Recently I received the following email from Linda Post, who along with her husband Geoffrey, runs the well-regarded Paradise City Art Festivals on the East Coast. There had been some glowing reports on this site about their fall shows and I had written to congratulate her. I have her permission to reprint the following reply:
It does feel like the economy is slowly turning around. Both of our shows this fall (Northampton in October and Marlborough in November) were UP in attendance over last fall, and the majority of the exhibiting artists reported good sales. A number of our regular exhibitors reported their very best Paradise City show ever (this happened at both shows). We are encouraged by both sales reports and gate numbers. For the most part, the show attendance has been holding its own during the past two years. But I must admit that as an organization we have had to be especially proactive to make this happen, spending much more time and money marketing and promoting the shows and being more innovative in attracting new attendees. I think this is true throughout the industry - if you (artists AND show promoters) keep on doing the same thing, you'll see a decline in show attendance and artist sales figures. Many of the artists who do best nowadays are those who introduce fresh new work on a regular basis, or are new to the show.
The reason I am printing this here is that we rarely learn what the show organizers are doing to combat the economic downturn. Not only, of course, are the shows costing the artists more money, they are also costing the promoters more money and work hours.
Have you noticed any other events that are making new efforts to build their audience?
