Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa.  Did you notice my absence?  We were vacationing.  And it was great.  Even the add on.  Now that part has you curious, right?  That "add on" bit?  But first we need to highlight a word from the title of this post.  Promotion.

Promotion - yes, you could erroneously assume that I am going to give you a sales pitch on some paintings today.

Promotion - yes, and you could also erroneously assume that my job status has been elevated.  That I am now CEO of karencooperpaintings.com.  Oh, wait, I already am.  (Heheheh.)

But what I really want to do here is tie "promotion" in with that "add on" bit.

On our way back from way up north, the map lead us through Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.  Population:  more than Jefferson, but not 15,000 either.  We knew that Leinenkugel Brewing Company was in Chippewa Falls, and we thought, well, that 'd be something to do on our way through.  We were getting tired of driving, you know.  So we cruised around town, and accidentally found "Leinie Lodge", which turned out to be their "meet and greet the world" facility.  We walked up to their information desk to ask about tours.

Terry was the guy who greeted us.  Yes, they were getting ready to close for the day, in ten minutes, give or take a few.  But Terry was still hustling.  No lean on the counter and whine about the long day with this guy.

So, tours were done for the day, we had already pretty much assumed they would be.  We were planning on staying in town for the night, we just wanted to check time schedule for tours the next day.  Terry let us know that tour reservations were a really good idea, their time slots were already getting full.  He added our name to an open spot.  And could have left it at that, right?

But he continued.  What else do you need to know about Chippewa Falls?  We've got great places to stay, all kinds of restaurants, a stellar park.  Terry filled us in on all the local places.  And yes, he did mention the chain hotels and restaurants out on the interstate.  But he definitely highlighted the locals.  He pointed us toward an old-school style inn, just up the road from Leinie Lodge. called the Glen Loch Inn.  Probably a 50's era place, but almost impossibly meticulously well cared for.  Continental breakfast was simple but served on white table cloths.  The inn keeper was just absolutely gracious and friendly.  Does her own gardening, and it's as meticulous as everything else on the property.  The patio was perfect for the continental breakfast.

But Terry the tour guy also noted our bicycles strapped to the back of the Jetta, and mentioned if we enjoyed riding, that Chippewa Falls has a great park, with trails.  300 plus acres in the middle of town, beautiful trails, a band stand, a waterfall, even a small zoo.  We enjoyed.

And Terry also pointed us toward a great local restaurant on the lake at the edge of town, called (of course) The Edge.  Perfect.

So where's this all going you ask?  Promotion.  Terry's job was to promote Leninkugel.  And he did that very well, as a Leinenkugel host.  But he also promoted his peers, his neighbors, his fellow Chippewa Falls-ians.  Terry seemed to know that every bit of promotion he did for his neighbors, was going to come back around and be good for Leinenkugel.

Not all of us in the art world, especially the summer art fair world, understand that concept.  I see artists being protective, even secretive, about information that would benefit their peers.  It's not hard to find an artist based forum on the net, where artists are talking about who's copying who.  And "that was mine, and they copied it!"

Here's the thought to ponder:  everyone does better when the community is well.  Helping your neighbor is just another way of helping yourself.

So we're already planning an autumn trip back to Chippewa Falls...

Later, Cooper

Welcome to the Cooper studio.  Yup, still on the topic of that summer art fair.  Who'da thunk it was so complicated, eh?

The summer art fair.  And no, we don't have to limit ourselves, it could be a fall event--we'd even allow winter if you move it indoors.  Think art festival, then it becomes season-less or generically seasoned.  However/whatever.

Today we need to talk about one of the major problems with the art festival venue.  In a nutshell?  Rampant abuse of the format.

I've looked into the history of the art fair a bit.  The original purpose was for a group of artists to show their work, sans a brick and mortar style gallery.  It makes perfect sense that the local art center or art gallery would help with that, organizationally speaking.  They often pull in a lot of volunteer work, and their mission statements tend to read like this:

Mission

Our Mission: To bring People and Art together

Our Vision: To enhance the quality of Life through Art

Our Goal: To provide communication and aesthetic appreciation of the visual fine arts, through the use of education 

(Krasl)

 Or this:

It's About the Art.

Experience collaborative, creative merrymaking at its finest.  Join friends old and new... 

 (Marion)

And this:

From a spark of love of the arts and small town life, the idea of Art on the Prairie grew with dedicated planning...

(MaryRose Gallery)

How did we get from that to a company directing a collection of 14 art fairs?  And in the off season hosting a "boot camp" to tell artists what they need to do to be art fair artists?  Average price to "show your art" there?  $479.  And then the company grows and needs to make more money, so of course, another art fair is created.  Is it about the art, or about the company needing more revenue?  Please don't tell me you need a moment or two to think about your answer. 

And of course, they are not the only culprits.  When the local school dance team needs a fund raiser, their moms decide to host an art fair.  When the town 4th of July festival isn't big enough, they add on an art fair to attract more attention and numbers.  Does it matter that they don't have a clue about showing art and their mission statement doesn't have anything to do with promoting art? 

"We can charge the artists to show us samples of their art, and make some money there, and then we can pick the ones we like to exhibit their art at our fair and make even more money there."  "We can make money, lots of money" . 

Which is all well and good for the hosts of art fairs.  But what happens when there is an art show every other weekend?  When the art fair patrons begin to see the art show as "just another art show, and we went to one last weekend so why go to this one, it's pretty much the same."?

Obviously the art fair patron is the ultimate decision maker regarding the success of the art fair.  But the artist doesn't need to be the hapless victim caught in the middle.  If you are an art fair artist, or planning on becoming one, do some questioning first:

1.  Who is hosting/directing the fair?

2.  What is their goal or mission statement?

3.  Is it business or is it art?

Think of it like this:  Is it called an art fair, or a money fair?  Whoa.  Caught you, did I?  If as artists we would chose to exhibit at events that put the art first, could we thin out the events that think of their revenue first?  

Because when the art fair host thinks "anything for a buck" it trickles down to the artist.  And when the artist thinks "anything for a buck" they start to use phrases like "cobble something together to sell next weekend/next year".  That's not good for the artist.  It's not good for the art fair patron.  Most of all it's not good for art. 

When you look at that schedule of art fairs for 2012, please, put art first.  Thanks for reading.

Later, Cooper

Welcome to the Cooper studio, where we've predetermined to talk again about the summer art fair. 

 Aaaah, sunny days, the green grass of the park scattered with cute little white tents, happy artists selling their fine art....

Oh wait.  How much of that line is fiction?  Imaginary?  Delusional? A sham?

I've spent quite a bit of research time lately on the topic of the "fine art fair".  Some of them have a heck of a history.

Every time I looked up one of the grandaddy art fairs, and was able to find their mission statement, they all seemed to have something in common.  Some examples for you to peruse:

---Wanting to create an event where local artists could showcase their work to the community, Womer established the first 57th Street Art Fair in 1948

---The Annual Edmonds Arts Festival began in 1957.  The mission then as now, was to celebrate and promote the arts with a lively and pleasurable presentation of local and national work.

---It all began one hot Chicago summer in the early 80's when four neighborhood artists (Bob Smeltzer, Joe Kotzman, Tony Cachapero and Rodney Patterson) decided to have an art fair--a picnic in the park.  Rodney suggested that it might be a good opportunity for local artists to show and share their work to each other and to their neighbors. 

Did you catch the commonality?  They are all working to showcase the art, to friends, neighbors, community.  To "celebrate and promote the arts".  So how did we get from that, to this:

---Art Fair has become both tired and tiresome.  It's held in the absolute hottest part of the summer.  The prices are ridiculous and most of the so-called art is schlock.  How many times can you mill through the crowds viewing the same old fare every year?

--Taken from a news article about parking garage revenue during the AnnArbor Art Fair, but certainly not a unique thought amongst art fair patrons.

What jumps out at you from that comment?   Maybe the SO-CALLED ART IS SCHLOCK?

Shortly before reading the comment, I read another--this one a discussion at ArtFairInsiders regarding (of course) lackluster art fair sales, and various artists comments about if they would be exhibiting at art fairs next year.  One artist said even with poor sales, she was not quitting.  She would "cobble together" something that would sell. 

What happened to celebrating the arts?  Showing our work to the community?  If the purpose of an art fair is to showcase our work to the community, shouldn't we be showing our best? 

(here comes the politically incorrect part)  Are you an artist, or not?  Are you being delusional in calling what you exhibit at an art fair ART? Ouch.  I suggest if you are cobbling something together that you think will sell, adding to the patron impression that the "so-called art is schlock", then maybe it's time to re-think your game plan. 

There's always a discussion out there somewhere about "what art is" and there are a bazillion different answers.  I suggest that "schlock" is not one of them.  I also suggest that if you are cobbling together something to coax a twenty dollar bill out of some art fair patron's pocket, that something is not art either.  The summer art fair is not dead, but it has been seriously injured.  Injured by artists who have put grabbing a buck, in front of creating their art.  Yes, we all have to make a living, but we'll do it best by keeping our priorities straight.  Art fairs were created to showcase and celebrate art, not schlock.

If you are an artist planning on exhibiting at an art fair next summer, I'm asking you to bring your art.  Bring your BEST art.

Later, Cooper