Ok, friends, here it is.....the first time in my life I have ever packed up on Saturday and left a show. I am sitting in my van typing this trying to calm down.
I arrived here last night to friendly staff and easy set up. This morning started as usual, no issues. The crowds were very light and have remained very light all day. About two hours into the show, the wind started gusting very bad. I knew wind was an issue here and came with plenty of weights. My tent hadn't budged at all, but the wind was so strong that my ProPanel shelves shook to the point of knocking down my art. I got the show director who was very helpful and she brought me a folding table to move my work to. That also didn't work, the wind is so bad here that the art blew off the table too. After 11 broken pieces of art and no sales, I decided to pack up before losing more work to the wind. I will probably spend the rest of this week fixing all of my broken work. The wind is no ones fault, just bad luck I guess.
The staff of this show is friendly and very helpful. The crowd is another story. This is a Wal-mart mentality type of crowd. It is not the right market for my work, ranging in price from $75-600. They weren't interested in buying anything I had. Apparantly, everyone here is a found object artist and were going to go home and make my work out of the old junk in their garages. They saw no value in what I had and weren't shy about it either. I felt this crowd was very low brow and very rude. I had a couple of people laugh when some of my work fell down. I haven't experienced this level of trashiest or rudeness at a show before.
I think these people were expecting a flea market instead of an art fair.
I am sad to say this show is a farce on many levels, but I dont think it is the fault of the staff or the city of Stillwater. They tried their best and were very helpful and kind to me.
I can say that from what I saw and from talking to other artists, if you have cheap art and are willing to tolerate the wind, then you may want to do this show, otherwise avoid it, it isn't worth driving to and the crowd is very unimpressive and rude.
I will be in Franklin, Tennessee next weekend and will review that show as well. Tha ks!
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Try the velcro
Elle,
Now I know why you didn't send me any images of your U-Shaped panel set-up from the show on Saturday.....
Please accept my condolences.
As for your shelving, consider buying a roll of stick-on hook and loop from someplace like home depot (which sells the 1-inch wide industrial strength stuff in 30 ft lengths)
First, take two layers of hook material and stick them one to the other (thereby making a strip of double sided hook). Use two sets of double-sided hook on shelves for bigger pieces. Set the double hook strip on the shelving (re-usable and since it's two-sided, it's removable from the shelves) and use stick-on sections of the loop side on your pieces. However, the adhesive is very strong and will not come off easily. You would have to test this, but could you consider the loop side as padding (like felt pads used under bronze table-top sculptures)? It's fuzzy and non-marring, but might make it too easy for the piece to slide on a smooth surface..
And as far as Franklin goes, it became a very trendy place to live while I was living in Nashville during the 1990's. It should be (depending on which population segment shows up) a fairly affluent crowd. But Franklin is or was the border between city and rural populations... so no telling who's going to show up... Also, fairly conservative...., probably not as conservative as Oklahoma though
Are you doing the Centennial Park event(s)
I love your " low brow " description . there's also " lunch bucket crowd" they brought their food . "striped whistlers" ( they have striped overalls and whistle at the price). any more out there?
Elle-
What a terrible time! Wind is just the worst and it sounds like you were smart to leave. Especially when you see that the crowd is not yours. It reminds me of the time my booth fell into my neighbors' pottery. I was working frantically to prevent it from falling and no one around was there to help- only my 12 year old daughter who was hanging onto the cross bars. The wind picked up in a gust and picked her up and flew the propanels into my neighbor. My clearest memory from that show was that none of the show staff was there to help when I needed it so you at least were lucky to have the show staff on your side!
It does all make for good stories though! And we know which shows not to go to!
Good luck next weekend!
Elle, So sorry for your art loss. I too have Propanels with shelves for my glass and I know wind is a problem. Having a solid tent helps, but if the wind is excessive, there is not much you can do except pack up. Artists ar a tough bunch. We pick up the pieces and continue on. Much luck and fantastic sales in Franklin!
April is the new March.
Did you see the guy on the corner in the puffy parka? On the back it read: " I survived the April blizzard and all I got was this lousy T shirt" !
Be well,
Elle, I am in lower Michigan, not far from the Indiana border. And today, April 25th we actually had some snow coming down for a few minutes. A little north around Grand Rapids they were having some good snow showers this morning. I am completely sick of it and ready for spring. I have a hot corn bag on my lap as I am sitting here working.
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