the staff is friendly and helpful.  Food trucks offer a tasty variety of food, and the nearby port-o-trailer provides air-conditioned, multi-stalled, gender-separated and well-kept facilities with toilets that flushed.  Even the neighbors -- whose front yards and driveways we're blocking for the weekend -- are a delight.  Mine offered the use of his shady front porch and bathroom for the weekend.  A neighbor down the street threw a bloody mary breakfast for the artists near him.  What a pleasure to have a genuinely nice, positive vibe swirling around the show all weekend.

It's worth repeating that the show is set up on residential streets that are old enough to be more narrow than today's streets.  The houses have been nicely renovated and the trees are lovely.  However to fit everyone in, the front 6' of your tent is in the street and the back 4' is up on either a grass curb or slanted driveway.  It's doable, and just requires some additional time and patience during set-up to get everything squared up and level.

My revenue at less than 2K was disappointing, but I expect to try this show again because the ingredients seem to be there.

I know I know, I should have written it sooner but oh well. School can get in the way too as does life.

 Let me start out by saying that I teach Talented and Gifted Elem. and a few art classes too. My girlfriend who also accompanied me on this trip also teaches but up in St. Paul MN. After finding out that a booth space was won in the pledge drive raffle I was very excited. I called her and we both decided to take two personal days from school to therefore make a long weekend vacation out of this sale. We not only geocached along the way but had friends in TN so the drive was fine. Some info about the spaces: We decided to camp in the local camp ground of the state park instead of getting a hotel room in a town maybe fifteen minutes away. It was a little chilly but we like adventure so it worked out great. The ranger was nice when someone accidentally took over our spot from the first day. Although he camp sites are fairly expensive they do have lots of other "amenities" for campers AND we both agree those were some of the cleanest camp ground bathrooms ever which is a bonus.

Weather- First day was pretty much all rain. That plus the somewhat cooler temps did not help anybody. everyone had very very little sales that day. I think I sold one one dollar clay pig ( I sell ceramics mugs, bowls, cups, vases, and acrylic paintings). Second day weather was ok. a little drizzley but it held off and foot traffic did increase but not greatly.

Space- This camp ground was in the middle of a state park so the trees and back drop were beautiful. However the somewhat constricted roads then lead to longer set up times. We had decided to drive to Nashville on Friday night. Then leave Sat morn and cut our drive down a  bit. We arrived on time and in a perfect world would have been ready to go quickly. but rain, cars ahead of us etc... slowed us down. On their forms they stress that if you are not set up by a certain time then you won't be asked back. I don't think many people "made the dead line". Either way we unloaded and my girlfriend was nice enough to go park the car for me and take their provided hay ride type shuttle back. Totally understandable that you want artist cars out of the way for more attendees. there was a little bit of disorganization when we were in line in our car in the beginning. One lady told us to wait at a corner so she could get another guy who had been waiting to go through...she walks away...another volunteer organizer guy comes and tells us to move please...We explain what the first lady said...He still tells us to move...So we move...first lady then comes back after a few minutes with a somewhat funny look on her face. We told her we were just following directions and to go talk to that other guy. Neither was rude or angry but I felt a lot of stuff was tricky that day for them.

Sales- I once had done a small town art fair where  one lady cleaned house and everyone else sold nothing. She had no tent and totally set up form the back of her car last minute. Her stuff was also super less expensive than those around her. We all sold barely anything that day. I say this because this time a man selling crafty bird houses cleaned house. BUT his work was actually very nicely made and he sold at a fair price. It was clearly what people wanted. That's totally fine so I am not salty about this one. There were other sales too. I had a handmade furniture couple to my right and a wooden sign slogan lady to my left. Funny enough another tent was the wooden signs across the way. (They kind of battled each other. On Sunday one put out a 50% off sign and very soon the other one did too) Again with the weather sales were very small.To be honest I didn't make very much money at all. I kind of suspected this going in and therefore treated it as a mini vacation in the first place. Ps I also traded cars with a friend to use his suv to transport metal grid walls and such instead of renting a van. so really it only cost me travel expenses and food and such on our way.  Was it worth it? Probably not. But it was still a fun four day weekend adventure.

Philosophies- I have hinted at the disconnect between what makes a craft show a craft show and an art show art etc... I also understood that even though this had submitted images for entry it was still even titled a arts and craft show. I once did another craft show and quickly learned that my art does not fit there. Ok this time I had some smaller priced cups and things around 5, 10, 15, and mugs for 20 dollars. I figured that if someone wanted a 65 dollar painting they would get it. If not, I had small stuff  just in case.  I must say that the differing styles and craft were well represented. I know my post is probably negative sounding but they did do a good job of having different artists there. One lady took plastic grocery bags and turned them into jackets. Or painted cigar boxes talking about die-ing off species of bugs like bees and butterfly. That's cool. there was your typical wooden cutting boards, glass blown pieces, no buy and sell tents which was nice. all in all even though they were art and craft I still felt ok being there. However it was more of a crafty crowd I would say.

One final thing- We had heard from patrons that it had taken them at least forty minutes to be able to park. Then, they were finally able to get one of the shuttles into the sale area. A combination of weather and parking closed out this show for me. I am glad I had the experience and the four day vacation so to speak but I would not return.

To see a more thorough report on this show visit my last report:

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/carefree-fine-art-wine-festival-january-2012

What's new in 2015? Not much. The crowd seems to be getting older still and buying even less as their "snowbird" homes are all full. This show, as-well-as most of the AZ shows I've done so far, is suffering from its own entropy. So what if a show has been around for umpteen years. If you don't breath some life into it every once-in-a-while it doesn't survive.

It seems as if they are relying on the patronage of the past which is well past the years of consumerism. These shows don't seem to be attracting a younger crowd and if they do they are not the "qualified" buyers. Besides that Carefree and Cave Creek have gone the way of Florida in that "more is better" is their mantra. There were at least three "shows" on just this one weekend within a stones throw of each other. The Phoenix area is suffering from show fatigue. There seems to be one, or more, at least every other weekend or at best one every month in addition to the Art Expo which goes for three months (that's a different kind of show). If the promoters don't get the idea that more IS NOT BETTER, then the artists need to vote by not applying to all these shows, yah right! The promoter gets their fees but the artists suffer due to lackluster interest and paltry sales.

Quality of the Show: Narrow. Although by far the quality of this show is consistently good there were still some booths that seemed questionable/borderline in my mind. I wonder if some artists are starting to pass on some of these shows as the return is not there. Unfortunately, I will.

Amenities: This show and its promoter were known for providing nothing. With the show being run by the younger family members there seems to be a shift. When I checked in I was given a gift bag with what? WATER!, a snack or two and a raffle ticket for some undisclosed gift item (I didn't win). This is a welcome step up for this show as there were never any such amenities in my previous experiences.

Parking: Parking is nearby, free and generally plentiful, there is even space for dry dock RV camping.

Awards: None

Advertising: Although I didn't see any except for the lawn signs stuck in the ground near the show site in contrast to the highway department style flashing sign for the competing show nearby at the Stagecoach (ghost town) shopping center. I did see one TV spot ad and was told that there was more money being put into advertising this year. As a traveler, I rarely see the local ads if there are any.

Load-In/Out: I was in the same area as last time I participated but it didn't seem as chaotic as last time!? Everyone played nice and it all went smoothly. Some areas of the show site are a little more congested then others.

Will I do this show again? Probably not for the reasons stated above about show overage. I haven't been able to make enough to justify the expense of the travel, etc. If I want warmer weather in the winter I'm better off just going someplace warm! It'll be cheaper by far and I can have more fun then sitting in my tent watching the strollers go by.

this show sucks, and for some bizarre reason they decided to start charging admission this year so the returning artists said attendance was down 80%.  My neighbor at the show was in my opinion a complete art show genius, she does gem stones and dumped like 5000 of them out on a table so people could pick though and she didnt get an opportunity to sit down all day she was so busy. I think it was definitely difficult for me to sell high end paintings next to 5$ stones, but shoot, she's got her **** figured out.  If i could be that busy all day and make that much money i would.  
Anyways. I dont recommend this show.  there was a howard alan ACE show in st pete same weekend and a painter friend of mine down there said he was doing well, so i chose the wrong show :/

Dont do it!

My husband and i have been doing art fairs for 4 years now, and always try to be carefully strategic as to where to put our check out counter and cash area to ensure it is accessible only to us.  And until yesterday it was a great strategy.  Neither of us are certain how, but believe that it was toward the last minutes of the show that someone got in and took all of our $20 bills from below the till.  i am certain this was while i was distracted to the front of the tent by one customer, and my husband was pulling the vehicle up behind to begin the load out.  I shared our story with some of my friends who are fellow artists, and have had a variety of responses for how they handle cash.  The majority have indicated either an apron, fanny pack or some sort of bag that fits snug to the body.  I would love to hear your thoughts on how you handle cash.  I feel like such an idiot that i must have left up my guard for just a moment or two.  The only other explanation is that my neighbor has light fingers... because i expected her to be at the back of her booth, and thought nothing of seeing her close by.

I just did the first year of Mile High art and Jazz and was pleasantly surprised.  I have not been doing well in Colorado (if you've read my other reviews you'll see) I didnt have high expectations for the show but it was by far my best Colorado show and all of the other artists seemed to be happy. I didnt talk to anyone who said it was a blowout show for them, but everyone seemed generally happy. So especially since it was a first year show I totally recommend it.  It is in conjunction with Taste of colorado which is 10 blocks away, and I guess brings hundreds of thousands of people.  The traffic at the show which is in Skyline park, a fenced in park (atleast during the show for security purposes i suppose) was steady all day both days and people seemed to be buying.  I almost sold my biggest piece, and I'm a little upset with myself for not selling either of the two times I had serious interest, but although I didnt sell anything over $1000 individually, the two people who loved my big piece didnt flinch at the $5000 price tag. So I think there is money walking around for sure. 
The promoter is named Liz Gore, her mom is Ruth gore who does Balloon fiesta in New mexico so although i think it was liz's first show, it seemed well planned, she has a good role model. 
So anyways, I'd love to hear anyone else's feedback that did the show and see if its in alignment with mine and the other artists I spoke with's idea of the show

We have been looking for a show in November to fill our schedule, and there is a show on Zapplication titled The Highland Art and Craft Show, in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.  The primary jury deadline has passed, however the application indicates they will accept applications for several more weeks.

Have you ever done this event?  What has been your experience.  I recognize the experience can vary drastically dependent on what you sell.  I hand dye silk, and make funky fiber pieces.  My husband makes cold processed soap.    If you have done the show, would you do it again?  Have any recommendations?  I value all feedback!!!!

(Its a hike from Cleveland Ohio to this Philadelphia suburb, so i am trying to really do some research before i commit to this.)

This small show, which took place June 14 and 15, is put on by the New Milford Historical Society. It's situated on the green in downtown New Milford, a pretty, well-off, traditional New England town. It's in western CT, relatively close to Danbury. Lots of New Yorkers have second homes in New Milford. And they are lovely homes. 

Set-up on the village green was easy. Because of where my tent was, I did have to dolly, but it was a dolly of about 10 yards. The lawn was fairly even and the grass was thick and rich. You're not allowed to use spikes of any kind to anchor your tent, because of an extensive sprinkler system. 

I'm a painter who uses a palette knife to make contemporary, fairly realistic oil paintings and my sales were pretty good. Not great, but solid. Some people had clearly come to the show to buy art, and I was lucky to encounter some of them. The booth fee was cheap, and I had a free place to stay, so I count this as a successful event, though it wasn't among my top-earning shows so far. 

The one difficult point for me was that my booth was beside a gazebo in the park. This would be a prime spot, were it not for the group of homeless and alcoholically inclined people who hang out at the gazebo. My heart went out to them, but as each day wore on, they became louder, and their language rough enough that it clearly scared potential buyers away. If I'd been in a different spot, this would not have been an issue. 

Though this is a small show, it has a fairly long history, and it attracts people. This was the first year that crafters were allowed in, and the craft was of a pretty high quality. I'd encourage 2-D and 3-D artists and crafters to apply to this one, especially if you live in or happen to be in or near Connecticut. 

I hate that my the first review I do for the Art Fair Insiders is a poor one, but I need to get the word out about this stinker of a show!

I spent the weekend at the Lincoln Park Art and Music Festival, in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Chicago. As a first timer to this show, I didn't know what to expect, but I was excited about this one. I usually do well in urban areas. 

The second we checked in for set-up, I knew we were in for trouble. We were handed name badges and a booth number, nothing more. No info about booth sitters, sales tax, restrooms, parking, or where to grab lunch. Nothing. Bad sign #1. And when I tried to find someone to inquire about these things, there was not a member of the fair staff to be found. 

Set up was fairly easy and convenient. There was space right on the street to park and unload and the weather was cool and comfortable. The fair grounds were right on a street on the lovely DePaul campus, so the surroundings were nice. Unfortunately, this is where the the nice and good about this event ended.

The show opened on a perfectly lovely Chicago afternoon to a trickle of patrons. From experience, I that the first hour or so of any show can sometimes be slow, so I patiently waited for the buyers to emerge. I passed the time talking to my fellow artists and soon realized that this was the first time that any of my booth neighbors had done this show. Bad sign #2. If this was a good show, you'd expect to meet some returning artists, right?

An hour passed, then another, and then another, still just a trickle of people walked past my booth. After 6 hours, I sold just one $20 print and one $18 set of cards, so we decided to pack up early for the night. (The fair hours were 12 noon - 10, but artists were allowed to close at "dusk".) The non-existent event staff didn't seem to care that we closed up 2 hours early. Bad sign #3.

We came back Sunday, trying to be optimistic. Again, the weather was perfect...Buyers should be piling in, right? Not so much. By 5:30 pm on the second day, I was nowhere close to making enough to cover my booth fees, so we decided to pack it in. Most of the other vendors were doing the same. We weren't allowed to bring our cars onto the street, but luckily we scored a parking space right around the corner. As we walked past the entry gate with our things, the event staff just looked at us and continued to charge their admission fees even though most of the vendors were dismantling. They even joked that they were tired of seeing walk past. Ha.

In summation, the Lincoln Park Art and Music festival was a complete waste of time. There was obviously no promotion. (An event in this neighborhood on a beautiful summer weekend should be teeming with buyers!) The art fair website was a joke....Just listed event times and the bands playing. The event staff provided absolutely no amenities or support for the artists. They just saw us as a paycheck and didn't care if the artists were happy or not. Out of the 55 artists there were just a handful of good quality vendors and quite a few buy and sell booths. Boo! Artists beware! Avoid the Lincoln Park Art and Music Festival at all costs! 

I just have admit that in the past when I had kids coming to my booth and started touching everything would drive me a little crazy, but it is not always the case. I have learned to listen to them, pay more attention and explain them why I love to paint and do shows. Sometimes they look and after couple hours you see them coming back with their parents and their cash. I am so proud when I see them the next year, taller, more grown up, more mature and to purchase a second piece. They see the artist with respect and admiration, something that I wish some adults will do. These little guys won't try to bargain with you or tell you "I could do that" (like a woman just told me this weekend "40.00 dlls for this?? It's only a piece of wood with paint!") They just watch, listen, learn, look at you in a WOW way and can't wait to come back to see you the following year. I see a good future in art :) Cheers to kids! And cheers to their parents that teach them to love art young :)

Have a show across from a beach next weekend. First outdoor show with a tent. I have been reading some of the horror stories of artists returning for their second day only to find a storm or heavy wind ripped through while they slept and now everything is in shambles. My question is, if you are informed and keep abreast of the weather, and know that the night might bring something bad, have any of you ever closed up completely, taking everything with you, including your tent, and just set up lock stock and barrel the next morning? It seems that as much work as that might be, wouldn't it make sense to do that instead of leaving it all to chance?

Also, by the same token, if the morning seemed grand but now it's noon, and you begin to hear or see rumblings that a storm is brewing, have any of you closed down and taken everything away with you in the middle of the day?

I realize that there isn't always time to do this, but it also seems that sometimes there is actually enough time to get it all together and get the heck out of there, including your tent - EZ Up or not.

I have heard that some artists completely lower their tents at night as much as they can, dropping certain things to the ground to lessen the danger of a sudden rain storm or wind gust might incur. Do any of you do this?

Did the 2nd Annual Dewey Beach Arts Festival (juried) last weekend with my hand-poured scented soy candles as my product. This is my craft business which supports my fine art show habit. So please don't make fun of a product which generates twice as much revenue as my award-winning fine art paintings... 

The scheduled Saturday show date was an off-and-on stormy rain-out and thankfully show management called off the event via text and e-mail very, very, early in the AM after apparently staying up late to watch the weather (I got both - just before I headed out the door at 5 AM for my 7 AM set-up time)

Sadly some folks read the Friday e-mail which said things were a "GO", but forgot that the e-mail also said check your e-mail before you leave on show day as things might change with the weather. So a few folks showed up on Saturday after a several hour ride to find the show called due to weather - and then checked their e-mail and texts...............

The scheduled rain date was the day following and after a damp set-up, the weather turned sunny, warmed up and was beautiful.... A perfect Mother's Day - unless you're related to Mother Nature....... There was music, kids art and activities, some free food, fine art, photography, craft and jewelry.

I saw a 'professional' tent rental company come in and rebar-stake a rental tent right into the asphalt of a town street...I was wondering why the underground utilities were marked....now I knew why... Couldn't believe I was watching this guy sledging rebar through the asphalt.. knowing there was a natural gas line running down his side of the street. The underground utilities mark-outs are only so accurate (as I know from my environmental geology days of drilling monitoring wells in urban settings) and you just don't go punching rebar into the asphalt several feet without a whole lot more information on the utilities.... Reviewed the show rules - there was nothing in there about staking in the street.........

Unfortunately, this beautiful weather was due to a frontal boundary passing through with very closely spaced isobars (this means it's gonna get real windy) The winds got to sustained 20-30 mph with higher gusts and they called the show 1/2 hr early...

To my knowledge, despite a preponderance of EZ-ups, nobody had any tent flying/collapsing/sailing - and this is because show management stressed bringing lots of weight. They also helped lots of folks, including me break down in the gale...  I had over 200 lbs of weight on my tent and it was still pushing it around - but not picking it up. Part of this was having my sidewalls up which kept the wind out from under the canopy top, but still acted as a sail.

As Robert has said elsewhere - rubber feet on your tent legs are essential to keeping skidding to a minimum when on pavement, but this doesn't help if your pavement is getting covered with blowing sand.

The event was juried during the application process and was judged onsite, with ribbons and gift certificates being awarded to the winners. Several jewelers said there was too much jewelry (a more common lament these days - yet lots of jewelers keep applying to events and juries keep overloading the category - but that's an entirely different discussion).

Sales were slow to start happening. Part of this was due to the weather changeover from marginal to beautiful and part of this was waiting for church services and Mother's Day brunches to be completed. I saw lots of packages being carried about; including lots of stuff with frames. Despite the slow start, rain date, and slightly early close, my sales were as good as the year before - which isn't outstanding, but I covered costs and made a profit.... I had multiple repeat business customers who had seen me at other events and had an events planner make an inquiry about wholesale... (Yay!) There's nothing like having people stand at your booth and praise your products to other potential buyers... You can't buy this sort of advertising for a consumable craft item - especially if you aren't kettle corn, corn-dogs, or sugared nuts

Show management (made up of local business people - The Dewey Beach Business Partnership) was competent, helpful and were looking out for the artists and artisans. They get good marks for keeping everyone well informed about the weather-related cancellation and showed good judgement in calling the event because of weather.

Do the show again? Yup. Howard Alan quality event - nope. Easy set-up and windy teardown. Well attended for a second-annual in a pre-season beach town. Well publicized in the area, but not in Wilmington, DE or Philadelphia to my knowledge. Wouldn't do this one yet with high-end high-priced items - I think there's a limited market for this at this event still.... However, I may bring my art and my craft next year to this event... This event has potential if management keeps working on it as they have for the first two events...

What could they fix? Hmm... They could work on the maintenance of the venue - by having better provisions for puddle problems for the next time... but they did ok considering the situation they were handed

We just finished our third year at Jekyll Island Wild Shrimp and Grits festival.  This is their 7^th year and they just keep getting better.  It is evident that the Committee has been working to continue improving the event.  The quality of arts and crafts has come up several notches.  They organize the event so that family oriented venues (pony rides, children areas and such) are in one area, the food and stage is in another area and the arts and quality crafts are along the walkway under the canopy of the stately live oak trees. The Jekyll Team were gracious hosts and checked frequently to make sure everything was going well. 

There are still a couple of things they need to consider.  They should consider streamlining check-in and the selection of music and volume from the radio station “DJ” was not in keeping with such a lovely setting.  We voiced our opinion to the director and team members.    Our comments were readily accepted and we feel they will honestly look at these things.

We would give kudos to the Jekyll Island Authority and staff.  The festival area was  kept immaculately clean.

 We love to come to this event for the absolutely amazing  “Taste of Jekyll” shrimp and grits on Friday evening.   Our favorite is the serving from the Jekyll Island Club. For $3.00 you get a nice size bowl and they are generous with the shrimp.  Set up is on Friday (assigned time slots) and the event runs from 5-9 pm.  Saturday runs from 10 am to 9pm.  If you are going to do this show purchasing electricity is a must for those evening hours.  Sunday the show is from 10 to 4 pm which means we get on the road well before dark.  Our sales this year were slightly down from last year but still worth the time.  As always success among venders varied.  We took “Best In Category” (Photography) for the second year in a row.  We will try for three in a row next year.

We have just returned from an art show in Lincoln, IL. The weekend is an event of Art and Balloon's  (Hot Air Balloons). And is produced by the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce. On our arrival at 7:00 Saturday morning as we were approaching Lincoln on the Interstate Hwy, we were greeted by  no less than 24 balloons in the air. It was a great welcome to the weekend. I wish I could have gotten a pix, but driving seemed a little more important at the time.

The art show is in the downtown area in a 1 square block area. Some booths are around the parameter of the park, with others on the sidewalk in the park. Most, if not all booths are able to accommodate driving your car right up to your booth for loading and unloading. A very important feature for us, these days.

The show started out a little slow on Saturday morning. There were people viewing the art, but not really buying. This was a change from last year, where buying started early. But as the weekend progressed, the buying kicked in and most artists were happy. We ended up selling our largest piece. Lincoln 2012 is now our 10th best show of all times (in 7 years) Yeah! And it is a 21% increase from last year, which was a decent year also.

We did have some weather challenges. The winds kicked up on Saturday afternoon. There were some very high gusts. To the point that our tent frame has now taking on a new shape. :) Sunday brought some minor rain in the morning (much needed). Most of the day was cloudy, but dry. At about 3:00 on Sunday afternoon, they came through the show and told us that a storm was coming and it was ok to pack up early.

The staff and volunteers are very friendly and helpful. They understand the challenges that an artists goes through at a show and are great to work with, at the show. Thank you! We will be returning to Lincoln in 2013!

This was the first time exhibiting for me in Loring Park.The weather was great, sunny and around 80. 

It rained a bit in the morning the first day but then cleared up.  The attendance was pretty good...but certainly not crowded.  I had people bee-line into my booth from the center walkway to ask me questions and talked my head off all day to so many that passed by.  From that standpoint it was really fun.  The interest seemed to be there, but, alas, I didn't see anybody pulling out their wallet to make a purchase.  Yes there was the older crowd there that thought I was a museum, but there was money around too.  I also have never been to a show that had so many men attend, which I also thought would be good.

My sales were really disappointing.  I barely broke even, and only sold one "medium" priced piece that was undervalued, and two smaller items, and all were on Saturday.  Again, I had so much interest and was working my booth, and although I had incredible conversations with several hundred people and couples, most didn't pan out.

The location for the show is incredible and the promoters and layout is fantastic.  The weather was great, and the attitude was very upbeat.  My prices were exceptional and the traffic was pretty good.  However, at least for painting, there was not a lot for sales.  Other painters I spoke to were experiencing similar results.  Several artists next to me, photographers, fabrics, all stated that this show generated half of last year, which was down.  One featured artist (like myself BTW) said she did well.  Her art was really good, being 3-D lady figures that hang on the wall.  Her prices were excellent in my opinion (undervalued), but she was really happy as a first time exhibitor. 

So, what went wrong?  A week earlier in Bayfield, WI, I had a bang up show!  I figured since we were among an age group from 30-50, this show would be really good.  The reviews and comments from former artists all liked this show, so it appeared to be a must do.  All I can figure is that a bigger force is weighing down on this and many other art shows...meaning economic concerns.  Art is not a necessity, gas is. 

Loring Park show is on the same weekend as Powerhorn and Uptown, both in the Minneapolis area market.  I haven't heard how those went, but hope to see people chime in.  I spoke to artists that plan on doing a different venue next year, and to would like to find out how the other shows in Minneapolis went.  I am still undecided, as it may be too early to "judge". 

As for the quality of art, well, frankly being biased and high minded, I thought that there was a lot of OK art there, and quite a few "pork chop on a stick" vendors.  There were some really good artists there too.  A lot of variety, and I didn't see anything suspicious. 

I liked the show.  I met some really wonderful artists there, many being so helpful.  I come away with good feelings about that, but disappointed feelings for all the work I put into this show with such dismal results.

Again, others please chime in on this and other Minneapolis shows this weekend.