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Intrigued by what happens at a Zapplication sponsored conference in Chicago on September 6-7? Here's your chance to win a free conference registration - a $315 value. The event is not "about" zapp, it is about many facets of the art festival business with solid strategic information for all involved.

How to win:

• Tell us in the comments below why you want to attend, or email me with your reasons
• Contest opens today August 1 (10 am) and closes on August 10 (5 pm ET)
• Readers of this blog will choose who wins the prize
• Artists, show directors, staff, etc., are eligible to enter. Pretty much anyone art festival related is welcome to participate.
• Please note that registration is non-transferable. If you win the contest and are unable to attend the conference this year, you will forfeit your complimentary registration.

About the Arts Festival Conference:

Now in its fourth year, the Arts Festival Conference, presented by ZAPP®, features targeted professional and business development for artists and administrators in the arts festival field. This year's event takes place September 6-7, 2012, at the Avenue Crowne Plaza Downtown in Chicago, Illinois.

Not the competitive type? See the agenda and register now at bit.ly/zapp2012.

Be part of the dialogue! Join artists, show directors, festival staff, the ZAPP® team and more at the Fourth Annual Arts Festival Conference, September 6-7, 2012, in Chicago, IL. Visit bit.ly/zapp2012 for more details and to register today.

Hi all ~

I just got off the phone with Ellen Marshall, the wife of Nels Johnson. Nels had open heart surgery today- more work had to be done than expected...a QUADRUPLE bypass, instead of a single- a mitro  valve replacement, instead of a repair, and an additional repair on another valve. Of course, this means more recuperation time for our trooper, Nels. And this means more down time for Ellen, as well. He has clearly been given another chance at a healthy future with this surgery- although it is hard to see the forest through the trees right now for both of them. Ellen thanks everyone for your prayers and healing thoughts. Bob and I will post more good news as we receive it.

While everyone is entitled to their own opinions on what is good art and what isn't, there should be minimum standards to even be considered.  I know that quite a lot of art festivals  have specific criteria that they use when jurying different media.  

But, I would have to say that at least half of the people attending art festivals have no idea what they are looking at.  

I attended the Buffalo Grove Invitational  Fine Art Festival on July 21st.  Much has been written about this art festival and some of the posts are still on this website.  This is what was on the website for this festival-----

"This year’s festival will feature a wonderfully chosen, juried group of approximately 150 artists"

I guess that the Invitational part means that any and all artists are invited to send in their app fee to this show.

One person claimed that the promoter was trying to satisfy all price points at this festival.  I don't have a problem with that although most artists these days have already figured out that this economy begs for a variety of price points within a booth.  

But when questionable art is allowed into a festival that is billed as Fine Art, I do have a problem.  To me, this is false advertising.   This is a public that is Wal-martized, Pottery Barned and West Elmed to the nth degree and having questionable art at a festival  exacerbates the problem.  If a person cannot recognize quality they won't be willing to pay for it.  

I saw art at this festival that I also saw at a festival where the booths were inexpensive yard art, toe rings, soap and candles and tie-dyed t-shirts.  Not exactly what is considered fine art. 

After last weekend’s soggy experience in Sequim WA, we were excited to be headed east to the warmest part of Washington.  Several of us who had put up with the rainy weekend were looking forward to the opportunity to dry out and we weren't disappointed. 

This was our 3^rd year participating in this art show.  Last year it was our best show of the year and still stands as our best 2 day show EVER!  So, we went into this weekend with expectations of a good show, but also trying not to be overly optimistic.   Sales?  We hid the dead center of the results from the past 2 years, less than last year but much better than our first year and to date this year, our best 2 day show of 2012 thus far.  In our minds we at least achieved our goal for this show.

Load in / Load out is fairly easy, I blogged about the show logistics, fees, etc. last year so instead of re-writing all of that, I’ll refer you to last year’s blog:

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/allied-arts-leaving-richland-a

We had several repeat customers and seem to be building a great client base in this area.  This is the one big show they have each summer and is well attended.  We were a bit disappointed to see how they had reconfigured the portion of the show where our booth was located.  We had the same booth number but instead of having our nice shady location we were without shade most of the day, we had a lot of comments from customers that we had one of the hottest booth locations, groan, grumble, etc.  Set up and tear down in the direct sunshine was also a little more exhausting, but at least the tent dried very quickly after being packed away in rain the weekend before.

Friday sales started early and rapidly  between 9-11 and then seemed to die for a couple of hours.  The crowd seemed to shrink about 2 PM until early evening.  We had a few sporadic sales through the afternoon and then after 6 PM the crowd seemed to multiply quickly and we closed the evening with a few more sales.  Overall it was our lowest Friday at this show, a decent day but not the great day we had last year on Friday.  Friday’s weather was warm (97 for the high) with higher than normal humidity for this part of the state.  We were saved by having a fairly windy afternoon, that helped keep the air moving and made it feel a little more bearable.

Saturday started slower but sales were very steady for us from 10 – 4 and then a few last minutes sales between 6 PM and 7 PM.    The weather was much more pleasant with a high only in the lower 90’s, low humidity and a wonderful breeze for part of the day.  Saturday was a better sales day for us and the crowd was pretty steady all day.

Overall this is a fairly pleasant show to do.  No artist amenities are offered, the focus is really on just the art.  There is a stage with music and some performances by various dance groups, but it’s off to the side and the volume is not an issue.  The food area is close to the stage and there’s plenty of seating near the food area so we did not have near as many people walking through with messy hands, trying to touch jewelry while eating their junk food.   The show is held the weekend of the hydroplane races on the Columbia River.  I learned this year that this used to be a 3 day show and years ago the organizers decided that holding the show on Sunday wasn’t worthwhile for the artists due to the races, so they shortened it to a 2 day show and eliminated Sunday.  Nice to see a show where the organizers are actually concerned about making it worthwhile for the artists. 

This is a show that most likely remain on our schedule and continues to be the start of our summer road trip. Next stop?  Couer d’Alene ID, Art on the Green.  Hoping to get a few things restocked between now and Thursday.

I just found this in my inbox:

Would you like to exhibit your art in a Lake Bluff Art show without any application fee? Not only would it cost you nothing, but also the tent is already provided.  As if no fee and no tent were not easy enough,  you don’t even have to take your work home over night.

“Art for the Parks” will be the next exhibit and sale presented by Artists on the Bluff, our local arts organization with members from Lake Bluff and the neighboring communities. The event will take place Saturday, August 25th, and Sunday, August 26th, 10am to 5pm each day, in the Lake Bluff Golf Course tent, north Green Bay Road in Lake Bluff. For sale will be paintings, drawings, water colors, jewelry, and ceramics. There will be no entry fee for artists to display and sell their work but 35 percent of sale prices will be devoted...

Learn more and report back to us here! http://gazebonews.com/2012/07/29/art-show-in-lake-bluff-no-entry-fee/

Well, in case you don't know, I have been at the Meijer Heart Center (more specifically, Butterworth Hospital which is attached to it) since last Tuesday.  They knocked 22 pounds off me, mostly water, getting me ready for Open Heat Surgery Tomorrow.  Yes, they will  be cracking my chest open.

The Hospital Bed

They are state of the art here.  you have hand controls,also same controls are on both sideboards of the bed.  So it is all easily reachable.

I can raise or lower the foot end of the bed, do the same with my head end of the bed.

You have two controls for lights, one for reading and one for overall lighting.

I have a control to get to the TV or to get to movies, they have over 100 free movies to watch such as J.Edgar,etc.  You have good choices.

HOSPITAL FOOD

Bottom line, the food is healthy, but bland.  Here are some tricks I quickly learned to help get the most out of your food choices.

Initially,say for breakfast, when the nutritionist hasn't talked to you about choices, they are going to give you the pro forma menu.

In this case you would get coffee with a low fat milk, a juice,usually apple, a cold cereal with fruit like straw berries.  You would get one piece of toast with margarine.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR CHOICES

You ask the nurse for the nutritionist number in the kitchen.  You call her on the house phone.

You have to prod her about choices.

For example, instead of cold cereal I could order oatmeal or cream of wheat, order two packets of brown sugar to go with it.  Then query about what fresh fruits are available.  I could get strawberries,melon or red grapes.

Next, ask about bread choices.  I found out that I could have a bagel or a English muffin as well as the usual rye, whole wheat choices.  I could get a margarine and cream cheese.

Then I found out I could have eggs, scrambled only.  First day I ordered them that way and they were bland.  Then I got a good idea.  I called and asked if I could get sliced tomatoes, they said yes.  Could I get some onions diced?  Yes.  Now we were cooking with mazola baby.

So, I would order the eggs,bagel, cream cheese, tomatos and onions.  Then I would fashion an egg sandwich with the ingredients, it was a vast improvement over just plain scrambled eggs.

HOW TO IMPROVE ON LUCH OPTIONS

The first lunch I got was plain dried white pice of chicken--nothing on it erred with steamed veggies, then two dinky oatmeal cookies and some apple juice.  Yuck!

IMPROVEMENTS

Found out that soups were available, I ordered chicken w/rice, or chicken/noodles.  Order extra packets of Mr. Dash (I was on a no salt diet) extra packets of pepper--dump all of them in your soup--yummm

Ask about entree choices and pick your best one.  Instead of steamed veggies, get fresh veggies with a dip, much better. Order a juice or a milk.  For dessert I ordered either vanilla or chocolate pudding.  On top of that I got a fresh fruit--I like red grapes.  I was full, good lunches.

DINNER OPTIONS

Again ask about the entree choices and get what you like.  A lot of the time I would have a choice of swiss steak(with a passable gravy), a pork chop with a tropical fruit topping(not bad), a hamburger,pass, a turkey sandwich(dress it up with mayo, tomato,lettuce and a little onion w/mustard.)Other nights it was a big slice of white turkey or chicken, no embellishments.  Most will come w/mashed potatoes and gravy (which I hate), instead I would get white rice w/gravy or a whole baked potato dressed with sour cream, margarine, pepper, and Mr. Dash.  Yummm!  Then order a roll or bread.  Then get fresh fruit like nice pineapple chunks, strawberries or grapes.  Then get a pudding or a sherbet, and ask for animal crackers.  Order a juice or coffee.

Not a bad meal, all things considered.

Finally, dream about how that glass of a good red wine is going to taste ( Mine will come on Oct. 25 my birthday).

You gotta admit this is a very different Tequila Report.

i didnt think that nels and others questions were out of line . if its really none of our business why post at all? it would be good to have a reference points as  to what sales were in round figures, what was being sold, price range of the work and anything else that might help us out .i had read aa posts about how bad it is but leslies post has me rethinking about applying to aa. is so. univ. part of something else or is it a show by itself? more info never hurts, im not the irs . im just trying to figure out a show that ive always heard great things about. recent posts had me wondering. im glad you had a really good show mary and that you knew what ques to ask. i dont...yet, but ill never figure it out if i dont ask. as a general rule i think a lot of posters are too ambiguous. give up the details, good or bad and let us figure it out for ourselves. we thank you.

We were discussing pricing awhile back.  At least questions about price indicate getting PAID.  Everyone I know thinks of me when it comes to any kind of fundraising, whether it be church, school, athletic, animal rescue, on and on.  I usually donate prints for my closest friends, but for most I'll do a gift certificate for my least expensive portrait, knowing that most people will choose a larger size or more subjects.  I figure it is work I wouldn't have gotten anyway and some exposure.  It can be a little frustrating when you are asked over and over to give away your work in support of someone else's charity.

Every once in awhile, I'm the one who chooses to work for free.  I always offer to draw a memorial portrait when someone dear to me has lost someone.  It's a precious alternative to flowers that the family really appreciates.  Sometimes I'm not sure whether to offer a portrait as a wedding gift, or if people would prefer a cash gift. 

In today's blog I write about a time I was inspired to draw someone for free because he was so damn wonderful.  Thanks so much to those who have takent the time to read my blog and for writing such kind messages to me.

http://www.pencilenvy.blogspot.com/2012/07/barry-henby-and-birthday-emergency.html

It was a beautiful weekend, hope you all had great shows!

Wendy

Sunday took us to Appleton, WI's Art at the Park. A couple of years ago, they moved the show from being on the park grass, to being on the street around the park. This was done because of wet grounds from a lot of rain that year. They have continued to keep the exhibitors on the street, which works out very well. For some strange reason, last year was a rough year in sales at this show for many artists. I am glad to report that this year, our sales were up 300% over last years sales. The crowd is very engaged in art. And this year, they were back to buying art. In addition, the Trout Museum has a new Director. She has only been "on the job" for 10 weeks. She personally came into our booth and thanked us for providing an item in the auction. That was very nice. We love the Appleton Show and look forward to returning next year for our seventh year.

I know it sounds odd, but for many of my customers I seem to have become their “secret weapon” in 'keeping up with the Jones’ ' scenarios.   I’m  specifically referring to well to do, more mature ladies (i.e more grown up children) who “do lunch” with their friends, attend fundraisers, love to shop and so on.

They have usually found me online (by chance!) or at a show and live at least a couple of hours drive away (my local customers are more than happy to spread the word).    They buy regularly from me, for both themselves and gifts but overall, we’re not talking huge $ - perhaps $200-300 from each of them a year.   But that’s where it ends.  You would assume that you would get some ‘word of mouth’ happening and a few referrals.  Although I hear that they’ve received so many compliments on their newest purchase, I’m yet to see that translate … EVER… into an enquiry.  

I’ve think I’ve become their secret weapon in the way to outdo their friends (who I assume are similar in style and taste to them).    I’m obviously not well known where they are so that they can't "drop" my name and have it mean anything.  When complimented I assume they just say thank you and move on, or when pressed,  describe me as the little ‘girl’ (although I hardly fit that description any longer) that makes things for them.  To quote one of them  “I told my friends I have this amazing little girl I found who makes them for me”.   End of story.

I’m not comfortable with saying to them  “please let your friends know” as these are established clients and that line seems more appropriate for newer clients - and a bit pushy at this late stage.    

So, is there any way that I can turn this to my advantage?   Or a way to get them to spread the word?  Any ideas welcome!

September 29 & 30
Bloomsbury, New Jersey
on the historic Main Street
60+ Exhibitors
Deadline: August 15

The Bloomsbury Fall Arts Festival provides funding for the Bloomsbury Elementary School cultural arts programs, while providing area residents and visitors the opportunity to appreciate the visual and performing arts.

This is a community run festival and all proceeds go directly to the local elementary school, a very small school (pre-K thru 8th grade, one class for each grade) and a correspondingly very small budget...the festival provides for cultural and/or educational assemblies that the children would otherwise go without.  It supports local artists for and Artist's Day, authors doing readings & workshops, dance/music assemblies and many more activities.

The festival was started more than 10 years ago by a former art teacher at the school, and when she moved from the area community members took over the running of it.  It's an enormous undertaking & many many people are involved & committed to its success.

Bloomsbury Fall Arts Festival is in Hunterdon County, a rural yet affluent area of the state.  The Festival is easy to reach by car-it is immediately adjacent to a major interstate highway, I-78.  We enjoy a high percentage of repeat artists who, among other benefits, simply enjoy the beautiful setting that the Festival provides.

It is held in the Bloomsbury's historic district, on Main Street, which is lined with ancient maples and quaint Victorian-era homes.  It's a very charming location to pitch one's tent!  Past participants have also consistently commented on the warmth and helpfulness demonstrated by the Festival volunteers as well as the town residents.

Local non-profit organizations (churches, PTO and the FD Ladies Auxiliary) provide food booths, all featuring delicious homemade treats.  The festival also boasts a stage with a variety of local musical acts featured throughout the weekend.  In addition, each year there is a children's area with activities.

For more info. and application: www.bloomsburyartsfest.com

Our apologies for last year's sudden cancellation of the event. It was beyond our control but all is well this year. We welcome your application and look forward to seeing familiar faces. 

I know it wasn't all that long ago I asked you all to post a few well wishes for Nels Johnson, however, I am going to ask you to leave a few more for him again.   I hear Nels is off getting well and he could use a few more of our well wishes to help him over this last hurdle.  He has a laptop and can check in here everyday.  I am sure it will brighten his day knowing that we all care.  So, please send Nels your well wishes here.  Thank you.

Today was an unusual day in the Chicagoland area, there was an art festival that was simply that, an art festival.

And what a good festival it was.

The quality was very good, there was no more than one or two questionable booths and no one medium seemed to overwhelm.  Ok, I have one complaint, there wasn't enough blown glass.  

And what else wasn't at the show?  There was no NY Times salesman yelling at everyone walking by, no Verizon,  no window companies.  There wasn't any music, no food smells, just a lot of people walking around enjoying the art.  You could have a conversation with the artists without having to talk over outside interference.  

Getting back to the quality--I saw artists that I have seen at Coconut Grove, Port Clinton, Krasl and other shows. These artists were not slouches.  And, the most fun is seeing artists we rarely see or have never seen before.   The show itself is held in an affluent suburb west of Chicago.  I don't pay that much attention to bags but if crowded booths mean anything, people were buying.  

The artists we talked to were all very happy with how the festival was run.

My pARTner in crime and cousin, Audrey  and I do not usually venture south of Evanston so Geneva is out of our geographic comfort zone.  We got lost coming and going  (and I got some great clothes at great prices at the mall we turned around at) but it was definitely worth the trip.

A big thanks to Erin Melloy, the promoter for concentrating on the important thing--The Art.

Here's our latest podcast from July 26, where I spoke with three people who between them attend over 100 shows a year and buy at all of them! In addition, they take their friends who also collect the work they find at the shows. Listen to it here:

• Geri Wegner's favorite Christmas gift from her husband is a deposit to a special "art festival account"
• Ed Seidman says that going to an art fair is "like going to a museum with the difference that you can take home the art"
• Judie Seidman's critique of attractive art fair booths, suggests that an artist might emulate how goods are displayed in high end stores when designing a booth
• why they never enter a booth where the work looks manufactured

Listen and tell us what you think. What was most interesting to you?

Check out the rest of our podcasts by clicking on the "Radio" button on the toolbar at the top of the site.

  It has been a long time since I have someone ask if I can take less for an item. At the show I did last week, I had two people ask. One was actively looking at an item, and I felt she was more-or-less interested. The other one, however, just strolled by, slowed slightly, and asked, "Can you take less for these items?" having never picked up an item to even SEE THE PRICE. I have done shows for a long time, but I don't feel that I have a good response to this question. Any suggestions?

A tip for artists applying to the ACC shows

I forgot to put this in my last newsletter.

I'm going to post this in the jury forum also.

JAS has a different policy than ZAPP. Though they both allow you to change images in the application after submitting it, ZAPP makes you jump through hoops by contacting the show and asking them if they will set your application to incomplete or exception. JAS on the other hand, allows changes in your application right up until midnight (Pacific time) of the final closing date.

For example, ACC deadline is August 1st but there is a late deadline of August 8th. If you submit your application by August 1st, you can change your images without penalty up until August 8th.

I'm saying this because I'm currently working with an artist that needs her work rephotographed for the ACC application. She was nervous that the deadline was coming up Wednesday and it would cost a higher jury fee of she missed it.

No problem. I advised her to apply today using the images currently in her profile and that I would changed them after I photograph her work next week.

Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100

Last year I was thrilled to participate in some of the "bigger" shows, like AA Street Original, Madison on the Square, St. James Court, Krasl, among others.  I'm still a newbie, and the booth fees and travel expenses blew me away, but I wanted the exposure. Financially I did okay, and made about 5 to 8 times my booth fees.  But the travel and  long hours were exhausting and I felt I needed to step back and consider whether it was all really worth it or not.

This year I've pulled back and have been going to smallish local area shows within one or two hours drive from home.  These are advertised as "art fairs", run by local art guilds or ladies' groups or community organizations.  There are jewelers and painters as well as dip mix and "stuff on a stick".  The booth fees run from $50 to $100.  No hotel stay, not much gas, I take a lunch, set-up and tear-down are easy, the show staff is thrilled to have a "real artist" with a very nice display and sometimes give me an award which means no booth fee next year if I'll return.

Patrons walk around, don't see much they want, and come back to me to make what may be their only purchase at the show.  Good work still sells and I find that people do appreciate quality and want to buy from local artists.  My daughter calls it the "Big Fish in a Small Puddle" phenomenon.  I've been making an average of $2000 per show, with $100-$150 investment, and I'm home for supper.  Plus, many of these customers will make the trek to my holiday open house, which has grown steadily every year for four years.

For me the "big shows" just don't make sense anymore.  I think I'll be investing in growing my local market, rather than putting money into the pockets of show organizers and driving myself to exhaustion to try and get recognition.  My dog thinks I'm famous.   That's enough for me.  :)

This event takes place in Sequim (pronounced Skwim) which supposedly, if you buy into their marketing, is the sunniest place in Western WA. Yeah right!!! July 20-22 and we had rain on both Friday and Sunday with very gray skies on Saturday, but thankfully one day without rain. The best weather day??? Set up day on Thursday. However, that being said, after participating in this event in the rain, I can definitely see the potential this event has to offer if the weather were sunny. Western WA residents are used to the rain, after all, there is a reason we are the “Evergreen State”. However, rain in July and August? You can’t believe the complaints, grumpy attitudes and just general “grousing” we all participate in, artists, patrons, promoters, volunteers, it affects us all. Shouldn’t we be able to have at least 2 months a year without soggy conditions?? Guess not, for the second year in a row this was a soggy festival and chilly. Temps never really got above the low 70’s at best, many hours in the 50’s and low 60’s. Not typical summer weather. I’ve included a picture of the “lake” in our booth on Friday AM when we opened.

The Lavender festival attracts 500K visitors a year, many who are from out of state. Sequim is located on the Olympic Peninsula along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. On clear, sunny days, you can see Vancouver Island across the strait. It’s a beautiful part of the state and attracts summer visitors who are escaping the heat as well visitors from Seattle who are looking for a fun weekend. The festival has gone through a bit of a change with a split a few years ago and now a separate “Art in the Park” event is being held. I’ve not heard many good reports from that event, most artists there did not fare as well as those of us at the Street Fair that is part of the Lavender Festival. That being said, there seems to be a general consensus that the split of the festival and now having 2 art shows on the same weekend has hurt everyone. Soggy weather didn’t help, but the new event has added other attractions such as a balloon festival and other events that are distracting from what used to be a weekend to attend the street fair and visit lavender farms. I think both shows are suffering from too many add on events that are detracting from the original purpose of the festival.

Load in was easy, all day Thursday, they published times by location. We were there early and our area was virtually empty, the show promoter told us we were more than welcome to load in early. I never really saw any traffic snarls during load in, we were able to leave our truck next to the booth for most of load in, our neighbors showed up when we were about 80% complete so we quickly got our truck out of the way. They also allowed us to park our travel trailer within site of our booth. YES, gotta love that convenience. It made for a very easy early afternoon trip to the trailer to brew more coffee for my husband and make some chai tea for me, and yes, it was chilly enough to make us appreciate having the extra warm beverages. Load out, well, that was another story, no oversight, lots of artists who pulled in well before they were packed up. It was raining during tear down which made it more difficult, we parked at the end of the street and dollied everything about ½ a block. However, we had a “lake” forming in the booth so tear down was challenging, trying to keep everything dry, but not being able to put anything on the ground in about 1/3 of our booth. Yuck, sloppy mess, yep, summer in Western WA.

Sales??? Well, I need to crunch the numbers to see if we do this one again, but they were decent. Friday in the rain was awful, didn’t even make booth ($375), Saturday was a good day, the “be backs” really helped end the day on a positive note. Sunday, about twice of Friday, well less than ½ of Saturday, in the rain. Our last 2 customers spent almost $400 near the end of the day which left us feeling a little better. Without those 2 customers it would have been a dismal day. This show replaced a local, very steady 2 day show for us with a $100 lower booth fee and $200 less in expenses and one where we can sleep in our own bed at home. So, we have to crunch the numbers to see if we decide to try this show again. On a sunny weekend I can definitely see more potential at this show than our local show, but 3 long days vs. 2 short days, hmm, will just have to think about this one some more.

BTW, restaurant recommendation?? Alderwood Bistro, within walking distance of where we parked, has a lovely outdoor garden where you can dine, everything is organic and you see the kitchen help coming out to cut fresh herbs, etc. Doesn’t get much fresher than that, the smoked salmon pizza? Yum!

Jewish Art Federation

Presents

Nelson V. Batin

333 S. 132^nd Street

Omaha, NE 

August 1st through 31^st

Please join us for a unique experience for your home and office. 

Nelson’s dedication allows him to find the reverence and joy in Mother Nature; whether it is in the quietness of a forest, the loveliness of springtime or the beauty of koi in a Hawaiian airport is captured to its fullest with his vivid gifts of color.