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Location, Location, Location.....a promising art festival ruined

Posted by geri a. wegner on November 1, 2010 at 8:15pm
In 2003, Palmetto Bay in Florida started their local art festival once again. The original was before my time in Florida so I don't know much about the background and what happened to it the first time. It was located on two well-travelled streets in a nice park, visible from the road.

The first year it was pretty small, some good artists but only worth going to because it was 5 minutes from my house. Parking was easy and plentiful so there was nothing lose. Over the next few years it got bigger and better. There were artists that I saw at Coconut Grove and even a couple that showed up in the Chicagoland area at Amdur shows.

Then the show moved to a new location by the village hall. It is much further south of its old location which changed the demographics of who might attend. It isn't visible from the road and while there were signs, it isn't the same as seeing the booths, people walking around etc.

The quality of art has fallen over the past couple of years and this year, while I only saw 3/4ths of the show, it was almost all 2D and not necessarily the best 2D.

In this case, the show was forced to move, they weren't allowed to use the park anymore. The change in location has turned what was once a very promising show into one not to be bothered with. It is sad.
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Comments

  • JoAnn Wedge November 3, 2010 at 10:55pm
    Well, I did the show. Well organized, breakfast both days, easy unload/reload. 55 artists, very good quality, 8 were jewelers. I was the only fused glass jeweler. However, they had an Ironman bike race Sat. AM from 7:30-1 which blocked off the only main entrance to the show. We had no buyers (well a few) on Sat. morning. Then it got hot and at my end of the show between 2 tall buildings, it was very hot. They passed out water all day but there were very few customers anyway. No rain or wind; just hot. Overall, sales were very slow even though I did end up making a grand, I was probably only one of a handful who did. There were 2 things that made it easier to handle- some good award monies for 7 artist judged by the Cultural Council and a refund of almost half the entry fee. They were getting so many good artist and previously juried-in artists who were calling in to say they just could not afford the show fee this year, they lowered the price and refunded the difference those who had already paid the higher amount (in cash at check-in.). Not being seen from the highway was probably hurting the show. Signage was there but probably not enough. A huge race with no entrance for the non-racing fans to get to the show really hurt. I don't know if I would do this show again. Just no customers even with good art. Advertising and scheduling it when there are no other "main" events going on would help. I did hear the 2 artists behind me do well because they had nautical/underwater paintings which fit the area well. They also had returning customers and custom orders that added to the total.
  • geri a. wegner November 2, 2010 at 11:04am
    I believe the promoter was the local arts council. Don't know about sales. I was only there for about 20 minutes because my dog made the mistake of barking when someone startled her and I had to leave. She has never barked before so perhaps she knew it was a waste of time! Although it was early, there was no energy to the show as I walked around.
  • Debbie Sampson November 2, 2010 at 10:58am
    Anymore info? Who was the promoter? How was sales?
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