I've participated in the Sturgeon Bay Fine Art Festival for the past four years and I certainly hope to be accepted again next year. My medium is photography. Show hours for both Saturday and Sunday are 10am to 4pm. There were 96 artists evenly distributed among the mediums. Application and artwork samples are submitted by mail. There is no jury fee and the show fee is $125. Sturgeon Bay is the "entrance" to Wisconsin's Door County - an area of the Wisconsin "thumb" that is jammed packed with vacationers from all over.
The layout - Located on the water in lovely Sunset Park, booths are laid out for a comfortable patron flow. Each artist has 3 to 5 ft of space on both sides of the booth. Sure is great having this space not only for storage, but it nicely allows walk around room for those wishing to hang artwork on the outside walls.
The weather - Could not have been more perfect! Clear blue skies, max 5mph winds and low humidity. I recall in past years having to tie my tent to the van the winds off the lake were so strong and cold. Not this year!
The crowd - Likely due to the weather, attendance was quite a bit lower than the last three years. I don't have the statistics yet, but in my opinion attendance was about half what I've experienced in the past. This show typically has not only local Door County residents, but in the past (and this year as well), 50% of my sales come from Illinois residents, most with second homes in "the Door" or those that arrive on their sailboats.
The $$$$ - I was a tad worried on Saturday. My sales were way down from previous years. However, three other artists that have attended those prior years with me were doing great. Barb, a fantastic jeweler, always has a booth across from me and she did on Saturday what she did all weekend last year. She has a great following and I was beginning to wonder where "my people" were. Sunday cleared that up for me. Barb's Sunday was not so great but mine ended up quite well and my total weekend sales were a couple hundred higher than last year. Pretty good considering the lower attendance. This vacation area on the Great Lakes however is certainly my market - I should always do well here as most patrons either live on or close to the water, are sailors/boaters and make their living in a town that has one of the largest ship building facilities in the world. My peeps!
The Other Side - While the four of us artists who have done this event for many years seemed to have a successful show, I spoke with four or five that had dismal results. For three, it was their first time at this event and they mentioned they would not return. I wish the attendance would have been higher as their artwork is stunning and they should have had better sales. As several of us have had many repeat customers over the years, perhaps this is one of those small vacation town events that seems to have a distinct following. Looking at my sales four years ago, they were not that great in comparison.
The Organization - I have always appreciated the hard work Kristi and her team of volunteers put into this event. Each artist is given a "goodie" bag upon arrival with area literature, water, chapstick, a muffin, dried cherries and other fun stuff. For some reason (slow sales for some) Kristi had to deal with alot of artists complaining about other artists this year. Grumblers snitching on other artists, accusing each other of buy/sell, narking on "original/non original..... I was amazed at the outright pettiness of some artists and I certainly would have not expected that at this little event. While Kristi had to address each issue brought up by each artist, it couldn't have been easy. One of the features many of us have looked forward to over the years are the roving musicans and one clown she has walking throughout the booth. One musician plays the violin, one plays a "squeezebox" (one of those hand accordians) and the clown sometimes acts as a babysitter by involving the kids with various things while the parents get a chance to enter the booths. They are absolutely wonderful and quite appropriate for this venue. Geez.... one artist approached Kristi right in front of my booth and demanded that the violin player stopped. Talk about bitchy artists!
The cheerful volunteers were plentiful and checked in frequently to offer breaks if needed.
Food - Each morning coffee and donuts are available for the artists. A special artist reception is always offered after closing from 4pm to 6pm on Saturday. A nice selection of cheese/sausage/fruits and other yummies along with various beverages and wine are always offered under a tent as the artists mingle and awards are handed out. The food court and the kettle korn guy are across the tennis courts from the artists (thank God). Several local organizations run the food court area (Jaycees etc) and they have run of the mill burgers/dogs/brats as well as salads, beverages and potato curls - I always tend to bring my own food.
Art Raffle - an art raffle tent is in the center of the booths and for the first time I checked it out at the end of the day on Sunday. Got a kick out of the many who came back to see if they "won" their coveted artwork. Plenty of cheers and groans from all.
This is not a huge event by any means. However, in my opinion it is top quality art and the organizers pay attention to the details to provide a pleasant experience for all. I'll post my YouTube Video in the next couple of days or so.
Comments
Yes I have standardized the sizes of my prints to 3 sizes......I do this so I can order the same size backings, envelopes and mats. This cuts costs and allows me to keep my prices low. Of course the orginals are all different sizes. This is just good business. I love art......but I go to show to sell the maximum.
I will have tons of originals at Artsteet in Green Bay, Art in the Park in Appleton, and the Plymouth Art Show.....as is required by their rules. All my paintings are signed "Davey". They are all done in one style.....my style. It is so obvious that they are not buy and sell. I showed Kristi a painting.....a work in progress...but she seemed to still want more originals......she wanted something that was not stated in the written rules.....gee whiz.......I am not a mind reader.
Honestly, I dont know how to sell photography. With respect, I doubt that you know how to sell paintings and prints.
Like I told Kristi......the Sturgeon Bay Chamber need to consider a percentage rule.....like other art shows.....like 50% originals, 50 % prints......she claimed that there was language that said originals were required......this is not ture as I have stated.
There are a ton of things that the chamber could do to make sure that people bring originals....she could have required a picture of the artist creating the work, etc, etc.
There are written rules and I checked them closely and followed them. If organizers and some other artists dont know me, that is not my problem.
Ironically the year before, Kristi invited me via letter and said I did not need to be juried.
Also many artists and organizers in the area know me very well, like Barb Mann, the jewelry maker and Bill Lang, the aerial photography guy. I often paint at the shows. And I did paint at the show at the Sturgeon Bay art show on Saturday
Her approach to me on this point was very out of line given that I carefully followed the written rules.
I have been to two shows in the past where an "artist" presented matted prints only - both times they happened to be sports in nature. Both times it was learned the "artist" was buy/sell. Granted, I know you (well, kinda/sorta) and I've seen your website, read your information, learned your artwork...... but, in all honesty, when a booth has only bins of prints, mostly 11x14 to 16x20 type sizes, I may have questions as well.
I agree with you - rules stated as they were - you are more than entitled to leave originals home. I only mention the above as this may be a problem somewhere else along the line - especially when you are doing a show for the first time. Other artists and organizers do not know you yet. The hottest topic at shows lately seem to be watching for buy/sell. Perhaps if you had brought an original, not only would you not have been approached, but with this crowd, you may have lots more in your pocket? Just a thought looking back.
Dave