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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! 

(May 13-15, 2011): It is testimony to a show that when faced with the challenge of weather: constant, wind driven rains for both show days and falling temperatures from the 80s to the low 50s, that the organizational structure is in place to still deliver a strong show for artists and patrons.

I wrote a detailed review about this show last year (see below) and the show this year was every bit as good as last year. The big difference was the weather -- two days of constant rain.  It was a challenging two days, but volunteers from Patty Gregory on down didn't miss a beat. The year of planning was executed flawlessly. The commitment and pride of each volunteer (and patron) was incredible and very humbling to this artist. Micheal Stipek's review of this year's show depicts the scene well, so I won't repeat. Instead, I would like to expand on a few aspects of the show.

Art Dollars Program: This is a key component of the show and did much to ensure attendance in spite of the weather. For Belleville, this show is solely about the art and artists! It is embraced by the entire community, everyone from the Mayor down has an active role in its success and all are proud to have this event be a part of their community. How else can you explain that before the first artist crossed the town line, $104,000 had been collected in prepaid Art Dollars?  This isn't money raised by a few big donors, this is hundreds of Belleville residents contributing for a full year. Art Dollars are given as gifts for birthday, Christmas, Mother's Day, Valentine, etc. and can only be redeemed on the days of the show. The program began 10 years ago when Patty approached 10 of her closest friends and ask each to find 20 of their friends who would each contribute $100 dollars to the Art Dollars program. In that first year, they exceeded their goal and raised $32,000. In the last 10 years, the program has continued to grow by leaps. The Art Dollars program commits the community to the program and brings attendance out even in the worst of weather.

I had a constant flow of patrons in my booth throughout the show. When receipts were tallied, I had solid showing, selling in all price points. I can only imagine what this show would be like with good weather!  Of course some did better and many did not, it is the nature of our business.

Artists In Residence Program: I arrived in Belleville a day early to participate in the Artists in Residence program. About a dozen artists were asked to participate and I was fortunate to be one of the artists selected. The goal of the program is to leverage the artistic talent coming to the community by placing artists within the public school systems. I visited Waterloo High School about 30 minutes south/west of Belleville. The art program in this small town has experienced drastic budgetary cuts and staffing is now reduced to one teacher for a 1000 students. She was thrilled to have an artist come to her class. Going into the schools was a fabulous experience. I met with 5 art classes that included students from freshmen to seniors. A great group of teens and so appreciative and very inquisitive, asking questions on topics related to techniques, arts shows, artist's inspiration, etc. One of the local businesses sponsored me, paying for my lodging for the early day and giving me a small stipend to cover other expenses.

As artists, we need to do more to reach out to young artists. If you look around at shows these day, you quickly realize that we (including myself) are aging. It is so important for us to encourage the younger artists who are developing in our schools. The Artist in Residence program is well conceived by the Art on the Square committee. Thank you Deb Harriman for all of your efforts.

In closing, this is a tough show to get into as only 100 artists were selected from a pool of more than a 1000 applicants. Should you get selected, you will soon learn that this is one of the crème de la crème of art shows. Hats off to everyone in Belleville, patrons and volunteers for a job well done!  - LC

P.S. I would be interested to learn of other shows that have Artists in Residence program.

P.S.S. Paul Zerjay, thanks for stopping by during the show. I was a pleasure meeting another AFIer!

----- Read Last Year's Review -----

Here are five images from the great food/wine/booze gala on Thursday nite.  That is Ray Mosteller toasting the food and Peggy and Bruce vibing together. You can see the yummy food.

The other five images are scenes from the show and the riverfront in downtown Greenville.  My town of Tampa could learn a lot from these folks.  The sculpture of the dress made from plastic-ware is by Chattanooga artist John Petrey.

Just got back from Artisphere held in Greenville,SC last weekend.  Only 120 exibitors, almost 400 apply for it, it is gem for most of us.

First, a little background.  I used to visit a good friend of min e in Greenville for years.  His name was Loren Marshall, a great glass artist, met him at a Charlotte show back in 1981.

Whenever I would leave Florida for my summer swing of shows, which lasted 5 months, I always first stopped in Greenville to stay with Loren.  We would canoe the Green River by day and try to party at nite downtown.

Back in the 80s and early 90s there was no downtown to go to.  We usually had cheap tacos and margaritas at a mall location there.  That was as good as it was.

Come forward to 2011.

I had tried getting into this show four times with no success.  This year I made it. With nearly 400 applicants, your chances of getting in are slim.

So I returned to Greenville after not being there for nearly 18 years.  Loren had passed away from an unfortunate accident so I had no reason to visit there anymore.

When I first drove down Main Street last Thursday I was startled, in a delightful way ,to see its transformation from a dormant mill town into small, vibrant metropolis.

The street was lined with tall leafed trees on both sides forming a sheltered tunnel.  Restaurants of every food-type you can think of were filled with people,young ones, eating and drinking.  Diverse shops enticed you. Big new office buildings, concert halls, government edifices soared up into the sky.  The place was electric.

Greenville is home to several large automotive manufacturing companies.  it is the main seat of commerce in South Carolina, easily outshining Charlston and the capitol Columbia.  Numbers of Europeans living there, working in commerce.  Lots of young people,well mannered and dressed, all sporting copious disposable income.

It is the gateway to the mountains.  So traditional and conservative are two key words that come to mind when selling here.

I got there on Thursday to drop off a piece for the Gala Auction which I attended later that nite,  That is covered in a seperate blog.

Hats off to Travis.  He blgged and photoed about it last year.  it lived up to its reputation.  One of the best ever with a free open bar--yahoo! Vodka and more vodka, just keep it coming with the crabcakes and the crab legs.

Friday we could set up from 8 am on.  Show started at 4 pm went to 8 pm.  Easy setup.  Van right in front.  Ample canopy room behind for me and my inventory.  Fellow photographer Karen Connelly was setup beside me.  We both pulled our booths back to the outer edges which left room on a common side for art to be hung.  I canopied it and we deemed it the art ally.

Predictions of 60 per cent rain and thunderstorms never happened all weekend, we skated free to our immense relief.

As Michael Stipek pointe out about the Bellville Show, same was true for Artisphere.  They couldn't do enough for us.  We had free lunches and dinner every day.

Crowds were thin Friday nite and so were sales. We were up against the Kenny Chesney concert downtown that nite.  Plus two other restaurants had band stages with music going on.  Lots of competition for the crowd's dollar.  That is the only negative to this show, and it can be a big one.

Volumous crowds both Sat. and Sun. Not many big packages gooing down the street in people's hands.  it did get better on Sunday.

Lots of fellow AFIers at the show.  Matthew Hatala, Amy and Phil Crone, Peggy Fulwin from Wisconsin (I apologise, I know  have misspelled your name) Diane french, Gary Seidel (He had all the German money locked up in his booth again), and many others, oh yeah, Gerry Maschinot, a great Southern photogrpher.

At Saturday end most artist wewre ok with sales.  Many said they were down from last year.  Me, I had my second best Sat. of the year only beaten by Main Street Fort Worth.

Sunday.  Beautiful skies, cool weather, high of 77, and early crowds--"we aint going to no stinking church today, we be buying art and chicken wings."

Oh, before I forget. ON Saturday nite it was prom nite and the kids were dreesed to the nines coming down the sidewalks. This one girl had  vivid orange dress on, so vivid, it reminded me of a Creamsicle on acid.  It was that intense, but she looked great in it.

I mostly sold precious little pieces of paper out of the bins both days, but it all mounted up. Iam heading to Saugatuck, my summer home for the next five months, with a fat bank account and a healthy show line up.  Also that means cooler weather and much better grass to hit golf balls off of.

In summation, this is a hard show to get into, it is worthwile if you have the right stuff, but we artists are not the main reason why they are comming to downtown.  We are being used to attract them, so people can sell all other matter of goods, not only art.  Unfortunately this is getting to be trend throughout the country.  We are seeing most big shows using the spectacle of great art to lure in the crowds.  Meanwhile, the auto people and every other corporate sponsor is looking for ways to piggyback on us and sell their wares,  We sometimes get lost in the tumble of things.

Aloha, Nels.

Despite the weather cooperating, sales were half that of the fall show. While I don't know what the gate was, it felt like fewer customers, and those shopping were conservative, buying more traditional work.

Set up's a breeze, tear down a civil free-for-all. Artists parked a distance from the show in a muddy field.

If you do the show, stop in at the "Mudhouse" in Crozet for a good bowl of soup and homemade apple pie. I'd go to Crozet just for that apple pie.