Separated by several city blocks, these two festivals could not be more different from one another.
Old Town is in a residential neighborhood, quiet, genteel and filled with outstanding high quality art. Wells Street is a party festival where food, drink and music seem to take a priority over the artists, who, while there are some excellent artists, the majority seem mediocre with buy/sell mixed in.
I had never been to Old Town but had always heard it was a good festival. I was not disappointed. There did seem to be too much jewelry which isn't good for the jewelers and it was of really good quality. I had not seen most of the jewelers before. It was an exercise in restraint. The rest of the media seemed to be divided pretty evenly. Placement of booths was strange. There were glass artists next to each other and jewelers next to and across from each other. I don't know if this was due to cancellations or poor planning.
I got to see my favorite ceramicist, William Kidd, making his lone Chicago appearance as well as Stephan Cox, a glass artist whose pieces are unusual and hasn't shown in the Chicago area for several years.
I finally got to meet Phil and Amy of Fobot fame. While it was early, their booth was filled with people checking out their whimsical pieces (hey Amy, that is probably the best word) They reported a few sales already. Michael Stipek was away from his booth when I stopped by but I got to meet his better half. His collection for this show would look perfect on the brickwalled condos in Chicago. Jay McDougall was taking down the canopy on his tent as we passed by and it didn't seem to be the time to stop and say hi. I know there were other AFI'ers there but things got a little too hectic to try and meet everyone.
We made two mistakes. We ate lunch at the Old Town Fair and it was so-so. It was better than the usual festival offerings but nothing to write home about. The second was going to the Wells Street Festival. First we had to see all the wonderful food offerings that we missed. This was all restaurant food, not festival food and the prices were reasonable. As a food festival, this fair would have been wonderful. With the exception of a couple of jewelers, including Heidi Sever (who was not at her booth when I stopped by, darn) most of the jewelry was not good. There were several painters and photographers that had some nice work. I would say that the majority of attendees were in their 20's, out to socialize and party and for them, art was incidental.
The food was at the beginnings and ends of artists rows so this made it harder for the art show goer to navigate the street.
Similar to Coconut Grove, this was a weekend where a significant outlay of cash was necessary before you walked into the festival. Event parking was $30 and it was worse for the artists ($50) and admission at each show was $7 per person. My husband and I spent almost $60 before we saw art. In this economy, it was a large chunk of change for people. Heck, I bought a fun necklace for less than that. (And I won't complain quite as much about the Grove)
All in all, we saw some great art, got some wonderful pieces but I won't be going back again. Old Town is fabulous but it isn't an easy drive for me and at this stage of my collecting, not worth it for me. I am just a suburban girl at heart I guess. While I love seeing AFI'ers (everyone is so nice to me when I introduce myself, it is wonderful), I will have to meet you at other shows.
Now, let's hear from the artists about the sales!!
Comments
I went to both shows as well - I'm interested in applying for next year. I agree, the art and atmosphere of Old Town is higher quality. However, I did see some good work at Wells - there were a number of artists who I had seen last season at the Amdur shows I had my booth in, and liked them. However, yes, a wide range. I haven't figured out yet how to really tell who the buy/sell people are, but I did see a booth that made outdoor sculptures out of repurposed metal things (toys, car parts, etc.). They had a booth in BOTH shows - and in the case of one piece, it was identical to the one I saw at the other booth! So, I would think something strange is going on there...
As for quality, again, Old Town was higher caliber (and the show I'd aim for, although not sure I'm up to that standard yet)...but the food was definitely better at Wells St. - had steak and frites at the booth from the French bistro - excellent. It seemed like there were sales at both places, saw some large pieces leaving Wells in particular - so hopefully the artists did well.
We made it to Wells Street but not Old Town. Was confused as a local publication made it seem as though they were one and the same. Saw some work we liked at Wells Street - but I was disappointed by the Buy/Sell work and also that a number of "artists" were in my humble opinion misleading public into thinking their work was original when in fact they were giclee's or prints on canvas. I know this is a hot topic - and I don't have an issue with the use of canvas (wrapped or otherwise) to present editions of work - but I as a painter I would appreciate that artists present them as "Reproductions of their original work". I honestly believe there are general consumers that believe they are purchasing an original work of art when they are not. Especially when the piece has a glaze applied that includes brush strokes. But I guess Caveat Emptor should apply.
We did see a favorte artist (who unfortunately is out of my collecting price range) seel a lovely original mixed media painting for $1,400. When the artist asked the gentleman purchaser what he was going to do with it - the gentleman quipped "Sleep on it." Hilarious. He was thrilled with his purchase - and we were thrilled for him and the artist. It was truly fun piece that we secretly coveted ourselves.
I'm sorry we missed Old Town!
We did make it to Sunday's Talbot Street in Indy (homebase for us) and again, I was disappointed by some Buy/Sell (one booth was a duplicate of a booth at Wells Street - so they "duped" two shows - if there are rules against such). Saw a few unique booths of work - some favorite artists and lots of people.
We had missed deadline to submit for jurying for Talbot and will hopefully jury in next year. It's not my favorite show as it is sooooo crowded and difficult to walk and enjoy - but as it is local - that is always a benefit for us - cost wise.
A beautiful weekend of art shows in the midwest.
Happy Arting all!