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After last week's drama in St. Pete, I was happy to have this show next up on my schedule: A small, 88-artist show that kicks off the fall outdoor festival season in Naples, FL.  Ably run by Marianne Megela of the Naples Art Association  and a large, efficient group of volunteers, this show took place on a T-shaped layout along two streets just east of US 41 (a few blocks east of the better-known shows along 5th Ave. and Cambier Park later in the season).

The show has undergone a name change (it used to be called the Naples Renaissance), but boasted high quality and a wide mix of media: 22 painters, 13 jewelers, 9 ceramics artists, only  7 photographers,  and the rest divided more or less evently among sculptors, wood carvers, leather, glass, mixed media, and digital artists. (There were no awards. )

Setup/teardown and parking couldn't have been easier.  You could arrive anytime after 5 PM on Friday to unload right at your space; each artist had lots of storage space behind their booth, or even to the sides, if you needed it. Parking was in a large grassy lot just across the street from the show venue.  If you wanted to wait until Saturday, as I did, check-in started at 6 AM. 

The show was decently advertised in the Naples News and a local arts magazine (which was also a show sponsor), and most of the folks I spoke with found out about the show that way (Naples is an older population, and they still read newspapers).  There was a curious lack of signage--I saw only a large vehicle equipped with a banner parked at the edge of the show.  I didn't have a chance to ask about that: could be that the city's powers-that-be simply wouldn't allow more. It might have been the $4 "suggested donation" that kept crowds from being heavier.  Or the nearly perfect weather that diverted crowds to boats and beach.  Or maybe Thanksgiving travel sent folks to the airports and I-75 instead of the show.  Whatever the reasons, attendance was moderate on Saturday, and a bit lighter on Sunday.

But this is Naples, land of deep, recession-proof pockets.  So by show's end it didn't seem to matter that much, at least among the folks I spoke with.  I sold 4 large-ticket items on Saturday but mostly lesser-priced work on Day 2, winding up with a decent total comparable to the previous week's.  Most of those around me, interestingly, made most of their sales on Sunday.

No one told me they zeroed or  "just made booth fee."  One 2-D artist came by to tell me he sold four large pieces; another 2-D artist reported the same.  The jeweler across from me, purveyor of pieces in the 4- to 5-figure range, made at least one sale and likely more.  My neighbor Jen, who makes clever wall pieces of fanciful "dock scenes" (and who has a retail location right across the street), had half-bare walls by show's end. 

Tear-down was glitch-free, and nearly everyone was on the road by 6:30 pm.

This is an artist-friendly show: easy parking and setup, free breakfasts both days, booth-sitters that walked the show continually from the opening bell until just before closing, and best of all, visitors who knew and appreciated the art they saw.  It would have been great to have had even more of them. . . but all in all, this is a show that just might be a mainstay on my schedule until they kick me off. 

How'd some of you other folks do?