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Comments

• 

  Connie Mettler April 7, 2014 at 12:22pm

  Bravo.
• 

  Brian Billings April 7, 2014 at 11:52am

  Maybe that's the time we need to rethink what we are doing. I just bombed at a show and wanted to blame it on the buyers but as I talked to others, they had a great show. Now I got some things to think over, is it my quality, subject matter, pricing, etc? Here's a great post from FB by art critic Jerry Saltz, this is so true. I printed it out and posted it in my studio as a reminder!

  Let's divide Artist Time into Before van Gogh and After van Gogh.
  Before van Gogh if people did not like your art you'd say "What's wrong with what I'M doing?
  After van Gogh when people don't like your work you think "What's wrong with those people?"
  You HAVE to give up this part of the MYTH!
  Today. Whenever - and I mean EVERY time - anyone says to me "I don't get what you're driving at" or anything; I ALWAYS think "I have to make my work better..." or "It's something I'm doing that I could think about."
  I never ever think "That person is out of it..."
  You have to flip back the clock to BEFORE van Gogh Time to be as great as van Gogh.
  And give up the misunderstood suffering artist myth.
  ALL artists are misunderstood and suffer; all people are misunderstood and suffer.
  Most artists sadly transform the suffering myth into FEELING SORRY FOR THEMSELVES - and then you're a goner....
  Trust a geezer on this one...
  Make an enemy of envy and stop feeling sorry for yourselves - you big babies!
  Now get back to work!
  
• 

  Connie Mettler April 7, 2014 at 11:02am

  That was kind of my point, Sheila. Right. At every show there are people having their best show ever and others who do not make expenses, even at the stellar ones where everything is done well.
• 

  Sheila Evans April 3, 2014 at 11:42pm

  Just like at any show, many artists were disappointed despite the impressive overall numbers.
• 

  Connie Mettler April 3, 2014 at 2:11pm

  I found this very impressive, Brian, and I agree with you about adjusting the # of exhibitors in each category. 
• 

  Brian Billings April 3, 2014 at 12:01pm

  Very interesting! I wonder if they will adjust the number of artists in a catagory after seeing these results? Jewelrs are clearly making much more per artist average than the other catagories, so maybe add a couple more jewelrs and a little less painters (currently 50, the most of any catagory). Either way I don't see how any artist at this show could be disappointed. The better they do and the more attention they get, the harder it is going to be for artists to get in.
• 

  Connie Mettler April 3, 2014 at 9:24am

  In my mailbox from Kathleen Hughes at LQAF:

  Dear La Quinta Arts Festival Artists,

  La Quinta Arts Foundation is pleased to share our art sales data which reflects a positive growth trend. Festival sales have now exceeded $3.1 million, an increase of $300,000 over La Quinta Arts Festival 2013 as more post event sales arrived this morning which have yet to be documented below.  Sales will continue to do so for a number of months so these statistics will evolve.

  Chart of Total Sales and Average Sales by Category

  Category              Total Sales      Artists in Category   Average Sales

  Ceramics               167,297                  17                    9,841

  Drawing & Pastel   103,480                    6                  17,247

  Fiber                     162,282                 16                   10,148

  Glass                    222,932                  18                  12,385

  Jewelry                 556,297                  22                  25,286

  Mixed Media 2D/3D 463,463                 43                  10,778

  Painting                 583,856                 50                   11,677

  Photography           223,463                16                   13,966

  Printmaking              11,097                 4                      2,774

  Sculpture               531,626                34                    15,636

  Wood                      71,432                  8                      8,929

  TOTAL                 3,097,225               234                   13,236

  Thank you, again, for your participation in La Quinta Arts Festival 2014.  We appreciate your support and hope you will consider applying to Festival 2015.  Remember, the application period begins June 1.  Hope to see you again, next year.

  Sincerely,

  LA QUINTA ARTS FOUNDATION 

  The LQAF is a gated event and, I believe, there is a central checkout. Therefore, these figures reflect every sale made at the show, they are not an estimate or a guess.