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When I get inundated with information about an art fair, especially in a really small town I need to stop and take a look. Probably about 20 years ago some artists traveling through the Midwest discovered Hannibal, on the Mississippi, and started buying property and renovating schools, jails and other promising properties into homes and studios.

Recently they held an art fair and I received links about it even from the San Francisco Chronicle and this A.P. link from Atlanta:

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Nancy Lee Kaufman was prominent in the arts scene in chic Santa Fe, N.M., and later made her woven art along the ocean near San Diego. So how did she end up living in a previously condemned house near the railroad tracks in small-town Missouri? The short answer: By choice.

This June 7, 2012, photo shows items woven by artist Nancy Lee Kaufman in her shop in Hannibal, Mo. Kaufman moved from Santa Fe., N.M. to Hannibal after hearing other artists talk about living in the riverfront town known mostly for its favorite son, Mark Twain. (AP Photo/The Courier-Post, Mary Lou Montgomery)

Other artists began telling Kaufman about the burgeoning arts community in Hannibal, a Mississippi River town of 18,000 known mostly for favorite son Mark Twain. When she visited in 2005 she happened upon a once-gorgeous old downtown home overlooking the Mississippi River, an early 19th century building in such disrepair....

This June 7, 2012, photo shows artist Nancy Lee Kaufman in her shop in Hannibal, Mo. Kaufman moved from Santa Fe., N.M., to Hannibal after hearing other artists talk about living in the riverfront town known mostly for its favorite son, Mark Twain. (AP Photo/The Courier-Post, Mary Lou Montgomery)

This June 7, 2012, photo shows artist Steve Ayers in his shop in Hannibal, Mo. When Ayers opened his pottery shop in 1985 he was about the only artist in the riverfront town known mostly for its favorite son, Mark Twain. Twain still is the main draw for the half-million tourists who visit Hannibal each year, but now they get a bonus: A growing number of artists, many of national and international repute. (AP Photo/The Courier-Post, Mary Lou Montgomery)

Here is the link to the story from the Associated Press:

http://www.ajc.com/travel/artists-community-grows-in-1454650.html

and more about their art fair:

http://www.hannibal.net/education/x1383310780/Art-Fair-bringing-together-artists-customers

and more:

http://www.hannibal.net/features/x1215199878/Artists-enjoy-Hannibal-show-plan-to-return

Someone is doing a great job of promoting this town. I know a bunch of these people, including Steve Ayers. This is such a fine example of artists who are saving a town. Good job folks!

Does anyone have any other input on this or know of other places that are great places for artists to live?

I've arranged a $59 artist rate at the Sleep Inn on Preston Hwy in Louisville for anyone participating in the St. James art festival. I've stayed there the last 3 years it's clean, safe, free parking, free breakfast, close to restaurants and show site (3 miles away). Call 502-368-9597 and ask for the artist rate. If interested book soon as it will fill up

After receiving notification of my work being accepted to this Columbia, MD show, I was asked to use one of my pieces online and as part of the promotional ad for the show.  I was pleased to accept, (that's my 18-inch bamboo bowl wall hanging near the earrings above).  This was the first time I'd applied to ArtPark; part of a 2-week festival which includes dramatic, music, and dance performances.  The show consisted of 43 artists, in the usual categories, and the overall quality of the work I saw during the show was high, with no buy/sell. 

We made the 6-hour drive on Thursday, stayed overnight with a friend, and arrived early for our desginated Friday 11 am setup time.  We were met by show management, and walked to our tent location.  The setting is around a beautiful lake, with tents facing a row of restaurants with both indoor and outdoor seating shaded by large trees. Cars are not allowed onto the actual tent site, so management provided motorized vehicles and able-bodied volunteers to load and deliver everything there.  Cool!  We like to have a leisurely setup whenever possible, and this fit the bill; the weather was gorgeous (as it was all weekend), and arriving early meant we were set up well ahead of our neighbors.  There was absolutely NO space between tents in our area, which was a pain.  Before the show opened, the fire marshal walked through, noting each artist's type/brand of tent.  This was significant, given the stringent requirements for fire safety stated on the application and acceptance documents (we also were required to have a specific type of fire extinguisher 'prominently placed' inside the tent).

Show hours were 5pm to 9pm Friday, Noon to 9pm Saturday, and Noon to 7pm Sunday, and admission was free. 

Friday was slow, and although there were many after dinner strollers, there were virtually no buyers.  People who'd done the show before (the few there were) said this was typical of Friday night. 

Not opening until noon Saturday was pleasant, there was a steady stream of people all day, though no huge crowds.  In Baltimore, which is about a 30-minute drive away, there was a major event going on at the harbor, with tall ships and the Blue Angels, so this may have accounted for the smaller numbers.  The festival had music, and a trapeze act in another section apart from where we were, as well as a kids' area and food.  We had several sales during the late afternoon, the usual complement of "I'll be backs," and overall, we were positive about the show.  Volunteers were polite and plentiful, offering to booth sit.  Each morning, there was coffee and doughnuts at the welcome tent.  Show managers were also visible, and made a point of visiting to ask how things were going.  During the late afternoon, our neighbor, who sold fused glass jewelry and plates said she had "her most expensive piece" stolen while she was talking with people in her booth.  I think her non-secure display contributed to this (small pieces in open trays on a table at the front of the booth, while she sat in the back, below the level of the table), as well as the fact that she was alone.  We had no such incidents, nor did I hear of any others. 

Sunday brought us some fantastic surprises:  two of the "I'll be backs" actually did come back.  One to purchase a companion piece to one she'd purchased on Saturday, and the other, to purchase three of my newest pieces, which will adorn a law office wall. Adding these two sales made Sunday my highest grossing day ever, and I was beyond thrilled!  The show ended with an efficient breakdown and load out, with the motorized carts, helpers, and advantageous parking space making it among the easiest we've ever had. 

Would I do ArtPark again?  Absolutely.  In fact, I may be invited to do it next year.  Apparently, the management extends invitations to previous exhibitors, which means they don't have to be juried for that year.  Would I recommend it to others?  Yes.  Here's what you'll need to know to apply:

ArtPark information:  Show dates:  June 15~17, 2012   Application deadline:  March 2, 2012  

Application:  online .pdf on the show site:  http://columbiafestival.com/artpark-fine-art-crafts-show-sale/

No Entry Fee. 

Show fee:  $200   Electricity fee:  $50 (you'll want it--show runs until 9pm on two of three days, and it's in a heavily shaded area). 

Free parking for exhibitors. 

~Michelle Davis Petelinz

I have a show this weekend where the weather is "iffy" rain-wise.  I've seen mentions of using "swim noodles" in the roof of the tent but never having seen these used, I have no idea what you're supposed to do with them.  Flotation devices in case the water gets that high??

Cassandra

Just asked about one show in Florida and this the other one I thought about trying out in the Jacksonville area. It's also a Howard Alan Event and I've not yet done one of his shows, don't even know if I can get in. Again I didn't find any comments about the show and if anyone has any like to hear about it. I do have friends in Jax so I wouldn't have hotel expenses which is a plus. Thanks Mike

I was looking at this art festival to fill in my November schedule, didn't have much luck last year with christmas shows in the Atlanta area thought I'd try a couple in Florida. Didn't see any reviews or post about the show has any of you tryed this one, any comments or thoughts. Thanks  Mike Brown

After 6 years of applying we were finally accepted. YES!!!  We had heard great things about this festival and were excited to finally be participating.

Edmonds is a suburb about 10 miles north of downtown Seattle with some very affluent neighborhoods that we pass on our way to the park.  The festival is sponsored by the Edmonds Art Foundation and is always held Father’s Day weekend.  Edmonds is located on the Puget Sound and the Field has a nice view of the Sound and the Olympic Mountains.  The festival has 2 sections for artists booth, the Field with about 200 booths and the Plaza with another 40 or so booths. The Plaza is more traditional arts and crafts including soap, food products, beaded jewelers, etc.  The Field is intended to be more Fine Art.  There were a few booths on the Plaza that had me wondering why they weren’t on the Field and vice versa, not sure it’s really clear to most of the attendees either.  The show is run with mostly volunteer support and they do a great job with communication before and during the show.  Overall quality of art at the show was very good, I didn’t see anything that was obvious buy / sell and got the chance to talk with artists around us who travel more extensively for some of the bigger national shows.  The show seemed well balanced and I judge that by the fact that not once all weekend did I hear the comment “oh, another jewelry booth”. 

Artist amenities include breakfast and coffee each morning, artist dinner on Saturday evening, booth sitters and free RV parking a couple of blocks from the festival.  Warning, steep uphill from the artist parking to the festival, not fun to be pushing anything heavy from your vehicle.  Load in was fairly simple, structured in 4 different time slots throughout the day on Thursday.  Load out, well, it was organized, if people would follow directions and be courteous, but it’s a tight fit to get the vehicles in and it’s a long wait to get your vehicle in.  You had the option to dolly out, but parking around the Field was scarce and the field was damp enough that the soil was very soft so plan on a good workout if you want to dolly out.  The show ended at 6 PM on Sunday and by the time we got the truck onto the Field, loaded and packed, we were pulling out of the Field at 8:30 PM, about twice our normal load out time.  So, be patient and bring a book (or in our case our Kindles).  Artist check out (this is a commission show) wasn’t as well organized as other shows we’ve participated in, signage and directions on which line to be in if you were paying with cash, check or charge was not clear, so that also slowed down the load out process.  Booth fees were $150, plus $100 for a corner and more for a 10x15 or 10x20, plus a 15% commission on all sales.

Show hours are fairly long, 10-8 on Friday and Saturday, 10-6 on Sunday, so by the end of the weekend, we were sleep deprived. As jewelers, we take our products home each night and have to put them all out again in the morning so we’re usually some of the first artists to arrive and the last to leave.   We had elected to drive back and forth, about 70-75 minutes each way and by the end of the weekend were wishing we had just brought our RV up and parked in the free parking lot.  Lesson learned, next time we’ll know.

Friday the weather was warm, sunny and beautiful.  The booths had a bit of a “sauna effect” going on, especially the inline booths that had neighbors on all 3 sides.  The sun baking the roof, the moisture from the ground coming up and the insides of the booths were a little warm.  For a Friday, the crowd was larger than usual.  We started our day off by making our booth fee at 10:15 with our first customer, great way to start. Sales were strong until about 1 PM, then a lull, then picked up again in the late afternoon as we had the first wave of people coming in after they got off work.  Sales on Friday, for a Friday were strong for us, we left there pleased.   

Saturday, the day started out overcast and the sun never really broke through, although we did have some sun spots and a small amount of blue sky a couple of times, we also had some showers off and on but it didn’t seem to affect the crowd.  After all, this is June on “wet side” of the Cascades, we expect rain showers for most of June .  The crowd was large, but not enormous.  On Friday we kept hearing that we should expect wall to wall people on Saturday, all the folks on Friday said they came on Friday to avoid the crowds.  Well, we didn’t see that the crowd was much larger on Saturday than Friday.  Our sales were a bit higher, but not as much as I had expected based on everything I’ve heard about this show.  Quantity of sales on Friday for us were relatively small, but most were for higher dollar items, on Saturday the lower price points were selling well, but not the higher end. 

Sunday was noticeably cooler than the previous days, very cloudy, but the rain managed to hold off until after the show ended.  Sales on Sunday were good and with a last minute customer and our largest sale of the entire weekend at 5:50 PM,  we ended up with our best sales day of the show.   Just one more reason my husband keeps reminding me, “it’s not over until the fat lady sings”.  Well, with that last sale, I could have sung all the way home if I weren’t quite so exhausted!

Sales results for most of the artists I spoke to were good, some were up over previous years, others down. No one I talked to reported having a horrible show, some had mediocre results while others were very happy with their results.  Overall, we were happy with our results, a bit higher than our average, maybe not as high as our expectations given everything we’ve heard about this show, but it is one we definitely would like to do again.

The picture below was taken about 2:30 Friday afternoon.  The food court was behind me when I took the picture, up the hill just a bit, so those sitting down for a snack or beverage enjoyed a wonderful view of the Olympics and Puget Sound.  Pretty good crowd for a Friday afternoon.

DO NOT ever exhibit at Custer's Last Stand.  You probably already know this.  In case you took one fellow artist's word for it like I did, you were probably as disappointed as the rest of us last weekend.  It's just a drunken street fair flea market.  My fault!  I should have researched it more.  (You warned me, Claudia!)

It inspired me to write about trying to stay positive at a bad show in my blog.  I'm sure some of you can relate to the stories I share about this particular craptastic experience.

http://pencilenvy.blogspot.com/2012/06/be-positive-sarah-jessica.html

Hope you had a MUCH MUCH better situation last weekend and that next weekend will be wonderful for all of us.

Crossing my fingers for us!

Wendy

www.pencilportraitcards.com

June 16 & 17 
South Bend, Indiana
45th Annual Leeper Park Art Fair
Sponsored by the St. Joe Valley Watercolor Society
120 spaces

Art fair fever grabbed me and made me head to South Bend on Saturday morning to get my fix. It was a lovely morning although it really heated up in the afternoon. The booths are set in a circle in a shaded park. There are no auxiliary activities and only a small food court. The show is visible from the main street. If you're driving through town on the Dixie Highway you can't miss it.

The parking lot was filling when I arrived at 10 am and at the first booth I saw a sale being made. This is an old-fashioned show that is about only one thing - selling art and I can't fault it except for one thing, although booth #'s were prominently displayed there were no names. I had to really hunt for any name signs. Luckily there was a program but it was in alpha order, not numerical and I did a bit of hunting. Friends, please if a show doesn't give you a sign with your name on it, please have one of your own.

There were plenty of people in the park and some booths were full like this pottery booth with work by Jeremy Keller and Mary Ennis.

I'm always on the lookout for creative booth displays. This is the booth of Skeeter Aschinger. I had a heck of a time getting a good shot because of the people who were interested in the work, miniature face sculptures with hand beaded accents. She told me a prior career had been designing displays and it was obvious by her attractive booth that clearly complements her work.

I'm not only looking for good displays, there is always the thrill of seeing artwork that stops you in your tracks. Best of show in my mind should go to Martha Nahrwold whose one of a kind paintings and collage are carefully controlled marbling on paper, floating acrylic paints to create dreamy landscapes. It was the art that drew me in and then I took a look at her booth (isn't that the way it should be?).

This was a great story. Martha started participating in art fairs about 15 years ago and her husband was busy doing his own activities so she devised a set up she could handle herself. The panels are construction styrofoam covered with ultrasuede slipcovers, suspended from handmade hangers. She says she can stack them up and be gone in no time. Plus, let me assure you, it was the work that first drew me to the booth. The display was simple and clearly showcased the work. Isn't that we are all looking for?

It was great seeing old friends and meeting AFI-ers that I've only met online. I loved Robert Wallis' photos with their sensitive use of light and shadow.

Vinnie Sutherland has no peers in her media, she takes a very old technique and presents it in a fresh contemporary way. She works with tin and uses repousse techniques to create the relief in the pieces.

My old friend Johnny Lung with his masterful Chinese paintings - this is not a good shot, visit his website.

Frequent contributor to AFI, John Leben, had a big writeup in the South Bend Tribune. Hope it paid off for you John.

More good old friends from Florida summering in the North, Loretta Fehling

and watercolor painter Michael Weber caught in the act again of making a sale.

My apologies to Joan Tweedell who I also spoke with, I was so pleased to see her that I forgot to take her photo. Love your new etchings, Joan, and it's great to see people moving into a new medium. Congratulations.

A lot of us girls watching the clothes going by - here is my vote for best dressed at the fair.

I hope everyone had a good show this weekend!

Love. Make. Think. "Gobsmacked"

Hi everyone, Does anybody know who to contact to try and get juried into the Ann Arbor Art Fairs at the last minute?

Pro:

Anyone can read it without being approved or pay a fee

Con:

Any post has the potential of silencing others from expressing their opinion

Pro:

If everyone can read what is posted even non-members can learn information and can take action from the ideas shared on the forum

Con:

Sometimes you don't want the "outsiders" to know what you are talking about, or is this a "Pro"?

Pro:

It can be a melting pot from a wide variety of opinions

Con:

You can't speak your mind without possibly getting in trouble with some vested interest

The first popular online open forum in our business was the NAIA forum which was a very dynamic forum until a few obstreperous people continually derailed the discussions and the group voted to make it members only. This really slowed down the discussion and participation dwindled.

In the beginning of AFI all different kinds of people joined and I was pretty clueless about managing it. It was pretty interesting to watch my friends and many strangers show up and debate the questions of the day. People could post anonymously and there were (to my mind) some fists flying. People joined and resigned and rejoined. Many sent  me emails wondering why I was letting such uncivilized behavior occur. At one point there was a mass defection. We changed the rules about anonymous posting, set up a vetting process to allow members into the site, and rewrote our Code of Conduct. Early on some show directors joined and they were attacked and they left, silencing their voices here.

Some of these early voices determined who was on the site and who was not and set the tone.

One thing I have learned is that every comment has the possibility of encouraging someone else to speak and someone else to be silenced. I've heard "well, if they can't interact on an Internet forum how can they expect to prosper at the fairs?" You've got to know the purpose of this site is not to toughen people up.

I don't pay attention to the statistics of the readership or the "hits" and am often surprised when I'm at a show to have someone I know say they read the site regularly and their name isn't even on the membership list. It makes me wonder who is reading the site besides the people who post and comment and what function AFI has for them. My hope is that open discussions can influence people's behavior at the shows and in running the shows.

I can edit everything on the site. I have banned people from the site who came into the forum only to attack others and who never had a constructive point to add and who were just plain mean and rude. I have removed a few that were deliberately attacking another person in a personal way, but probably not often enough.

Many comments and posts have disappeared from the site (including a very recent discussion) because when a person resigns from the site all of their content (comments, discussions, blog posts) disappears with them. I have no control over that.

I've allowed others to stay because sometimes they are very good and sometimes they are very bad and I like to believe the good they contribute outweighs the other. Mostly its a pleasure to get up in the morning to see what is going to happen here today, as there is a solid amount of useful content and I am surprised by the generosity of many of you, but let me tell you folks sometimes it keeps me up at night.

Looking for your input ... is this a fair place to post your views? Got any suggestions on making this a better place for all?

Has anyone done this show in the last few years? Show date is in late Oct. I am considering doing it this year. I am a painter and live in Atlanta. Thanks!

September 14-16
Ferndale, Michigan

9 Mile Road at Woodward

120 artists

Deadline: July 3

"Twice as funky as the average fine art show."

The Ferndale fair focuses on work that skews a little younger, a little hipper. While traditional artwork does sell here, this show focuses on less pastoral work. As many as 40,000 art shoppers attend over the weekend.

Ferndale's vibrant downtown attracts people in their 20's, 30's and 40's. It is a lively community with varied shopping and exciting clubs and restaurants. These people have the means to purchase items that appeal to them.

The show is looking for work that challenges the mind, or simply sparks the imagination. Artwork that does not sit quietly, but invites a reaction. Overall however, keep in mink, this is a high quality juried fine art show.

The art fair is organized by Mark Loeb of Integrity Shows, a veteran organizer of metro Detroit events. Like all of Integrity Shows events, artists are assured of three year's of participation when accepted. Why shouldn't you be able to plan your year?

Booth rent has been held at $275 for five years, with a small up charge for corners or electrical.

Loeb's shows are widely praised for the effort placed toward supporting participating artists. He understands that your success is essential and does what it takes to meet your needs.

Apply on line at: www.zapplication.org

or visit: www.MichiganArtShows.comfor more information

I fully appreciate that a lot of artists are not happy with the extraneous 'entertainment' that is occurring far too often at what used to be strictly art festivals.  I still think there is room for food, music and vendor booths if it is done correctly.

LFOA understands this.  Admission has risen steadily over the years but you can get discounted tickets through a variety of venues that allow you to pay about half the $15 gate.  There is parking with a shuttle bus for $5 but we parked at the Children's museum parking lot for $10 and had a 2 minute walk to the gate.  As you enter you are given a wristband and PNC handed out cloth tote bags.  Then, if you wanted to, you could walk through a sculpture garden featuring works of various artists along with some beautiful plantings by one of the vendors.  All the vendor tents were in  one place also, as you walked in.  You could ignore them or check them out.  There was noone yelling about wonderful deals.  The children's area was also along the same path as the vendor booths.

Most of  the participating artists are located inside one multi-block long gigantic tent.  (There are about 20 artists inside the museum)  It is easy to navigate around the show as the tent is extremely wide.  There is storage for the artists behind their tents but there is no space between them.  Everyone is on cement (it is a street in front of the museum) but you don't have to worry about staking your tent because the 'big tent' is capable of withstanding even hurricane strength winds.  The only thing not art related  in the tent is a souvenir booth for the festival and it is on an uneven section of grass, unsuitable for an artist's booth.

Between the big tent and the museum is artist check-in, volunteer check-in, the silent auction booth, another  souvenir booth, a couple of vendors, the music stage and the food booths.  In the middle of all this are tables for the patrons to sit down and eat.  While we were there, the music was never so loud as to be intrusive inside the tent.  While eating fairly decent food, you can watch sailboats  and enjoy the lake breeze.  When you are ready you can go back in the tent and again be totally immersed in art.

And the quality of the art is wonderful.  This is an above average festival.  I didn't see any buy/sell or anything that hinted of b/s.  I don't know how sales are going.  I know that one jeweler had sold 8 various pieces in the first 90 minutes and a ceramic artist sold a 4 figure piece.  Jim Parker is there with his wonderful photography and he will be able to tell more about sales.  

Two side notes--  I always look at the jewelry that people are wearing at art festivals.  This festival had some of the best jewelry worn by patrons I have ever seen.  Hopefully they bought more, they had plenty of chances.

Birget of the "copied jewelry" fiasco was at the show.  I mentioned to her that I could see why someone would copy her work, it is lovely  and also that I was glad all her equipment made it to Chicago on time, saying that facebook lets a person learn all kinds of things.  I never told her who I was and only mentioned I had read about the copier on AFI.  She then asked me if I could watch her booth since she didn't want to wait for a boothsitter.    I love that artists believe in the best of people.  Taking checks, letting people take something home to see if it is 'right' for their house and letting a complete stranger sit in your booth while you are gone for ten minutes.  

Community Art Fair next to 57^th St. Art Fair, Chicago, IL

I need to think hard about this show. This was one of my first art fairs that ever did. I remember dolling in from 51^th St down to the show. I did not have any idea what I was doing. I think about all those things and black and white work (mostly people). Just happy to make some money of my work and the booth fee was 120. So even with three bad shows in a row I may still do the show again next year.

The show does not make any promotion. They gonna start a Facebook page this year. All promotions are done by the 57^th St people. So we depend on them. There no clear cut where one show start or end if you visit the show for the first time. The show is set up on small park on 57^th and Kenwood which is the next street from 57^th Art Fair. The hours are 10 to 6 Saturday and Sunday. Once you are in you are in. The demand for spot is very high. The people that run the show are very nice and they do what they can but we all getting old.

The set up is very simple you need to early and dolly into the park. Do not go by the time they tell you get there early. The early the better, in my case 6 am. There no electric, bathroom are the same as 57^th Art Fair (school in the middle of the fest), no breakfast, no, no, no and the booth fee now is 325.00.

The weather had been nice in Chicago for the past month but people did not show up at the show for the third year in a row. The crowds are way down. This crowd are just looking and do not buy art period. It could that this show lost his luster. We use to get people from Indiana and near states. You get some ex students of the University of Chicago coming in for the reunion but very few buy art. At this point we only getting local people that just tired of us. Most items are way under 100.00 and very few big sales. The big buyers are very few for all us. Some people blame Amy Amdur for the show the goes against this one in downtown Chicago. Other people blame the economy. Not what rason the only thing that matter is how much you take in. A lot of artist told me that is was just very bad. Even the staff of the show was talking how bad the show was this year for most the artists. Same you can said about the 57^th Art Fair.

My advice if you are not local or do not have a strong emai or mailing list dont do this show for a while. The area has been affect very strongly the economy but the University is developing a lot and is neighborhood of our current President (Mr. Obama).