Wayne Gretzky is quoted as saying "I skate where the puck is going to be, not where it has been". For artists who are passionate about their art, who love interacting with patrons, and assisting them in acquiring that perfect piece, whether for themselves or as a gift, we all have second thoughts about continuing on our present plan of applying to a bunch of art fairs, selecting the perfect images of our work, getting the perfect booth slide, the perfect artist statement, etc and dealing with the rejections, the weather, and the capriciousness of patrons.
We spend a lot of time trying to figure out where the puck is going. When we first started doing art fairs, maybe only ten years ago, I shot our own slides of our work, set up on a table in our back yard with only a window shade unrolled behind the piece for a backdrop. We got into the ACC show in Charlotte, and were really excited. As digital imaging came along, we lobbied for shows to go digital. Indeed, we declined to apply to some shows because they had not gone digital. Be careful what you wish for, right?
The advent of digital jurying has completely changed the art fair landscape. Now a top show will get 1500 - 2000 applications for at the most 200-300 spaces. I am frankly surprised and pleased at the restraint shows have shown in not raising the jury fees higher. It would seem tempting to raise both booth and jury fees until applications were reduced to about two times the number of available spaces. We as artists would hate it, and hope they will not be so inclined.
The question for all of us then, is where is this all going? Connie's post about Art Miami tells us one area that is prospering. Check out Art.sy for another new direction. How soon will it be possible for us to get our work juried into a venue such as that? Several contributors here have talked about their successes with studio shows, truck shows, pop up galleries and other non traditional ways to connect with patrons and collectors.
Three weeks ago, an artist neighbor proudly stated that she did not own a computer or smart phone, did not see any sense in web sites, facebook pages, google+, or twitter. It makes one wonder if she had indoor plumbing!
It will be very interesting to look around five years from now, and see who has figured out where the puck will be.
