Hi Friends.....here is my review of Reston...
I arrived Friday morning to a very well organized check in and nice volunteers. This show is one of the most impeccably organized shows I have ever been to. There are about 220 artists in the show and they have the check in and set up down to a science. The show is on the streets of the Reston Town Center, an affluent shopping and office area. I drove up to my booth and unloaded and set up. I met my neighbors, all of whom were very nice people, professional and fun.
Friday evening the show opened at 5pm and ran until 8pm. Weather was good and the crowd was good. I sold a decenet amount of my small pieces Friday night, no standard size pieces.
Saturday we had rain and cool weather. This show is definitely affected by the weather. Crowds were light all day. Sales were slow and I was lucky. I managed to finish Saturday at the break even point with the addition of Friday night's sales. I was greatful to have covered costs, but very surprised to have only done that, after what was billed as a major show with great sales. Those around me were not as fortunate by the end of Saturday. Two of my neighbors were still at zero.
Artist amenities....the show has a great amount of volunteers who booth sit and are willing to help you in any way they can. I was impressed with the number of volunteers, their willingness to help and they were all very friendly. Security was evident and professional. Continental breakfast offered each day as well as water delivered to the booth. Free t-shirt at check in. These were the only amenities.
Sunday came with better weather and the crowds were light until about 1pm. All of a sudden, all hell broke loose and the buying crowd was there with vigor. I sold a lot on Sunday and ended up making a nice paycheck profit. Not my best show of the year, but a profit that made the drive worth it. My one neighbor did about 5K in an hour with photography, my other neighbor did nothing and the other neighbor who had been at zero sold a small amount of work that still did not cover booth fee.
I was approached by a producer (identity and legitimacy verified) from ESPN's show Pardon The Interruption. They chose my work for their set. They would like a piece every six weeks to sit over the shoulder of one of the anchors. This blew my mind and I am so happy they chose me. There is no money involved, they will be borrowing each piece, but the exposure is priceless. If you are interested the show is on ESPN Monday-Friday evenings and the first piece is Juggles The Juggler. I will be sending them a sports themed piece again next month and so on.
Load out was just as organized as load in, we were not able to drive up to the booth until 5pm, one hour after closing at 4pm, due to pedestrian safety and the police needed time to clear the streets. Wanting to get on the road as soon as I could, I chose to dolly out to the van which was parked in the artist lot a block and a half away. I got everything loaded up and done in about 90 minutes. I didn't mind dollying out, for me it is a good workout! I said good bye to my neighbors and hit the road!
Overall, the show is professionally ran, organized and juried quite well. There were some fabulous artists there, no buy/sell and no questionable work. I made a decent paycheck profit and my work was picked up by ESPN. I will apply again and if accepted, do the show. I will expect average sales at this show.
I am off next weekend!!!!!!!!! I will be at Summerfair in Cincinnatti, OH in two weeks. I will review that show two weeks from today. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!!!!
Saturday
Comments
When the show is available on DVD, have them send you a copy. Then do a screen capture of your work visible on TV and use the picture for web site promotion or to hang in your booth.
Depending on what kind of graphics card you have in your computer, there's usually a way to do a frame capture as an image.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
Elle, you will have to frame the article ESPN did and hang it in your booth for customers to see. They will like that. Also, when the loaned piece comes back it would be cool if you were able to set that in your booth with a sign saying it sat on the desk for 6 weeks in that show. People will really want it. Make up a small certificate to get them as proof to show family and friends. So cool. Congrats. That is a once in a lifetime chance.
Wow Elle, why are you jumping all over Will for a simple question? A lot of artists have found that lending art work to a public place has done nothing to increase their sales and one would think that ESPN could afford to pay for a robot.
Glad you ended up with a good show Elle and congrats on the exposure too.
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