Posted by Marina Terauds on December 16, 2009 at 12:43am
I do Chicago show for 5 years and I always loved this show.I love the place - Merchandise Mart and holiday atmosphere and classy gallery look. Move in and move out are very easy: no dust, no mud, no darkness, and you don’t have to lift heavy things. Workers are very good in MM, they really do their job. I know some artists don’t like MM workers, but these artists did not try NY show.My expenses were big (double booth because of large format pieces), and this year sales were down, it was not my best year, but I still did ok. Thursday and Friday were very slow, but Saturday and Sunday were good. My neighbors and friends all complained that this year show was very slow.Critique : the show is too big now (600-700 ? artists) - it is difficult to see everything. Jury could be more selective: too many hobbyists at the show. I would not add Etsy pavilion (as it was) to the show either – it was too unprofessional and childish for such caliber show. I am very sorry to say that, but it is not $10-$30 items craft show in local school. There are some amazing artists also, museum level artists like Valerie Hector or Pete Zaluzec, and the contrast “hobbyist versus professional” is very big.NY show was completely different animal. Set up was horrible: no workers at all. I could not find any worker for 2 hours. It is the union like in Chicago, but difference is huge. There were empty dollies everywhere, but union stuff don’t allow artists to use union dollies. Bring your own (I did not) and do move in/out by yourself. Show was small, about 150-200 artists. The biggest categories were jewelry and clothing, and very small amount of fine art. Overall quality was ok, but of course there were some exceptions (junk). Etsy pavilion was better then in Chicago (imho) - some very promising jewelers and one very good ceramic. It was “first time show”, and it was very well advertised, but attendance and sales were very slow. I don’t have mailing list in NY, and I did not cover even half of my expenses, but my neighbors (jewelry and wood) did very well. Almost every visitor in my booth was invited by stuff or artist (I asked). In my opinion this show has very big potential because of it’s fabulous location (Manhattan, Pier 94). It just needs time as any new show.P.S. My medium is printmaking (intaglio).
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