I participated in my first large-scale street fair three weeks ago, the Ocean Beach Chili Cook-Off. It drew 70,000 into the Ocean Beach area and featured several blocks of a variety of different booths from vendors and artists. Several music stages were dotted throughout the event, as well as carnival rides and ponies. It was a big, BIG one day event.
I set up my booth for the first time and sold a few items but not nearly as many as I had hoped. But it was a very good experience for lots of other reasons--I learned a lot!!
The following day, I got to go to the La Jolla Festival of the Arts. This was a completely different event in a very different venue--on the football field at the University of California, San Diego. It wasn't free either, as tickets to get in were $14. I had two complimentary tickets I got through my workplace, and I'm really glad I went.
I think I can say with some surety that the La Jolla Festival of the Arts was the first time I have ever been to a true art festival, rather than a street fair. I noticed several differences right away, and was struck by how significantly the character of the event was completely contrasting. (Please forgive the nature of the photos--I didn't realize my iPad lens had sunblock smeared on it...)
First off, because it was a ticketed event, the nature of the attendees was quite different. Since it was not free (and most young people don't choose to spend their money on events of this nature) the people tended to be a bit older. Consequently, the behavior at the event was much more subdued and less frenetic. The attendees were truly interested in looking at the artwork, and there wasn't anything else to compete for their attention--no ponies here! The event was strictly a venue for artists with a grandstand stage thrown in, notably on one side of the venue away from the art booths, so unless you were interested in perusing art you probably wouldn't bother to buy a ticket.
The event was carefully laid out in clean and organized rows with lots of space and in such a way that every artist had a corner booth with two open walls. This was important, as there were a lot of artists with large scale sculptures that wouldn't have fit into a small 10x10 three-walled booth. And speaking of tents, there were a lot of Trimline and Crafthut tents instead of the EZup tents that were predominant at the previous day's street fair. EZup tents are very quickly assembled but they're very lightweight. In contrast, the more sturdy Trimline and Crafthut brands take much more time to put together but provide a stable and relatively waterproof tent.
The art itself was different, too. These were professional gallery artists, not hobbyists. They had years of experience selling and showing their work in different art galleries across the country. Some had done public art works in large venues--one in particular had a sculpture he had done for UCSD less than a block away from the entrance to the festival! They displayed their award ribbons from past events proudly, and their presentation was clean and very well composed. Many of the tents seamed to be "mini-galleries", and I can only imagine how much money went into display equipment.
In the middle of the event was a bar--not a beer garden, but a real bar, with barstools and a wooden counter top. Around the bar were umbrellas where sidewalk chalk artists and pastel painters were creating art on boards on the ground to be auctioned off later. A very small stage was set up where an acoustic guitar player was strumming softly, which added a tranquility to the atmosphere.
At the entrance was a silent auction and a brass quintet, as well as a booth to purchase festival swag and sign up for a free drawing.
We didn't even make it over to the grandstand, but there was a "Restaurant Row" of tents near it which featured area restaurants--no gyro or chicken kabob food vendors in sight! A small row of festival sponsors was also featured, but separated from the art booths.
Everything was on the flat, grassy surface of the UCSD football field, so there was no concrete and the walking was smooth and comfortable. There was a bright sun in the cloudless sky, and a soft gentle breeze keeping the temperature in the mid-70s. It was a beautiful day, and the art made it moreso.
Everywhere it was a feast for the eyes. I hope the artists made a lot of money that day. Unfortunately for me, the items were pretty pricey--rarely was any art listed for anything under $300, and it was common to see items running in the $1500-$2000 range and above. But it was such an elite event, I would be surprised if there weren't attendees who could afford those prices... After all, it's La Jolla. Most of the kind of folk that live there are pretty affluent. Mit Romney has one of his houses in La Jolla, after all...
The one thing I was disappointed in was the lack of wearable art artists... There was only one that was actually selling attire, and the rest were selling hats and jewelry. I am not sure if the event simply didn't want clothing vendors, or whether they are not considered fiber art, or whether they classify jewelry separately, or what... But if there was one thing that I took away from the event it's that maybe organizers felt clothing might not be considered "artistic" enough to warrant placement within such company as photographers, sculptors, and painters... Maybe that's the wrong conclusion, but it just seemed odd to me...
Overall, it was a completely different experience than the previous day's Street Fair. I now know what an Art Festival is like. It left me feeling like I have to really work on my art, because as far as I could tell there weren't many artists there who were selling things that wouldn't be accepted into a gallery. And when it boils down to it, I guess that's what you want at a high end Art Festival in the first place, right? Conceptually, it sort of brings the galleries to the people instead. If I want my work to be juried into an Art Festival, I need to make sure it's what I feel is "gallery worthy". I need to be proud enough of the quality of my art to be able to compare it to the other artists that were there, and it should hold its own. In some respects, I wonder if it needs to be unique enough to be considered art first, and clothing second.
My eyes were opened, and I remembered a lot of comments from artists mentioning the necessity to scope out a show before applying to it. I see now how this can be very important, as the applications can be a bit misleading... I see now how participating in an Artist's Alley can be a very different experience from participating in a show that features artists only. Not necessarily bad, but just a very different demographic of attendees. If your work is geared more toward a Street Fair atmosphere rather than an Art Fair ambience (or vice versa), then you're actually a step ahead of the game--you know where you'll fit best. It's those purveyors that are selling something that is "in between" that probably have it the hardest. I feel like I may be one of those kinds of artists... And I need to work on tweaking my work toward one or the other to best take advantage of the different kinds of consumers at each type of event. The nature of my applications are going to need to be considered carefully.
Even though the Art Festival was somewhat "intimidating", it was also quite heartening. I learned a LOT. It was completely worth the experience of a spending a couple hours visiting the booths and perusing their work. While I didn't talk to any of the artists (good grief, they were busy--I thought it would have been rude of me to "talk shop" when they're trying to sell their stuff!!), I gleaned quite a bit from just watching everything and taking it all in.
I look forward to my next Art Festival experience when I can get to one. And now I know a bit more of what to expect and what to look for when I'm thinking about applying to a show. I know more about the difference between a Street Fair and an Art Festival, and I feel a bit more "forewarned and forearmed".
Until next time, Live Life with Relish!
Comments
Yes, there is plenty of arts and crafts around in Australia - but for the most part art (paintings, photography, glass & ceramics) is in galleries and craft (everything else!) is at markets and never the twain shall meet, as the saying goes. I live in hope though :)
Jacki--I, too was surprised to see an event like this on a football field, but UCSD is not known for it's sports... It's a big medicine-oriented school, and most of it's programs are very non-athletics oriented... So in a way, I'm not surprised... Haha!
Kathleen--I'm going to have to look very very carefully at any shows that I apply to in the future. I may be purchasing some of those guides floating around, as I think they give another perspective beyond the application. I'm sort of tied down to a close geographical region right now, but perhaps in the future that will change. I don't have much of an excuse to not visit as many shows as I can now! : )
Connie--Yes, I am looking at those comments a lot differently now, but I'm still going to create an aura of "celebration" in my tent... I just have to figure out a way to make sure it's my art that's doing the celebrating and not the display! Haha!! I see now how "sedate and mature" is certainly a tried & true way of letting your artwork speak for itself, and I will need to scale back for sure, but at the same time there were some displays at the Festival that left a bit to be desired... I think I can find a better "middle ground" and come across as a serious artist without sacrificing character and personality. I'm not interested in creating a mini-galllery feel--there were so many of those. I see now that I was tyring to create a "boutique" feel, and I think there's a big difference between the two... The hats and clothing that I saw at the Festival had more of a "boutique" feel than a "gallery" feel, and it worked better for what they were trying to sell. Thinking about it, artwork like sculpture, paintings and photography don't "fit" as well into a boutique--they need a gallery feeling to effectively demonstrate their nature. Conversely, clothing doesn't work as well in a museum setting either. I'm wondering if there's a happy medium. Obviously, I may be going a bit overboard on my display. But I'm not sure I'm willing to pare it down so starkly as some of the displays needed to be at the Festival to be effective... I have to think about it some more... But regardless--Yes, I get it now! Wish me luck when I get around to the "doing" part! : )
Annette--I'm surprised Australia doesn't have much like this! I subscribe to several blogs out of Australia, and it seems like such an artistic and crafty country!!! I hope you find what you're looking for eventually--I'm sure you will! : )
Another great review Corey :) I thought the sunscreen-effect was lovely - reminded me of old photos near the snow with the reflection giving a lovely glow.
I have not managed to find an art fair like this one, at all, in Australia. We have a few small scale art shows but Australia appears very gallery-centric and they expect art to be in a gallery not in a fair/show setting. Consequently I too have trouble fitting in (as you have found at this show with wearable fibre arts) even though I make jewellery. I'm not a typical jeweller (which in Australia means you work out of a store) and I don't churn pieces out in a few minutes for $6 like you will often find in a street fair. I'm in a couple of galleries but don't sell enough through them to just stick to that, so find myself at all sorts of events endeavouring to find where my target market hang out. Looks like you may find yourself a bit like that too. The upside is that you can meet and make sales in the most unlikely places! One of my best shows year in and year out is at a small agricultural show ... go figure!?
This is a landmark posting, Corey. Honestly, you have carefully differentiated the difference between the two kinds of events. Many artists can span the two different kinds of shows, set up differently or bring different kinds of work to the event. This is useful info for many beginning artists.
AND now you see why every seasoned artist on this site says over and over "visit the shows!" It tells you so much more than what you can learn online or talking to a friend. This site is helpful to get the lowdown on shows but nothing compares to walking the show and getting a feel for the kind of event it is and comparing your work to those in the show. It prepares you for the day when you are in that show. This process also helps you eliminate events that sounded good, but oh my!
In addition, I remember your post with your beautiful fanciful booth and recall the critiques you received. Are you looking at that differently now?
So that was the real eye opener, the next eye opener is the "doing." Best wishes and thanks for this thorough review. (Yep, like Larry, I loved the "vaseline effect.") ;)
Hey Corey,
Great report. I'm a jewelry artist and I have to say that for me there are a lot of differences between the big scale art fairs (like the one you reported on), and the smaller scale art fairs where we have our best luck. You might check these out, too, and maybe use them as a stepping stone between unjuried shows and the elite shows. We have been encouraged to apply to the more elite shows, but the number of people attending sort of scares me. I feel like I've finally found my niche, in the carefully juried smaller art fairs. (I also am mindful of the difference in entry fees, motels, travel expenses, etc.) Good luck with your fiber art. I think it's awesome!
Coey, thanks for your report. The show sounded wonderful. I am a little surprised a university allowed all that to go on on their football field. I have often thought that a football field would be a nice place for an art show though.
Did you see many people walking around with purchases?
If you want to see fiber art and see it flying off the shelves, the place to go is the One of a Kind Show in Chicago. THose booths were packed and the people were buying!
Well, it sounds like you learned alot. Good for you. You are on your way.
I love your S. Cal show reports Corey. Thanks for posting them. Oh the OB Festival, great memories (I lived on Niagra early college years) and still have friends who won't or can't leave OB. They blasted facebook with pics of them selves dancing and acting up all day at that festival. Even on a slow day the people watching is the best in OB. Now I am craving Hodad's :(
Larry Berman
Haha!! Larry, I forgot to wipe off the lens from my handling my iPad with sunblock on my fingers!! Haha!! Complete and total accident--had I my druthers I would have been more careful! Haha!! Oh, well. First time I've taken pics with it on purpose--I guess I learned my lesson. Haha!! : )
And I love the pictures that look like you used a filter with Vasoline on it.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
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