Well, any show that starts with a fellow artist, stressed about having to set up all by herself, driving her Volvo, kaTHUMPkaTHUMP, right over your tent poles at daybreak, doesn't figure to go well.
She hopped out of the van and started unpacking as though nothing unusual had happened, while I picked up my jaw from the asphalt and checked for damage. Miraculously, there wasn't any (though there is surely a Trimline testimonial in my future). I spoke to the artist a bit later and she hadn't seen the poles or noticed the lurching as she passed over them, and apologized profusely. Turned out, in fact, to be a really cool lady (though not one I think I'd ever drive with willingly) . And, in perhaps the biggest good news of all, this small (69-booth) show in tony Ponte Vedra Beach turned out to be a reasonable money-maker for me.
The show has been around about 17 years--run for a time by Howard Alan Events, but more recently by Venues Event Planning. Robin Conte and her partner Susan are young, personable, and really work hard to produce an artist-friendly show. If you like artist amenities, this is the place for you: Volunteers wheeled cold water around twice each day, and provided brown-bag lunch (chicken wraps, orange, chips--not at all bad), and booth-sat if you needed one. (No awards, though.)
The event site is just off A1A (which runs right along the Atlantic Ocean). It's a fairly small shopping center, with a Publix, big-box pharmacy and an ABC Liquors (which was right behind my booth, how cool is that?). Kinda upscale, but with an odd design: it's surrounded by swales, kinda like a sandtrap (this IS the home of the Professional Golfers Association; in fact, their offices are in the center). It's odd, in that you can't see the Publix or the big-box pharmacy from the show site, even though they're technically in the same center.
So visibility is a problem. Nary a white-topped tent could be seen from A1A, and zoning allowed only a couple of banners to promote the show. Accordingly, attendance was (my guess) in the 2500-5000 range, at best, despite moderate temps and low humidity--probably the best show weather I've seen all season, and certainly far better than you'd expect in Florida by this time of year. And there were a fair proportion of BUYERS in the crowd. My sales were higher than I expected, given the attendance. My neighbor, a high-end jeweler, was happy with her sales, and a nearby acrylic artist sold a piece in the five-figure range. Others didn't fare quite so well, but no one grumbled about the artist treatment or the load-in/out, which was a cinch (tent poles notwithstanding).
Most of the artists were local (Jacksonville, St. Augustine), but some came from further south on Florida's east coast or from southern Georgia (the state border is only a few miles away).
By next year, if public hearings go well, the center parking lot may be redesigned to "open up" traffic flow and visibility from the high-volume grocery, which might help attendance a bit. Although Robin and Susan aren't intending to ever make this a huge event, they are working hard to make it successful. They've got a companion show in the fall (October 15-16, 2011), and they'll be moving the Spring, 2012 event to sometime in April to capitalize on northern and midwestern artists who are migrating back from the winter circuit.
As for me, this was a nice "paycheck show" to do as I photographed spring nesting season at St. Augustine's Alligator Farm. As a bonus, there was even an Osprey family nesting in the corner of the artist parking lot! So it's quite likely I'll return, and if you are going to be passing through the area--or if you're lucky enough to live in the vicinity--this is a show you might want to follow.
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