As I sat down for my early Saturday morning coffee and morning paper, I couldn't miss the sticker slapped on the masthead of Saturday's Fort Myers News-Press: "THIS IS THE BIG ONE...COCONUT POINT ART FESTIVAL."
"We'll see," I said, hopefully, as I quaffed the dregs of my Starbucks. For the first time in its six-year history, this top-shelf Howard Alan show faced stiff competition from a neighborhood bully--Barry Witt's new February installment of the Bonita Springs Art Festival, happening a scant 4 miles' drive down US 41.
I couldn't help but be apprehensive: A SW Florida local, I've done Coconut Point ever since I got into the business in 2008, and it's consistently been my high-water mark for sales during snowbird season. Would the Big Show down the highway scuttle attendance and sales? Or would I, and the other 200-plus artists lining the south end of Coconut Point mall, be scuttled by the Saturday-morning cold front blowing through the region?
The faint stirrings of an economic recovery might not withstand this kind of double-whammy, I thought. And there was also the thought that Alan had a show at this venue only six weeks earlier, on New Year's Weekend. But not to worry: The rain showers were long gone by 10 AM Saturday. The temps were chilly but the crowds poured in as the skies parted around noontime, and the Bonita Springs festival, as they say on the sports pages, was Not a Factor. I had my best sales weekend ever at this festival, and (with a few exceptions) most of my neighbors did OK-to-good, too. What's more, I won a Costco Gift Card at a pre-show raffle (more evidence of Howard Alan Events' push toward providing more artist amenities) and even scored a couple of bagels at the artist breakfast tent.
I've talked about this area's sterling demographics and show logistics before; you can read about that in detail here. Suffice it to say that the Friday, all-day setup is a snap, and the tear-down, though complicated by heavy Sunday-evening mall traffic, is easy too, as long as you're patient. The crowds are knowledgeable and (near as I could tell) willing to spend, but (as is the case nearly anywhere in SW Florida) heavy on the 55-and-up demographic. I had a good market for my fine-art avian photography canvases, sales of which made up about 75% of my weekend's take. The browse bins (11x14 and 16x20 mat sizes) got lighter activity, as has mostly been the case since New Year's. (Note: I used to call my work "bird photography" but decided I could charge more if I called it "avian fine art" instead. Marketing is all....)
Is a recovery at hand? Well, I'm reading a lot about that in the local papers, where real estate prices are starting to rebound, developers are once again starting to take out color ads in the Sunday supplements, and unemployment is dipping. And I'm getting about five customers/prospects every show who tell me they're here because they recently bought a home...and another few who (perhaps feeling a bit more flush) have decided to finally decorate the home they bought two years ago. I'm guessing that's three times as often as what I've been hearing in the last four years.
So, it's on to ArtiGras (my first time ever) and Stuart, the week after that, to see if I can spot the same trend on Florida's east coast. Hope so: my 2012 Spring Fling up north is looming, and I'm needing a second tent and a new lens or two (not to mention airline tickets). Onward!
(I didn't have time to scour the neighborhood for sales results. How'd you guys make out? And let's hear from Bonita!!)
Comments
Geoff, you are such a good writer. I really enjoyed your writing on this one.
Glad you had a good show Geoff - and I love the camaraderie you all have :)
Connie, as far as I know Geri still has an extra bedroom available this weekend and the weather is supposed to be a perfect 80 degrees for the Grove show.
Everyone likes a compliment, Sherri. Good for you and best wishes at the art fairs. It is very smart to stick close to home when starting out, the overhead is very high for traveling artists.
I just wanted to thank you all for great, specific and helpful iinformation. I am one of those "new" artist using photography as a medium (I don't feel qualified to call myself a "photographer". There are too many others more talented than me...my skills come in on the post production side of the piece...) But I digress...
The information you provide is extremely valuable and appreciated! (This includes many others that are not in this particular chain!!) I am sticking very close to home (west central FL) until I become more seasoned and very much covet the advise and feedback that many of you provide! Please keep it up and I will try to do my part to put my 2 cents out there more from the "newbie" perspective :)
Me, too, Barry: I've been waitlisted for Bonita 4 of 5 times I applied. Decided to call Barry Witt's "bluff" and told him he could call me up until Fri. night 10 PM before the show. ;-) By then, I'll need a weekend off after working straight through since New Year's. But I really hope I get a call, it would be fun and educational to do the show.
I walked around both shows last weekend. I had an open date and I couldn't decide which one to do, so I didn't do either. I decided to do the March Bonita show so I wanted to check that out. I'm glad I passed on last weekend mostly because of the weather. It reminded me of last summer's experience where it was either too cold or too hot. There were a lot of artists wearing their winter coats and hats. I did too. In fact, I had a hard time staying warm. Where I live it is dry, so it can be 10 below and it doesn't feel too bad if one is dressed for it. Down here, if it's cold it is also humid and for some reason, that really bothers me. I just never felt warm the whole time I was walking around.
Both shows are well laid out with plenty of space. Load in seemed easy. I thought the work was more consistently good at Bonita. Coconut Point had a lot of top tier artists, but, interspersed was a lot of mundane mediocre quality items, things you might see in any of the corporate chain stores that exist at the Coconut Pointe mall. The Promenade has a more homey feel to it. Interestingly, it had a lot of nice stores at one time. After Coconut Point went in, the stores went out of business and there are only a few left. The spaces have been taken over by the Bonita Arts Association(not sure of the name). Anyone who is a member can rent a space there for $50 per month. The other qualification is that you have to demonstrate there a number of hours per week. Consequently, there are painters and potters with galleries in fully built out 3000 ft spaces for next to nothing.
Some people were selling, but, I thought both shows suffered from dividing the customer base. I'm looking forward to the March Bonita show because there will only be one show in the area that weekend.
"Tripod Tracks" I believe they are called.
I think I'll just hang out here this afternoon and chat with everyone, lots of good stories all around. So it sounds like I made an error for not posting a "What are you doing this weekend?" discussion, because you guys definitely have to meet.
Sounds like, in general, it was a good weekend on the Gulf Coast, plus you've got the sunshine. It also sounds as though Howard has kept Barry at bay and held onto this show. After a post I made earlier in the week about the fancy "ART SHOWS" with the Matisse's and the "rocks" I've had to reconsider my feeling that this area is saturated. The last time we did a show in the area we were mostly overlooked but the guy next to us with $2000-$5000 sculptures took home a nice bundle. So did the people on the other side who had very cool decorative screens. Black and white photography? Not moving anywhere on the Gulf Coast.
Barry, my comment was tongue firmly planted in cheek. No need for a defense... I always look for the tripod holes when I happen on a new place to shoot.
I didn't make a killing in Ft Myers. I was happy because I actually sold more than my usual meager amount. I, by no means, had the kind of show that I could count on 20 years ago.
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