**A Month Full of Art Fairs
News from photographer Evan Reinheimer -- After so many cancelations over the past year, it's exciting to see that I have a full month of art festivals planned for February!
It all starts this weekend (Feb. 6 & 7) in Fort Myers, FL at Art Fest Ft. Myers. The festival is open 9am-5pm on Saturday and then again on Sunday from 9am-4pm. It takes place in downtown Ft. Myers, right along the river. You can find me and my artwork in booth 329, near the Look Out Pier on Hendry St. The GPS address for the festival is 1375 Monroe Street; Fort Myers, FL.
Learn more: EvanReinheimer.docx
**Clyde Butcher. Do any art fair artists ever "make it big?" Well yes, Virginia, quite a few do. It doesn't happen over night, but because entrepreneurial and creative people are drawn to the art fair opportunity, many of them keep scrambling and trying new things to see what works.
One of them is Clyde Butcher. We first met Clyde in the early 80's. We did shows together for years and visited one another between shows. He'd recently moved from California to Florida and was trying to turn his photography into a way to support his family. He would show up with color photos, black and white photos, kept trying to see what would click with the buyers.
His love was landscape photography and he fell in love with the Everglades. His lucky break was being able to buy a piece of land deep in the Everglades, rarely available, where he and his wife Niki (also a photographer) built The Big Cypress Gallery. The rest is history ... gallery exhibitions, collectors, honors and awards.
More: https://www.aarp.org/work/working-at-50-plus/info-2020/
**GULFPORT, FL — First Friday Art Walk returns to downtown Gulfport this Friday, Feb. 5 with nearly 20 of the region's most innovative emerging and professional artists showing and selling their creations along the stores, restaurants and galleries on scenic Beach Boulevard. The event runs from 5 to 9 p.m. and is hosted by the Gulfport Merchants Chamber.
**From Sunday Minnich at the Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras in Morgan Hill, CA:
With the uncertainty of holding large events due and evolving developments with COVID-19, and taking into consideration the scope of work, size, attendance and the upfront costs of the Festival, it is with a heavy heart that the Board of Directors of the Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras, Inc. have made the decision to cancel the 2021 festival and are optimistically planning it’s return May 28-29, 2022. www.mhmmg.org
**Real vs Virtual Art Sales, how's it going? How buying art went digital and why it won't go back
Mike Steib, CEO of Artsy says, "I think two things have happened during the pandemic. The first is that more people have become interested in bringing art into their lives, and second, Artsy has made it possible for those people to come into the art world, to discover what they would love to buy.
"The percentage of revenue that galleries are generating online has tripled in the last six months," Steib said. "I've never seen an industry go back once it's becoming digitized. This [was] the year that the art world [became] digital."
Interested in what he has observed? https://businessinsider.com/MikeSteib
Do you have any news you'd like to share? Send it to us: info@artfaircalendar.com
