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Comments

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  Jan Raven October 5, 2010 at 9:22am

  Larry, I wasn't trying to disparage the owners or residents of those homes, so please do not take offense. I was only trying to give a more complete picture of the area to artists who are looking for information. As a jeweler (and woman) who walked to the show grounds from my host's home, carting all my work and cash box, I can tell you that I was a bit nervous about the clusters of 20-something boys hanging about on some front stoops. My hosts even advised me to avoid a certain area, which didn't help my sense of safety. Everyone has a different comfort level and I was just trying present a more complete picture so people aren't surprised. Personally, I live in an urban, multi-ethnic, working class neighborhood, so don't think I am being super-sensitive.
  
  And I certainly hope that providing honest feedback and observations do not preclude future participation in the show. Overall, the Shaw Art Fair is awesome and voted it Number One when I submitted my annual list of 10-best shows to Sunshine Artist.
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  Larry Weinles October 4, 2010 at 9:42pm

  The Shaw neighborhood is an urban, multi ethnic, multi class neighborhood. The tenements you refer to house a good deal of the attendees, and the non profit neighborhood organization that sponsors the fair. Most of the "tenements' you refer to, are 100 year old brick homes that sell for well over $200,000. The New York Times recognized this as one of the great urban neighborhoods in America, and the River Front Times just recognized us as the best neighborhood to live in in St Louis.
  Larry Weinles
  Director Shaw Art Fair
  Owner of one of the $200,000 tenements, off the Fair property
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  Colin Murray October 4, 2010 at 8:52pm

  Yes, this is a "transitional neighborhood". Hopefully it is improving. We are looking forward to returning next year.
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  Jan Raven October 4, 2010 at 8:04pm

  I did the Shaw Art Fair last year, and it remains my highest grossing show ever (this is now my fifth year), with sales of about $7400 (typical sale in the $40-$60 range). I applied again this year (with better photos, even) and did not get in, but will certainly try again for 2011. One odd thing to note about this show is that the historic neighborhood consists of a few blocks of really swank houses surrounded by some very scary-looking tenements and some signs of gang activity.
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  Tina Cloud October 4, 2010 at 1:52pm

  One other note on the traffic.... There were lots of large dogs at Shaw, which told me they were all from the neighborhood & not people who drove in and wanted to go to both shows (like me) because the BG does not allow dogs.
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  Tina Cloud October 4, 2010 at 1:43pm

  On Sunday, I attended & purchased at Shaw & the Best of MO Market show across the street at the Botanical Gardens. I enjoyed both shows, but they were very different. The art at BG was mostly personal adornment (jewelry & fiber) or garden art - the rest was food/plant related. Shaw seemed very similar to the Stockley Gardens show in Norfolk, VA. Overall the Shaw location seemed very pleasant & many artist had extra room to spread out beyond their 10X10. I only saw a few bad spots where the ground was sloped or under the ginko tree (smells like dog poo). The student artist tent was a bit out of control as their matted art was piled 10 deep in messy piles on the tables & had prices as low as $5. Would have been nicer if they selected less art, hung it or put it in browse bins & charged a bit more.
  
  Both shows charged admission $5 for Shaw & $12 for Botanical Gardens. The BG show was downright crowded, but the traffic at Shaw seemed very light in comparison. By Sunday after 4 it seemed that most of the Shaw patrons lived in the houses lining the street. (I started at 1:30 at Shaw did 1/2 then went across the street to BG & then came back to the 2nd 1/2 of Shaw.) I wonder if Shaw hurt themselves by charging $5 for an outdoor show or not having a combo ticket with the Botanical Gardens? At Shaw I saw some booths that looked like there were lots of empty spaces (sold), and others where the artists looked bored. With the traffic, the bottom line is whether they were buying or just looking. Colin - good to hear your sales were good. How about anyone else?