The other day I recieved an interesting question from a show about my application.
To give some background; the show application had a section that asks for the high and low price range of the artwork. Filled that in and proceeded to submit the application last month.
The question from the other day was to briefly explain the low end of the artwork. They explained that the jurors would most likely want to understand the lower price range artworks since the jury images are the nicer and more detailed artworks. I answered politely and briefly but then got to thinking.... without pictures of the less expensive artworks; how are the jurors going to imagine them? Is the jury making descisions about art they will not see? Are the jurors making financial descissions as well as artistic?
My understanding had been that the questions such as price range, were you in the show in previous years, do you require flat ground, can you set up inside, what other festival have you done, will you donate artwork, etc....were used by the show committe to gather information for marketing, help with show layout and for their informational data base.
The question seems normal and weird at the same time. Any thoughts?
Comments
Reading all the above I've decided on a best option. For future applications with a similar request to include a notation along with the price range that the range of sculpture is displayed in the booth photo. That was nearly the case for this particular application (some lower mid-range pieces were in the photo). If I'd not had such a come-apart at the beginning maybe that would've been apparent. Well, Grandma always said to never send an anxious letter until you've read it the next day....I should have listened better.
I just substituted a new booth picture for the St Louis application doing just that.
Larry Berman
I like Jane Shaffer's explanation: "For example, if your booth shot shows only large paintings and you say your price range is $40 to $4000, they want to know what are you selling for $40 because nothing in the booth looks like it would sell in that price range. The concern is that you are not sending a booth shot that accurately reflects what it looks like at a real show."
Seems like the solution to this, at least for 2D artists who sell reproductions (and photographers who sell smaller matted prints) is to include at least one bin in their booth shot that displays them.
Larry, what say you?
One show I entered requires you list the art price ranges. I have art that goes from $20 to $2000. They do this to put you in the same price range as others in your show area I think. I am always perplexed as to how to list mine. I think I listeed mine this year as $500 to $1000, but the submission photos showed some as $2000. I was accepted again so I guess I did it right. The first year I emailed them about the price ranges and was told to 'pick one', lolol.
Yes, the are several shows that have that question on their entry and I'm used to that. Think I became concerned at maybe having to replace a jury image with one at the bottom end of the price range.
I've seen that in a portion of the show apps I do every year. The number hasn't changed, and I've never felt that the question was anything more than having a good mix of price ranges for the show attendees. My jewelry is priced from $5 earrings to some pieces in the $200 range. The other question often asked is the average sale amount, and I figure for me that's in the $30-$50 range.
There was ONE show that suddenly rejected me after 3 years, explaining that they had decided to take the show in a more "fine art" direction. THAT annoyed me because it was a good one day show for me and I'd thought that they'd always had a really good selection of truly 'handmade by the artist' vendors... EXCEPT for the year before they made the 'fine art' decision.
Sometimes an artists price range seems way too high for a particular show. At that point I want to talk with them before finalizing. Even if someone would add prestige to an event, I want to be clear about what the show has been able to support.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next