Tried a new show this past weekend that we had heard great things about from other artists in the past. It has been on our "list" for sometime but there was always a show that had higher potential that we were accepted in for the past few years so it's been a second or third choice for us. This year it fell on a weekend when we didn't have any other shows so we were thinking, great, we'll try it.
We should have stayed home, yep, that bad.
Port Angeles is a town on the northern side of the Olympic Peninsula, the show is held in a park right off the City Pier, right next to the ferry terminal which shuttles tourists to Victoria on Vancouver Island, BC. Port Angeles is also where the tourists make the turn to go into Olympic National Park and the Hurricane Ridge area. However, due to lack of signage, I doubt most visitors to the Olympic National Park knew there was an art show as their turnoff to the park occured a few blocks before the ferry docks and the city pier. Tourists following Hwy 101 around the Olympic Peninsula might have had a clue that there was maybe, something going on, but again, not much signage, not great parking, especially for anyone in an RV or towing a trailer. So, in a location where there's a lot of tourism in the summer, it wasn't capitalized on very well at all, especially for a show that's been around for a while. Even some of the locals remarked that they were surprised, they thought it was the last weekend in July, having 5 weekends in July and the show is the 4th weekend seemed to throw things off a bit which indicated not enough marketing had been done to get the word out.
Show was smaller than we expected, only about 45 artists, 25% was jewelry and they were proud of the fact that they limited it to that (yes, we scratched our heads at that comment), they had an established chain maille artist (really a hobbyist, her one show a year with really LOW prices) who had done the show for 11 years, another local artist who did sea glass and crocheted pieces. Why they let us in, (Chainmaille, knots, crocheted and knitted jewelry) when they had 2 similar artists in such a small show is a mystery that I can't explain. So 25% of the show was jewelery, 10% was soap, 15% was glass. Hmmm, not very well balanced. I will say the potter near us did very well, but she was the only potter in the show, the fiber artist with her wonderful reversible hats made on an old fashioned foot tredle sewing machine did very well, one jeweler with a prime location seemed to do well. Everyone else we talked to, including artists with very nautical themes seemed to be suffering.
Load in was easy, with either Thursday PM or Friday AM times, show started at 2 PM on Friday so as long as you weren't one of the last artists to arrive you could park and unload near your spot and then park your vehicle elsewhere while setting up. We loaded in early Friday, around 8:30 AM after driving over on Thursday evening and setting up the RV for the weekend at a local county campground. Set up went smoothly, sun was shining, nice breeze off the ocean, looked like a great setting. Came back about an hour before the show was to start, by then it was cloudy, chilly, and overcast. We opened up the booth and sat there waiting for people to show up. We did have 3 sales all day Friday, but other artists kept saying, wait until Saturday. So, we left, not really happy, but ok that we had almost made booth on a show that was beginning to sound like a show that was scheduled for 3 days with only one day of real selling opportunity.
Saturday, quiet when we started, didn't make our first sale until 2 PM. It was foggy and chilly when we arrived, fog fianlly burned off around 11:30 and the sun came out but still, not many people, especially not down our aisle due to a really funky layout. I think we got about 1/3rd the traffic of the entire show. Knew at that point the show was not going to be a winner for us, knew we were going to be lucky to cover booth (a modest $175) and expenses. Not a good feeling. About 4 PM we had the 2 ladies who were our big spenders from Friday show up, each purchased yet another item. Without them we would have not even coverd booth between Friday and Saturday, they were 2/3rd of our sales over the 2 days. About 5 PM, as the show died for the day, knowing we were open until 8, I started chatting with other artists who had done this show before. Their reports, everyone was way down, except for a couple of artists with prime locations, and everyone said Sunday was the slowest day of the show. It didn't give us much hope. We had covered all expenses but had little hope of making a profit.
So, after lots of discussion, we decided to do something we've never done before and always said we wouldn't do. We packed out Saturday night after closing time, went back to the campground and drove home Sunday morning. As my husband quoted that famous country singer, "sometimes you have to know when to fold them", we decided that a Sunday afternoon at home to start prepping for a 4 week road trip made more sense than a Sunday afternoon with little to no sales and what promised to be a horrendous load out Sunday night. BTW, we were not the only artists leaving Saturday night and there were a few who saw us packing out that said if they weren't local and didn't want to get a bad name for themselves in that area, they would have also left.
So, we went home, got a few chores done and started working on packing for our "road trip to summer". http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/road-trip-to-summer
Comments
Sorry about the poor show Ruth. From what the other artists said to you the show must have been much better in the past. Maybe the economy is taking it's toll there. Our bad economy has not been good for artists or art.
Jacki B
Oh, that sounds pretty grim. Art by the Bay, which was a good show for me last year, was also just empty of customers. Maybe both these communities, since they are far from any urban area, are hurting more financially and people are just staying home. All the shows have been way down in the NW this year.
Bellevue's a big show coming up this weekend, I'll write a review next week. It will be good to hear how you do in Coeur d'Alene, too. That can be a good show.
Yikes. This is an "established" show? Seems like my friend who moved from Maryland to Oregon and said the shows were not the same out there was right! Sounds like these promoters have some reworking to do. It is always hard on morale when people pack up early and I am so "on the fence" about people who do this. I would guess that you'd only leave early if you felt the organizers hadn't lived up to their part of the bargain.
Have a great trip. I'd love to tag along.
Sorry you had such a slow show, Ruth. I think lack of promotion is a big sin on the part of the promoter. Aside from selecting quality artists, that is their biggest obligation--getting the buying people to the show.
Have a wonderful road trip.