Blog

The title really says it all, but since this is a blog - I'll elaborate.

Last weekend I took my husband, under duress, to a fine art fair. Having exhibited at mostly local arts and crafts, I wanted to get a feel for fine arts and booth set ups. I also wanted him to check out how tents were weighted because I was hoping he'd take on that responsibility. Even though I told him it was fine art show, he still thought I was dragging him to another arts and "crap" show (his words).  Admittedly, I gave up trying to explain fine art, especially in relation to jewelry.

Once parked, the husband thought he was going to just take a nap in the truck. No such luck for him. After I explained his role, we ate some greasy fair food and set off through the show. At some point we got separated because he thought I was spending too much time at a particular jewelry booth. When I explained that I was chatting with the artist, he scoffed "Artist???"  

There's a lot about this whole scene that he just doesn't get. In his way, though, he is being supportive and really does want me to be successful. He finally understood what I wanted as far as weights and did go to the local masonry supply for cement blocks. And he'll lend muscle whenever he can. Yesterday was my first show with my new tent, so he met me there and helped set up. He doesn't quite understand that there are breakables in the Rubbermaid tub. Luckily, nothing broke when he tossed it to the ground. He forgot to lock the table legs - again, luckily, there were only a few things on it (and I was holding on) when one side collapsed.

I figured I was tearing down on my own at 5:00, but then my knight in shining armor rode up on his motorcycle.

Maybe some day, he'll "get it".  In the meantime, I'll take whatever he's willing to offer.

In 1995 a group of 25 artists met informally in Chicago at the Old Town Art Fair to discuss concerns and interests of the current state of affairs in the art and craft show world. The concept of the National Assn. of Independent Artists (NAIA) was born out of that meeting and the organization was officially formed and named in March 1996.  The stimulus for this meeting was a near riot at an art fair in Charlotte, NC, that April.  What sounded like a gunshot went off and the huge crowd stampeded down the street smashing tents and artwork that was in the way.

Artists decided that it would be a good idea to adapt some "best policies" to present to art fairs in order to avoid this kind of occurrence happening again. I was at this first meeting and it was exciting to join the group to see if working together artists could improve our working conditions. The NAIA has done a lot of good things for artists, but to artists the most invisible one is the Show Director's Conferences.

I've attended most of these conferences, always held in conjunction with an art fair so the directors can see how events are held in different parts of the country and to learn how they can improve their shows. Last week they met in Indianapolis with our sponsor being the Broad Ripple Art Fair. In attendance: (photos below)

     Dave & Carla Fox: Art in the High Desert
     Sharon McAllister & Jeanne Seehaver: ArtFest Fort Myers
     Jay Snyder & Craig Thompson: ByHand Cleveland
     Brian Wood: Cedarhurst Center for the Arts
     Antonia Lindauer: Cherokee Triangle Art Fair
     Terry Adams & Tara Brickell: Cherry Creek Arts Festival
     Vaughn Griffith & Mary-Sue Bartlett: College Hill Arts Festival
     Peggy Finnegan: Colorscape Chenango Arts Festival
     Stephen King, Angie Lolbet & Beth Johnson: Des Moines Arts Festival
     Patty Narozny & Elise Richey: Hot Works
     Sara Shambarger & George Barfield: Krasl Art Center
     Georgie Kelly & Mary Fourhman: Madison Chautauqua Festival of Art
     Nichole Smith: Newport Arts Festival
     Linda Beckstrom & Lynn Pritchard: South Shore Frolics Festival of Art
     Lisa Konikow & Connie Mettler: Arts, Beats & Eats
     Sarah Arnold: Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival
     Lisanne Robinson: Sebastian Art Festival
     Leah Charney: Zapplication
     Artists: Les & Ella Slesnick, Marji Rawson, David Rosenberg, Rich Fizer, Kate Strong, Teresa Saborsky, Carroll Swayze & Mary Strope, Admin for NAIA

As you can see from this list it is an excellent mix of events from the big name festivals to smaller volunteer run events. This makes for great dialogue as, depending on your point of view, just about every issue has a different answer.

This year's conference was a dialogue among the attendees addressing what artists feel are the most important topics at today's shows.

The first presentation was on the costs of doing art shows presented by Terry Adams (the guy with the really big budget), Sara Shambarger (smaller budget) and two artists, Carroll Swayze and Rich Fizer (really small budget). The budget for Cherry Creek is well over $1,000,000 and Terry presented a pie chart for where the money comes from and where it goes. How much is funded by jury fees? Make some guesses in the comments below.

The next topic was Booth Images, facilitated by Carla Fox and Stephen King. Everyone weighed in on what the booth image meant to their show and how important it is. The general consensus was that shows use booth shots for two purposes:

• to get an idea of what the presentation will look like at their show and
• to see that the work that is presented in the art images is related to the final presentation

They also agreed that indoor shots or outdoor shots were not any kind of a deciding factor, they just really wanted to see how your art would fit into the finest possible presentation to the attending public.

This was followed by a cocktail party. We were asked to attend as our favorite artist, work of art, or style of art.

Nichole Smith as "Mixed Media", Jeanne Seehaver as "Annie Liebovitz"

Stephen King as "Stephen King"

Who is this show director who attended as "Andy Warhol"?

Connie Mettler & Lisa Konikow attended as "Art Fair"
Lisa took first place and Connie took third place in identifying important works of art. We were proud!

Leah Charney as "The Lady in the Hat" by Matisse.

Would you believe that this is the face of Zapplication?

The next entire day was spent on buy/sell, identifying imports and production work. Carroll Swayze presented a paper with excellent research to help directors identify imposters and buy/sell people. Some show directors google every applicant to make sure that the applicant is the actual artist. We all shared our personal experiences and resources for finding buy/sell. All agreed it was best to find out these agents before the show and allow them to make their case rather than wait until they were in the show, causing disruption on many fronts.

That evening we rode a school bus to the Preview Party on the lovely grounds of the Indianapolis Art Center. Congratulations to Patrick Flaherty, the new director of the Broad Ripple Art Fair, for this excellent gathering. Then back to downtown Indianapolis to make some last connections with one another and promises to weed out the buy/sell.

Even at a party the directors are still reviewing booth images! This is Teresa Saborsky, Jeanne Seahaver, Terry Adams, Carla Fox & Leah Charney (back to camera)

Peggy Finnegan from Chenango Colorscape and Terersa Saborsky, director of the NAIA

Almost all of us returned on Saturday to Broad Ripple to see the show, meet friends and BUY ART!

Summation: much of substance does get covered at these conferences but nothing beats the interaction with fellow directors and the networking that continues through the year.

The Northern VA Fine Arts Festival has always been one of my favorites. I find that they nearly always deliver a knowledgeable and appreciative crowd. Although the spring weather has often brought storms with winds tunnels from the tall buildings, this year was definitely a wonderful exception with near perfect weather both days. I only saw about 60% of the show and I thought it looked well juried.

This year, with a donation of a piece of art valued at at least $500, I was invited to participate in the Preview event on Friday evening. Another group of artists was invited to set up mini-exhibits of their work for the preview. There were just less than 20 pieces in the live auction and the average winning bids seemed to be around $400. The donating artists had the option of splitting the bid 50/50 with GRACE or donating the bid entirely to GRACE. The event was very well attended by approximately 250 people and the food was fantastic.

In the past several years, this show has been challenged with new layouts, due to "growing pains" in the Town Center. However, it seems that construction near the site of the show is almost completed and, for one of the first times, there appeared to be no dead zones. With the exception of Library St., booths were set up only on one side of the street. This contributes to easy load-in and load-out as well as making it easier for the crowds to see the show and not missing exhibitors.

It was my observation that this was one of the better selling shows that I've attended in some time, with many customers carrying more than one purchase. I, personally, had my best show, anywhere, in five years, due to repeat sales to some good collectors. I do contemporary paintings in the $200-$5000 range. 

I enjoyed finally meeting fellow AFI'er, Jim Parker, and his lovely wife, Karyn, who were my neighbors. I agree with Jim, that this may be a show that starts slower for newbies but picks up, so I hope they will give it a couple more years! 

GRACE was challenged for funding this year, by the loss of some big sponsors, and were trying to be creative in recouping funds. But, I think most artists were not happy with their new (optional) fee of $100 to select their block (not space) assignment. This is a bad precedent to be setting for other shows, who already charge extra for electricity, corner booths and parking, etc. Instead, I think that booth or block preference should be rewarded to 1) award winners, 2) artists who donate to the Preview Party auction or the C-Note event and 3) artists who pay their booth fees promptly after receiving their invitation to the show.

There are so many wonderful restaurants in the Town Center, that I wish the show would have them provide us with sample menus for orders to go and perhaps coupons for the artists, in lieu of meager lunches.

Finally, there was never a lack of volunteers if you needed to take a break. I'm glad the weather cooperated to provide for a successful show this year in Reston.

Always on the lookout for the good news in the Arts business it was a pleasure to read about a gallery in Birmingham that decided to do their part in the rebuilding of their region after the deadly tornadoes that came through in April.

"When Acme Gallery director Wes Frazer and artist John Lytle Wilson decided they wanted to do a show for tornado relief, they had no idea what they were in for," as donations of art for auction poured in. I haven't seen the entire list, but do see artist Dori DeCamillis, a fixture at the nation's top art fairs in the list of donors for the "Rebuild Alabama" exhibit.

Here is the rest of this story: http://blog.al.com/aharvey/2011/05/post.html

           Ann put about two miles on her new knee during the show

We had heard horror stories of the force of winds blowing through this show in the past and were quite concerned.  As it turned out, it was probably the best weather this show has enjoyed in years.  Thank God.  We only brought sixty pounds of weights per corner and the tent rental people were all out of the 250 pound weights they furnish for artists who request them well ahead of time.  Which we didn't.    

  Anyone familiar with Parkinson's Law will understand that if you have six hours to set up that somehow it manages to take six hours, especially if you pause for lengthy conversations with artists you haven't visited with for months or even a year or two.  We enjoyed the visits and welcomed the relaxed pace of the setup.  It looked like everyone was able to get close enough to their spaces to have an easy time unloading and setting up.  The whole scene was relaxed and the artists made room for each other with grace and good humor.  

    As our friends know, Ann is recovering from knee surgery so we decided to cough up an extra fifty a night so we could stay in the Hyatt, which was close enough to our booth for a minute and a half walk.  Cane and all.  Wow.  We've never experienced anything quite like it.  The Hyatt people were wonderful.  As soon as they saw Ann's cane they set us up with a complimentary free parking spot right next to their entrance.  When one of the staff tried to bring out our van the first morning, he managed to wedge it solidly into the vehicle parked next to it.  While the manager was trying to figure out how to untangle the vehicles, I unloaded the rest of the stuff for the booth onto a hotel baggage cart which one of the bellhops carted to my booth.  It was quite a parade.  

     There was minor damage to our Sprinter, but the hotel contacted their insurance company and we're on the way to having it repaired when we get home.   The nice thing is that they cannot do that repair without also correcting the one next to it that I put there myself at the St. James show when I backed into someone's bumper, which left a nice black streak.   Damn.  

     The show started off a bit slow and on Saturday we were only at a few hundred bucks by about two PM.  Then it took off.  We have not sold that many big pieces (@ several hundred $ each) in YEARS along with a large volume of our smaller images.   On Sunday it was a near repeat, but not quite as strong as Saturday.  We were happy with the results.  Other artists around us did better than we did.  Some by quite a large margin. 

     We were quite happy with our sheltered corner spot.  Since we were one of the first to send in our fees,  I was able to ask the nice lady to put us where she would want to be in order to be protected from the winds. She done us good.  

     On Saturday around noon one of the artists came up to the booth to see if I had gotten the same lunch he had.  He seemed to be under the impression he had offended someone in charge of feeding the artists.  When he saw my lunch he was relieved to see that this had not been the case.  

     In all fairness, we did get a note that the show had lost lots of financial support for that kind of thing.,  

     The award structure was unique in our experience.  Although I did not get an award (nothing unique about that) I was impressed with the way they did it.   Ten artists got awards of $500.00 each.  Period.  Although they did not have a list of the award winners, I was given a link for this info.

  http://NorthernVirginiaFineArtsFestival.org/awards.php

      If they take us back next year, we'll do this show in a heartbeat.  

    As a footnote, I was able to meet with a dear old friend of mine, renowned entomologist David Nickle.  We were in bug school at University of Florida way back when.  He went on to get his doctorate in entomology and a job with the Smithsonian Institute while I went forward to open a a pest control business to support an art career beginning in the late seventies.  I sold the business in 2004 and went full time with the art shows.  It's been fun.  David is retiring soon.  I will do art shows until I run out of money,  

       We were all able to enjoy a great dinner at the Tower Inn in N.E. Washington.  The Decor was a bit over the top, however, but the men's room was a great experience.  It was like peeing with the Gods.  

                    The Fobot folk.  The twins had a great show (or so they said)

  Jim Copeland had lots of new stuff..  until he sold most of it.  

    I highly recommend the valet parking at the Hyatt.  

         ..They're heavily insured and promised to fix everything.  

  
We hope that next year the Democrats will be put

back in charge of the lunch budget.   

   .. With Dr. David A. Nickle, mild mannered entomologist.  An old friend of mine from college days who took time from advising National Geographic just to have dinner with us.  

Oh My..

  I was so overcome by this level of elegance that I almost forgot why I was there.  

Before I'm off and running again, here are a few photos from the Reston show this past weekend. I was busy enough that I didn't get the time to walk the entire show. It appears well-juried, the booth sitters are constantly offering assistance, and the weather held out well. Parking for trailers and larger vehicles was provided in a secure lot a block away from the Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE), and food provided for breakfast both days. A lunch was also circulated, but it was darn skimpy (see below). The show takes place in an upscale urban environment, the Reston Town Center. Lots of offices, restaurants, and a few shops. Very built-up, and it can be super windy at times. The show will rent you large concrete weights, and many artists take advantage of them. They are large and bulky though, and can be a tripping hazard for unwary patrons.

We saw lots of friends and made a couple new ones, too. Ellen Marshall was just a booth away, with her lovely pastel paintings. Ginny Herzog was our neighbor on the other side, and she had a great show, with long-time collectors coming by to say hello, and bring new pieces home. 

Bill Sargent was there. So were other togs, including John Hartung, John Scanlan, Jim Copeland, Doug Remien. 

Sales were good for some, and spotty for others. The higher-end contemporary 2-D work seems to do very well here, especially for established artists who work their lists. I was a first-timer, and made a few sales. The show wasn't up to my expectations, though, for either size of the crowd, or the buying energy, which seemed pretty low for such a highly-rated show. I think this is one of those shows that you need to establish yourself for a year or two before the sales pick up. At $500 for a booth, plus another $100 to choose which blocks you'd like to be in, this is a steep learning curve.

Ellen Marshall, relaxing. She takes after Nels that way...

Ginny Herzog (center), with two of the show organizers.

Lunch, such as it was. Everything was miniaturized.

Bill Sargent, up to his neck in Live Alligators.

Can you identify the real John Hartung?

One of the ever-changing displays in the covered Plaza. On Sunday, we had strings and ribbons. Very cool.

John Scanlan with his lovely European work

Scott Wilson, great contemporary paintings. We were neighbors at Coconut Grove this year, but I didn't have a chance to say hi to Scott, as he was busy with customers every time I saw him.

Jim Copeland, from the Atlanta area, another photographer.

Ribbon art in the Plaza. Wassup wit dat?

Sunday afternoon, and everyone is dog-tired, including the many pets in attendance.

The ever-lovin' Karyn Kozo, sherpa and assistant to the stars.

Ibbidity ibbidity ibbidity, that's all, folks!

Hard to believe that another year is almost gone! Where on earth does the time go? Although I do not post that often, I do keep up with what is posted and the various calendar of events, thanks to Connie.

In keeping with postings, and I know it's waaaay early, I would like to invite all out there to mark on their calendars the dates of October 7, 8, 9 and 10, 2011. Why, you ask, well it is the celebration of the 16th Annual Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival, that's why! This is a wonderful group of people who go over and above the volunteering to help preserve, protect and, in many cases reconstruct, our nation's lighthouses as well as those world wide. Lighthouses played, and still to in many areas, an important part of our maritime history and during times of war served as lookout points in some areas. There will be craftsman, artists, vendors, stainglass, clothing, authors, winery, interactive events, entertainment and FOOD! Can't forget that now, can I. ~2~ The GLLF has a number of scholarships going that go to our young and future lightkeepers and is our way of thanking them for volunteering their time. Hope to see you there.

This past weekend I was in Escanaba, Michigan attending a mini-conference for the Michigan Regional chapter of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. It was wonderful! One of the events was a visual art competition between the chapters and the artwork and sculptures were fantastic, not to mention the performing arts that were put on. Quite a lot of talented people there. Believe it or not there were a large number of attendees in the 40, 50 and 60 plus age bracket there that are in the process of obtaining various degrees from community colleges and university. I myself was recently awarded a medal of achievement and made the All Michigan Academic Team, which was a very humbling experience. Now I know this has nothing to do with the arts; however, without the artistic dreaming and abilities of many of these individuals in graphic arts, oils, performings arts, writing and such, our craft and the beauty that is created could disappear or not grow to its full potential.

My hat is off to all of you out there who go that extra mile and never listen to the voice that says "you can't" because those words are not in our vocabulary. Well done one and all and thank you for providing the encouragement that help push the rest ofus on to keep striving to create, to dream and to achieve.

Here come a couple of couples of definitions to provoke specifically general thinking:

Thank you to Amy Flynn for her reviews on the Artisphere and Four Bridges Art Festival.  You might like to read what she has to say about these two shows.  You can read her review on the Four Bridges Art Festival at the following link: www.artshowreviews.com/2011/04/4-bridges-arts-festival.  

Amy had some interesting things to say about Artisphere.  You can check out her review at the following link: www.artshowreviews.com/2011/05/artisphere.  

You can also read other reviews or even leave a few of your own.  It is simple and artists will appreciate what you have to say.  Take a few minutes to look over the website at the following link:   www.artshowreviews.com.

No one predicted that Connie Mettler would end up an Internet guru.

Sure, Connie's decades in the art fair business made her an expert in art events, and helped her develop friendships with artists like you nationwide. But when I told her about this “Internet” thing, she saw it as just a distraction from the "real world" art fairs she loves.

Luckily, I kept up the pressure to put my mom’s love for the art fair business to use on the World Wide Web. In 2004 I started ArtFairCalendar.com so she could collect the nation’s art fair event listings all in one place because of her concern about falling attendance at the events.

And then, as the social media revolution arrived, I started ArtFairInsiders.com to help her help the artist community come together online. In both cases it is Connie’s decades of expertise that have made these sites successful.

This week is Connie’s birthday. Surprisingly to both of us, she has now been working full-time as a “web producer” for several years (in addition to her roles in producing Arts, Beats and Eats, the Great Lakes Art Fair, and consulting for other art events nationwide).

Perhaps more importantly, it’s been over two years since ArtFairInsiders.com took off and seven since the launch of ArtFairCalendar.com.

So welcome to our 2nd Annual Connie and ArtFairInsiders.com Birthday Party!

Will you please help me recognize Connie’s years of efforts to support and promote artists and the art
fair community? I would like to invite you to show your support for the AFI community with a small PLEDGE.

Learn more here about how you can support ArtFairInsiders.com and send Connie a Happy
Birthday wish, too: http://www.artfaircalendar.com/art_fair/pledgedrive.html

Thanks for being here!
Scott (Connie’s son)

P.S. And, mark your calendar for the next two Thursdays, (May 26 & June 2) at 6 pm ET. At ArtFairInsiders.com we'll have two online radio "AFI Birthday Party" broadcasts.

1 - This Thursday (5/26) you can listen to popular (and often controversial) ArtFairInsiders.com members Munks and Nels Johnson battle it out on the air and share their insights into the crazy world of the art fair artist.

2 - Then next Thursday (6/2) you can call in LIVE to talk with Connie Mettler for the ArtFairCalendar.com Happy Birthday Show! She'll be taking your art fair business questions and birthday greetings, too.

Okay, this is my first time sharing with the ArtFairInsiders gang so here we go. My husband and I are former graphic design university professors (he's English/Australian and I'm American/Australian) and I grew up in Wisconsin but I've lived in both England and Australia for almost all of my adult life (over 20 years!). It seemed like it was time to come home and we're now living in the the north woods in Wisconsin.

It was time to live the dream of being artists and making a living from it. First of all, thank you for all of you who have given advice and told your stories. I've learned so much from all of it.

My husband and I hand-color black and white photographs using oils (nature-based). I did the research and applied to about 30 shows in the midwest. Although we haven't gotten into the big ones, we still have a busy summer (13 shows) and have done 3 so far in Wisconsin (Madison Audobon Art Fair, Marshfield Art Fair and Nature's Images Art Fair in Kaukauna).

We've just covered expenses and that's about it. I'm not complaining. I'm always trying to think about what to do next and am seeing things in the 20–30 year plan. Thanks to Larry Berman and others for helping me to realize that our jury images were probably too subtle/detailed and need longer than a second or two to appreciate (We're already planning the wow/in your face factor images for next year's shows). Thanks to Connie, Munks, Holly, Nels, Linda Anderson (I might see you in Racine or Marquette), Colin Murray and so many more of you who have given advice, comments, reviews and told it like it is.

The sun is shining...enjoy!

I'm 65 years old. Sometimes I wonder how long I can continue doing art fairs. All the heavy lifting, the set-up and break down, the long hours in the booth. It's all very physically demanding. But now, after this show, I feel a lot better about my ability to continue exhibiting for years to come.

I had the privilege of exhibiting right next door to Lars Sponberg, a landscape painter who works in oils. Lars is 92 years old, but he was assisted by his much younger wife, who is only 88 years old. I enjoyed talking with them and watching them as they interacted with their customers. They were truly having a good time. Set-up and breakdown for them was difficult, but they had lots of help from members of the art fair committee, 

By the end of the show they had sold 5 or 6 oil paintings, so they did much better than I did, but, as Lars pointed out, when you have been doing these shows for 54 years, you develop somewhat of a following.

Lars is an inspiration, not only because he continues to create wonderful paintings, but he continues to exhibit and interact with the public into his 90s in this crazy industry of ours.

I being new to this site and have in the pass enjoyed reading others post on blogs.  I have made a comment here or there.  Afraid at times not to hurt or step on someone feet or feelings.  Also if my writing sucks, well I always say I paint it better then I can write it...lol

I have spent out 50 years of my life doing art since I was 5, not the "here is the coloring book" but the training by fine artist, the trade.  18 years of drawing, painting.  Driving to find the perfect spot for light, color, shade.  I have sat with the best artist and watched them at work, at shows. Entering in contest, fairs, shows.

All walks of life coming in their booths and telling their tale's.  From old to the very young.  When people came up and asked the question of..... How do you do that...."years of love",  My aunt paints... "that's great", .....so on there is always a come back.  

When children come into the booth, my grandparents had things for them to do so their parents could look, or they would be working and children would gather to watch, they asked question, which all were answer.  I having fabric always have the fear of sticky hands.  Telling them to look.  Pointing out feathers or gems taking their minds off wanting to touch.  Don't get me wrong I do fear little kids in the booth, but I have three grown children so I do know how to handle them.

Now in private lesson we study the master but was to find our way to express our view through painting.  In art school when in Art History we study the master and painted in their style our own work.  When I was teaching watercolors I would always asked my students to bring in photos, scrap pictures out of magazines (never just one but many).  When teaching children at a private  school I use a program of "In touch with art"  blending math, science and history through art.  The rules of study but make it your own.

There is always the fear of someone copying ones work.  How do we handle it? Well you all had great ways on this subject!!  

There was question about lessons...One way that hasn't be talked about is... when using gemstones I get where do you get them....I have a girlfriend that has a bead shop.  I pass out her card because she sells bead and has classes.  She gives a discount for me when buying supplies for new clients.  That is one way to pass the headache to someone else.  

Yet the Accessory world it is hard! Don't get me wrong fine arts is hard to do but, in fashion accessory world it is a dog e dog world, it has been that way forever.  Coming up with something new, fresh and keeping up with trends wow !!  Always coming up with new design each spring, summer, fall and winter. 

Maybe I am wrong or pissed off a few artist but, this is my life. This is how my grandparent made their living and now it is mine.   I was given a gift.  I do this because it is in my blood.  I do it for the love of art.  To keep it alive.

Thank you for this group and letting me post, thank you for a site for artist to be out their and know that I am not alone!!

Check out the article below.  It says it all with the spirit of what we hope to achieve with the 50,000 patrons who visit each year.  They walk away, if not with a piece of fine art, at least an appreciation for the fine arts community and their craft.

 http://reston.patch.com/articles/the-grace-of-fine-arts

Hope those who participated had a great weekend.

Linda

I participated in the first annual Celadon Fine Arts Festival this past weekend.  Where is Celadon, you might ask? Well, it’s a new resort community on Lady’s Island in Beaufort, SC.  Units still under construction.  And there was construction all weekend during the show.  Why not call it the Beaufort Fine Arts Festival so that it would have instant name recognition?  Because it was the brainchild of and sponsored by the Celadon founder who partnered with the Arts Council of Beaufort County aka ArtWorks to bring it to fruition.  The show ran from 4-8 on Friday; 10-7 on Saturday and 12-5 on Sunday.  The idea was to provide a selection of days and times that more people could fit the show into their schedule.   

Entries

I found the show through a Google search in looking for shows in the area.  The online entry form was easy to navigate and when I had saved but not submitted, I got an email a couple of weeks later reminding me that I had an entry in progress.  They kept the booth fee low since it was the first year ($125).  There were 40 applicants.  28 juried in.  So it wasn’t a case of everyone getting in just because they entered.  Balanced mix of artists.  Not more than three of any one discipline. 

Marketing

Overall, I think the organizers did a very good and thorough job of marketing this show. They were very careful to plan it so that it did not coincide with any other fine art shows in the Charleston, Savannah, HHI, etc. areas.  There also weren’t any other non-art activities going on to pull the focus.  They featured the show and an artist each week in their weekly email, publicized on their websites and  published interviews with the artists.  Their media plan included a billboard coming into Port Royal from Hilton Head, all residents in nearby Bluffton and Sun City got the local paper on Wednesday and along with the festival notice, the papers had a sticker on the front advertising the show.  The local paper that all Beaufort residents get had front page coverage and the daily Beaufort paper had front page coverage on Saturday and dominated the Entertainment section on Friday.  The local radio station out of Bluffton provided a lot of advertising.  All SC Welcome Centers had postcards they were distributing.  The show was covered in Carolina Festivals, Skirt (in several cities), ARTsee mag, Pink and Carolina Arts.  Press releases, online articles, blogs, Facebook, weekly e-newsletter, website coverage, etc rounded out the media blitz.

Load in/Load out

Load in started at 11am on Friday.   I was on a corner so was able to pull up to the curb and unload as I set up then move the car afterward.  That was the case for most except for those close to the lagoon where they needed to stagger or wait while others finished.  Load out was just as easy as you would expect with a limited number of artists.  Plus there were volunteers coming around to ask if you needed help if you were a straggler like I was.  I was still loaded and headed home in an hour.

This is a tree lined venue with lots of massive moss covered trees.  I had a good breeze coming my way most of the time…which helped keep things relatively cool as well as blowing the little biting critters away…but had my Bug Away and Afterbite on hand throughout the whole show along with an OFF fan attached to my chair.  Plenty of room behind booths and generally 2-4 feet in between

The Show

On Friday, there weren’t a lot of visitors coming through but those that came asked lots of questions.  8pm seemed a little late to stay open as we were standing around talking to each other for the last hour or so.  Saturday looked more promising and it was a pretty steady stream of people coming through ebbing and flowing until late afternoon.  On Sunday, the foot traffic was steady until the last couple of hours.  I overheard a conversation where they were saying that around 500 cars came through over the course of the weekend and most people were in pairs and groups.  This was a well heeled crowd and you saw very few patrons in their twenties unless they were there with family and very few children despite Saturday being advertised as Family Day.  It was also a knowledgeable crowd.  A lot of people knew their glass and asked intelligent questions.  The painter across from me had a following and several of her large paintings went to good homes over the weekend.  She was very pleased overall with the show and will return next year.  I talked to one of the photographers and he had a really good show as well.  The jeweler next to me did her best show of the year so far.  On the other hand, the watercolor artist two booths down did not have a stellar show.  In talking with the 2 other glass artists, they were in the same boat as me.  Sold some and more than covered expenses but not what we were hoping for. 

The patrons who came to the show seem to follow the art shows in the area.  There were many who recognized me from the Honey Horn show a few weeks ago and wanted to know if I was going to do the HHI Shelter Cove show or Telfair or Spoleto, etc.  They were there for the art and because it’s what they do on the weekend if it’s available. 

Awards

Best of Show was a jeweler $1000, 1st place was a painter $800, 2nd (can't remember medium) $600,  3rd (can't remember medium) $400, HM glass $200 

Now in the interest of full disclosure, I have a vested interest in wanting this show to continue to succeed.  I’ll be moving to Beaufort full-time in about three years and would like a solid show to participate in within a stone’s throw of the house.

The show organizers appear to have done everything right from organizing to marketing to executing.  At the Saturday night artist award reception, everyone I talked to said they would do this show again in a heartbeat and I agree.  We were treated well and respectfully from plenty of volunteer help and ice cold water to access to air conditioned restrooms and the air conditioned artists lounge.  The show organizers checked in with me regularly to make sure things were going well and I’m assuming they did the same for everyone.  The only thing that will make this show better is pulling in more buyers of the same quality that were there this weekend.   

October 1

• The Art Walk includes free admission to the general public. Visitors will enjoy a stroll down Columbia's unique German-inspired main street.
• There will be live entertainment provided throughout the day.   
• Along the path of artists' will include a variety of restaurant booths and an interactive kids' walk for children of all ages.  
• The walk will also feature a student art gallery and competition.  There is something of interest for everyone!