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Bye Bye Bayou

Posted by mark zurek on October 12, 2010 at 8:29pm

Yeah, I'd be smilin' too

My first blog this year was about me just about throwing in the towel, quitting on two Spring shows in Texas (with trailer loaded and all). The result of the hangover from the final show I did last year, just a terribly painful experience. This one is about ending up on a happy note (despite the bad SJC show the week before).

Texas was like a best kept secret for a while, then the ecomony crashed and the word got out that Texas was really Shangrila in the Southwest. Overall, I think it's been good for both the shows and the artists to find what life is like down here. Not perfect for sure, but overall a good place to keep on considering for a while.

Bayou City

This was my first downtown Bayou City show, did the Spring show the year before last and did right fine. Knew this one was different, more cityfied but the same deal, pay for entrance. The Art Colony folks promote the bejezzus out of the event, and people come to buy. You know, right off the bat that as a new artist, odds are you will not receive a prime spot.Get juried in next year and you can have a chance to choose where you plunk the tent down. Seems fair to me.The show has a series of arterial streets that feed the main area, several gates that people head into.These areas have the traffic, but lack the buzz and energy that helps create that buyer frenzy (read piranhas on a pork chop).It often feels like what it is, folks heading right by on their way to the main areas.Means you have to work the crowd a bit more than normal,something my son and partner does much better than I at times.

We were on Lower Bagby, not the best but by no means the worst place. Unless you consider my back 40.....

Ever had that eerie feeling of being followed?

Our sale were good, the better part of $5K which was my goal here. Those around me did "OK", met Gary Siddel and his lovely wife Rita, and these guys just killed it.Don't think Rita would allow it any other way.Spent some time with Nels (in his undercover tourist persona), saw Josh T., Oscar Linares, Mark Mckinnon,and quite a few others.

Photography catagories here are broken down to film, digital and then computer manipulated art, and this is about as fair a shake as shooters get. No moaning about life not being fair. Overall quality, can't complain about this either as the work was all top tier.

So the year ends for me, only 5 shows but did an average of $4200. No real big time events, but all in all pretty happy with the outcome.More importantly, I regained my own personal energy and optimism. I tweaked and tuned and refined my work, and while there are other subjects I shoot, the ones I show are from the soul. Not just something I think will sell or looks pretty on a wall.

I chose to stay positive this year, to learn about the people behind the work, not judging them on what they might show. I made sure I was a good neighbor, that the directors heard my opinions rather than bitch to the dog when I got home.I made some good friends, ones that I will look forward to seeing again next year.

The year was about perspective for me, understanding participation is a priviledge. Nothing guaranteed from acceptance, to weather or sales. I gave it a good shot and came away feeling a bit better than I did to start.

I will take that for what it is.

Call for Artists: Des Moines Art Festival

Posted by Connie Mettler on October 12, 2010 at 5:12pm

WINNER OF THE 2010 GOLD GRAND PINNACLE AWARD
from the International Festival & Events Association

June 24-26, 2011
Downtown in Des Moines, Iowa
185 Artist spaces
Deadline: October 31, 2010

Artist Reactions to DMAF:

"Once again - a stellar show! The art was great, the venue beautiful, patrons plentiful & enthusiastic. It was an honor to participate"

"The organization was near flawless. You have a great community spirit and willingness to buy art. We sold to many individuals who said they came intentionally to purchase a special piece for their home or office from this fair."

"You have our best interests at heart. Thank you for that."

"This show is perhaps the best run shows I have ever done. The city cannot do anything
more to make a person feel more welcome."

The City of Des Moines invites you to be part of the award-winning Des Moines Arts Festival. The Des Moines Arts Festival is one of the nation's most respected arts events hosting 185 of the nation's top artists in a beautiful urban setting surrounding the 4.4 acre John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park. The outdoor Festival of arts and culture attracts more than 200,000 people each year to its downtown location in Iowa's capital city and largest metropolitan area. DMAF is a show dedicated to the highest standards and works diligently to maintain a positive environment for artists and their clients.

The Fact Sheet

AVG. SALES: Gross Avg. = $7,236 (Source - 2010 Artist Post-event Survey)
BOOTH SPACE FEE: $350/$450
CASH AWARDS: $10,000
BOOTH SPACE: 10'x10' with 1' buffer all around
PRODUCED BY: Downtown Events Group, 501(c)3 Non-profit corp.

Artist Information and Benefits

Projected Attendance - 200,000+.
$10,000 in Cash Awards at the time of publication.
Official Festival Program includes color thumbnail image of each exhibiting artist.
Web site includes full-color image with name and live link to artist Web site.
Free WiFi throughout Festival site.
Free reserved parking and electricity
Hospitality Area with air-conditioned restrooms
Exclusive "Express Lane" concessions.
24-hour Security.
Leisurely set-up (full day is available).
Booth sitters and energetic volunteers.

About our jury process 6a00e54fba8a7388330133f27261ed970b-pi
The jury is scheduled for November 17-19, 2010. The location for the projection jury is the Arthur Davis Conference Center in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. Applying artists and special guests are invited to a special Jury Preview on November 17, 2010 beginning at 5:30 p.m. Projection of images for the jury begins promptly at 6 p.m. The jury preview is an opportunity for artists to view their images at the same time and in the same manner the jury will see them.

Should you have any questions about the process, please do not hesitate to call Stephen King, Director, at 515.286.4927 or email stephen.king@desmoinesartsfestival.org.

We value your participation and look forward to seeing you in June 2011!

For more information: www.DesMoinesArtsFestival.org

Don't wait! Apply today: www.zapplication.org

*************

Looking for more art fairs?

Visit ArtFairInsiders.com/callforartists

Beware of galleries that are miss-representing what they really are

Posted by Debbie Sampson on October 12, 2010 at 1:50pm

I just learned a great expensive lesson.Beware of 'gallery owners' that approach you and tell you wonderful things about what will happen. Always go and check out the place and make sure it is what they say. He highly exaggerated what they sell, was treated with disrespect, they used some of my equipment without my permission, left the artists alone at the booth that he was representing to sell t-shirts.....yes I said t-shirts....I have high end oil paintings and was there just to demonstrate my work only. The booth looked like a flea-market, I should of left the first day I saw the bad display that was very flea-market like. This was a 16 day event in Kentucky that I drove 2 days to attend. Needless to say after much frustration trying to speak with the guy who was always too busy name dropping, I packed up my stuff early, took all my stuff out of the gallery and went home. In my 30 years of being a professional artist, having my work in many galleries, museums, world sporting events and highly respected in my field I have never, ever been treated this badly at an event. I have heard from others that have been sending me emails that have dealt with this 'gallery' to beware and now that I made an expensive mistake I want to put out the 'Artist Beware'. I'm tired of getting ripped off and being taken advantage of. For now on, I will be visiting these places before I make any decision.

ArtsFestWest, Sue Stookey event, West Des Moines, Iowa Oct 9-10

Posted by mark oehler on October 12, 2010 at 12:52pm

1st time show.
About 100 exhibitors, 13 clay related.
Good quality professional show, evidenced by no trash left behind during tear down.
Attendance was the biggest or least problem. Sue used many advertising venues and banners and road signs. Oh well. The wished for numbers never materialized and most were disappointed with slow sales. The artists I spoke with made their expenses and little more.
She had discounted motel rooms at the Drury Inn just next door and that was great.
I thanked her and her spouse, Dennis, for their efforts and I plan on supporting them again next year, jury process allowing.
Mark Oehler

Autumn Arts Festival-----Fernandina Beach, Fl

Posted by James E. St.Clair on October 12, 2010 at 11:58am

I violated a rule of mine to participate in the first Autumn Arts Festival this past weekend. The show has potential but like all shows it takes time to build up. Fernandina Beach which is on Amelia Island, Florida is known for the annual Shrimp Festival in May. I highly recommend that show but would hold off on the Autumn show until a few years from now. Unless of course you are in close proximity to the show and would not have to incur travel and hotel expenses. As one exhibitor said to me at the end....'We are among the lucky ones who broke even". It was nice to meet some fellow artists and hang out with fellow Art Fair Insider member Lynda who was actually my next door neighbor. Small world. Peace, Saint

Stowe (VT) Fall foilage Festival

Posted by Edwin Schmidt on October 11, 2010 at 10:34pm

Show is prodiced by Craft Producers the second weekend in October for three days with setup on Thursday. Held at Top Nothc field which is just a large field about two miles west of 'Stowe. Nasty weather Thursday with heavy rain with small hail off and on. Large indoor heated tent for approximately 100+ artists. Remainder outside. Weather was cold Friday and Saturday but nicer on Sunday. Heavy rain all night Friday just after show closed. Field dried out and mulch was put down in wet areas so all areas were acceptable. Sales reasonable on Friday. Saturday cars were lined up as far as you could see. People from all over the country there to see the colors which were fantastic. We had customers from Tennessee and Texas ans well as the whole New England area and beyond. They bought like no tomorrow on Saturday. Sunday slow to start but got busy early afternoon. Hours 10 to 5 each of three days. Show turned out to be our second best after Port Clinton. Did not have time to talk with many exhibitors but those that I did had really great sales also. We were outside near the entrance/exit so could judge approximate sales by people leaving with packages and there were many. Wide variety of quality of artists but as a whole reasonably good. Some questionable possible buy/sell but not many. Good mix of various media. Not overloaded on any category anthough a good number of good photographers. Have seen some of the artists from our Chicago shows.

One nice thing was portable trailer toilets. Heated and/or air conditioned depending on weather. Also running water and flush tiolets. Not bad. Ont tent with vendors selling Vermont products. Good variety of food vendors and reasonable priced. Even had a portable ATM machine on site.

Well worth the 900 mile drive do do the show. Local lodging in Stowe quite expensive. We chose to stay in Burlington and drive back and forth. Approximately 45 minutes each way. Worth he drive time. Great variety of restraunts in Stowe. Some quite expensive others reasonable. Great Mexican place with reasonable prices.

Show to move to a new location closer to town in two years. Will be a better layout and hopefull even etter crowds.

Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival Report

Posted by Terri Drake on October 10, 2010 at 8:30pm

Althought geared as a Festival dedicated to raising funds to help preserve and restore our nation's lighthouses, it is also a great art, craft, photographer's and author's dream. There is something for everyone from stain glass to collector's wines, from crocheted works to wood arts, from traditional photography to photography on pottery, glass, and handmade jewelry that was just exquisite.

Being a photographer and fiber artist, I had lots of pictures, watercolor paintings and handwoven baskets for sale. Although I didn't make a ton of cash, I don't think I did too poorly for my first venue as a vendor. I'm taking into account that I was also working the show as their Official Photographer (I also sold CD's containing pictures of the entire 4-day show, plus events) so I was doing double duty, not to mention taking photos at all the dinners. Let's just say that some of those dinners were simply outrageous with fundraising gimmicks, like shaving one gentleman's head while he was dressed in a squaredancing dress (for that the GLLF raised over $1,000). The weather was just fantastic, not too hot and not too cold with plenty of sunshine. I did generate a lot of questions with my ribbon regarding Patron for the Artfair Insiders! Hopefully, more people will visit to see what it's al about and join.

Some of the vendors did great while others did not so hot, but again, it depended on presentation, how affiable the sellers were to the public and how willing they were to ask questions or just chat. Sometimes those chat sessions turned into "sell" sessions. I sold quite a bit of my photo's that way and they were ones that didn't have a lighthouse in the bunch!

Looking forward to doing it again next year and will have a lot more items geared to what I noticed sold and didn't sell. I'll also be making a return visit as their Official Photographer! So I really had a win-win situation.

Hope that if you didn't get to be there this year, you'll be there next year.

Terri at the Drake's Nest in Ossineke, MI

Site: www.drakesneststudio.com

Blog: www.drakesneststudio.wordpress.com

Is there a level playing field with Zapplication?

Posted by Christine Green on October 10, 2010 at 11:39am

I like Zapp. It has become easy to enter shows. No going out and making expensive slides, no SASE for a lot of shows with potential to miss the mailing deadline. Just click, click, click click and you're done.

What I don't like is the same thing many artists talk about. "I can't get into the shows I have been doing for a long time." Let's look at some reasons this may be happening. There are now more applicants than ever. Digital images can be professionally created by anyone to show a beautiful image. The problem is are some people applying on Zapp who do not do their own work?

If you are a promoter who has integrity and a mission statement that focuses on true original art, it would be interesting to hear how you decide from Zapp if the artists are authentic or buy/sell enterpreneurs. Many of us who make a living from creating art from raw materials find it appalling when we find individuals selling 'art' that we know they did not make. It's the same old story: how did they get into the show? What screening does the promoter do? Is it our job to critique the show for the promoter?

If anyone has information on this topic it would be helpful to know!

2010 Fairfax City Fall Festival - a one day show with CROWDS!

Posted by Walt Bennett on October 9, 2010 at 9:11pm

We'd vended here for five years until being invited to the National Folk Festival in Richmond, which we were at for three. Then we got a Light Dome and stopped doing one day events. This year we decided to drag out our EZ-up and try a few one day shows including this one. The attached are North and South views at show opening (10AM) and at almost closing (4:30PM). Sales were down from the last time we were here, but still well into good profit areas. A newbie on one side with photo prints didn't quite make booth fee, but the the other side was very happy, and two others we knew made reasonable revenue. There were several empty spaces, quite a bit of commercial vendors, and some buy-sell, but still at least one hundred folks that actually made what they were selling. Four other wood turners than myself, eight other 3-d artisans, six painters, at least five photographers and I refused to count the jewelry makers. Many others were in the craft category, but not half.

Although it's a one day show on very metropolitan streets, it's extremely well managed by a hoard of volunteers and many city police. You are told to drive in a certain direction, drop everything off, go park you vehicle, and THEN set up. Ditto in reverse for break down - and the city police WILL tow anyone trying to bring in a car/truck BEFORE completely breaking down. Sounds very totalitarian, but it really does work to make this a relatively pleasant experience - unless you can't seem to follow their rules!

And 1/2 hour before the end:

Featured Artist: R. Michael Wommack, pastel drawings

Posted by Connie Mettler on October 8, 2010 at 7:00am

When Michael Wommack graduated from art school over 30 years ago there was a recession, no teaching jobs available, but he took his skills to the streets -- painting murals, race cars, vans, using an airbrush on anything that would hold paint. His friends were horrified, but he was able to extend his education, admittedly in a way that the nation's art schools would never have taught him.

His skills with the airbrush led him to be contacted by the Postmodern architect Robert Venturi and a 25 year collaboration with his firm ensued that included several exceptional commissions. Michael continued doing his own work, which was sold through galleries and art representatives.

As times changed he became frustrated with the gallery owners who sometimes didn't want his new work. Watching his wife, Nina, taking her work to the street, he decided it was time for him to give art fairs a try, intrigued with the idea of interacting directly with potential collectors and removing the filter of the galleries.

Always inspired by a sense of the light, the increasing suburban landscape and his childhood upbringing in Levittown, several glowing dreams made him pull out his soft pastels and he began drawing from memory. He says, "the colors in my dreams were incredibly vivid, and it turned out pastel was a perfect medium due to the pure pigment used in making them."

You are going to enjoy Michael's interesting story: www.ArtFairCalendar.com/featured artist

Meet him and view his work:
October 9 & 10 - Bayou City Art Festival - Houston, TX
October 16 & 17 - Bethesda Row Arts Festival - Bethesda, MD

Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival and Art Show

Posted by Terri Drake on October 7, 2010 at 9:31pm

The 15th Annual Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival is now in full swing in beautiful Alpena, Michigan. It is being held at the Thunder Bay Recreational Center October 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, 2010. There will be artists, photographer, music, helicopter rides, plane rides and boat rides to Middle Island. Visit the Great Lakes Lighthouse Museum and the wonderful lighthouses of the Sunrise Side of the state.

I am doing my first show PLUS I'm the Official Photographer for the Festival so not only to I mind my booth, I'll be running around taking pictures. Tonight was the welcome dinner and silent auction, which was a lot of fun and the food was delicious. I'll let you know how I do when the show is over.

Terri at the Drake's Nest in Ossineke, Michigan

Arts, Beats & Eats raises record $315,213 for charities

Posted by Connie Mettler on October 7, 2010 at 7:00pm

Jennifer Chambers / The Detroit News
Royal Oak — Organizers of the Ford Arts, Beats & Eats festival announced today the event raised a record $351,213.

More than 90 charitable and cultural organizations will benefit from the money raised at the four-day festival over Labor Day weekend, which was held in downtown Royal Oak for the first time this year after more than a decade in Pontiac.

Money came from gate admission, beverage proceeds, a charity art preview, parking fees and sponsorships, officials said.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said the festival provided a considerable boost to the region’s economy.

Oakland County officials have estimated the economic impact of the festival to be $39 million, with the average Ford Arts, Beats & Eats visitor spending $94.30.

“Not only was it a boost for Royal Oak restaurants and businesses, it will continue to pay off in the future after some attendees rediscovered how great an entertainment destination Royal Oak is,” Patterson said.

Attendance was strong at 423,000, which organizers said was up from last year.

Jon Witz, event producer, said things went smoothly.

“The new venue was amazing; it attracted many new festivalgoers, and they really enjoyed the festival,” he said. “The area was really alive, and you could feel the excitement in the air. Royal Oak and Ford Arts, Beats & Eats were meant for each other.”

The cost of the festival to the city was covered by ABE parking revenues, officials said. The city is also reimbursing its Downtown Development Authority for its $100,000 contribution through event parking revenues.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20101007/ENT05/10070441/1422/ENT05/Ford-Arts--Beats--Eats-raises-record-$351-213-for-charities#ixzz11iWq8iTS

Y6HTSYAT6B3T

Posted by Connie Mettler on October 7, 2010 at 6:57pm

Y6HTSYAT6B3T for Technorati

Show of the Month: Bayou City Art Festival Downtown

Posted by Connie Mettler on October 7, 2010 at 4:00pm

October 9 & 10
Saturday & Sunday - 10 am to 6 pm

Head to Houston! The downtown skyline serves as a dramatic backdrop for art, music, dance, and interactive activities at the Bayou City Art Festival Downtown.

The annual, juried, fine art event boasts:

a stress-free outdoor gallery brimming with 300 artists working in 19 artistic media
festive outdoor gallery are wine cafés
the interactive Capital One Creative Zone for children
restaurants
a performing arts stage with on-going multicultural musical and dance entertainment presented by The Houston Arts Alliance.

The 300 artists were chosen from over 1000 applications, assuring you a high quality art fair, well worth the trek downtown.
Visit this link to see if your favorite artist is participating.

The festival is showcased in front of City Hall and around Hermann Square on the streets of Walker, Bagby,and McKinney, as well as Sam Houston Park.

For more information about the Bayou City Art Festival Downtown, please contact the Art Colony Association.

*****************

Find more upcoming fine art fairs: www.ArtFairCalendar.com

22nd Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Festival

Posted by S Brian Berkun on October 7, 2010 at 9:14am

Just got back from the first weekend of the Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Festival in Albuquerque, NM. I had been looking forward to the show as I was wait-listed and then called three weeks prior to the show. The promoter, Ruth, and her staff were very helpful and always pleasant. Most of the artists were set up inside a huge tent while additional artists and food were outside. The weather was pleasant and warm with nary a drop of rain until we were packed up and ready to go on Sunday. The show is held in parallel with the Balloon Fiesta, a huge annual event. Crowds at the festival were good with people lined up at the entrance before opening. Unfortunately, I can't say that there was a lot of buying going on. Friday was a good day for me, I show black and white photography. There were no additional sales after that! The booth across from me featured functional ceramics, he sold in the $7-25 range but not a lot either. The booth next to mine was selling fire starters at a regular pace but they were in the $12-20 range and he had to hustle every minute. One metal sculpture sold several pieces to another exhibitor on Friday and that was it. He left early to fill online orders that he had pending. It does not specifically say that the artist must be present during the show and indeed at least one artist had a representative booth there without his presence. Some items looked like buy/sell. Exhibitors inside the tent did as poorly as those outside the tent. Overall, this show did not live up to the expectations that I had for it. ;-(

Fall Colors Fine Art & Jazz Festival - Stillwater MN - Oct 2 & 3

Posted by Linda Rose on October 7, 2010 at 12:30am

Finally! Our last outdoor show of the year!

This was our very first show in Minnesota, in the lovely riverside (St. Croix) community of Stillwater. The show was moved from the very underwater (flooded) river bank park to a nearby downtown parking lot. About 50 artists were in attendance, although it was promoted as 75-80. This juried show was a little heavy on dichroic glass jewelers, and light on potters, but otherwise had a good mix. We sell hand dyed & decorated silk scarves and clothing, and for a change there were several other fiber artists in the show.

The show and jury fees totaled $205. There were 4 modest cash prizes awarded. Free coffee and bagels were there both mornings for the artists. Setup & take down was a breeze. There was lovely live music featured both days. Several food trucks were there selling a wide assortment of good food, ranging from Scandinavian to Chinese, desserts to main dishes. Hours were 10-5. Saturday was cold and pretty windy, with a good number of people attending. Our sales were moderate. Sunday was warmer and sunnier, and was very busy from noon on. The Fall leaves, or "color", brought out lots of people. Our sales were very brisk. The show's modest size allowed people to go around the entire show several times to pick and choose what they want to purchase.

We'll probably be back next year.

Your invitation to a Mock Jury - October 17 - Novi, MI

Posted by Connie Mettler on October 6, 2010 at 8:30pm

How Do Your Jury Images Stack Up and What is the Purpose of the Booth Shot?

Mock Jury - Rock Financial Showplace, Novi, Michigan - October 17 - 9 am

As a benefit to participating in the Great Lakes Art Fair, Connie Mettler, publisher of ArtFairInsiders.com and ArtFairCalendar.com, will be doing a special presentation for the artists at 9am on Sunday morning October 17 entitled “The Digital Jury Process.”

Connie will speak about the digital jury process, hold a mock jury, view digital images of the participating artists, discuss how to improve your digital images for the jury process, and do a critique of booth images along with a discussion on why booth images are important to the jury process. This presentation is free to exhibiting artists.

This is a great opportunity to see how your work looks to the jury and also to see how other artists present their work.

Connie has been active in the art fair community for over 30 years as an artist's partner, an art event organizer, an art fair consultant and publisher of the nation's most popular art fair related websites, ArtFairInsiders.com (the "Facebook" for art fair artists) and ArtFairCalendar.com - the #1 Google rated site for "art fairs". She has curated many art fair juries and been friends with the nation's top art fair artists, observing their struggles and successes.

Not participating in the Great Lakes Art Fair and would like to attend the seminar? A limited number of seats will be available for $20. Planning on joining us? Click here: http://greatlakesartfair.com/sundayseminar.html

Waterford VA Homes Tour & Crafts Exhibit Oct 1, 2 & 3, 2010

Posted by Mary L. Perry on October 6, 2010 at 1:13pm

For all the traditional craftsman, this one's for you. This past weekend was the 67th Waterford Homes Tour and Crafts Exhibit held in the quaint, historic village of Waterford, Virginia which is located about forty miles from Washington D.C. The whole village is steeped in tradition and is a National Historic Landmark. For three days they turn back time and present a "teaching fair" featuring eighteenth and nineteenth century crafts. The one hundred and fifty-five exhibitors are required to dress in colonial clothing and demonstrate their craft at least 50% of the time. Throughout the weekend, committee people walk the show and give awards to the best demonstrators. There was also a civil war encampment, musical entertainment, fabulous food, a country store and many more points of interest, all reflecting the colonial theme.

Admission was $17 (per day) at the gate or $15 (per day) in advance. The price of the ticket also included a tour of a select group of homes each. Jury fee was $20 and booth fee was $725 for a space in one of their (big) tents or $500 if you use your own. The first year I did the show, two years ago, I used my tent and I was placed sort of out of the loop. This year I paid the higher fee and I was in the heart of the show. Storage was limited to my 10 x 10 space.

Setup for this show was all day and into the evening on Thursday. They provide security in the tent overnight so you can stay and set up as long as you want. They actually have a guy stay in the tent all night to watch over everything. Because of a lot of rain and muddy conditions, driving up to the booth was prohibited and everything had to be carried/dollied. Parking was close by, maybe a five minute walk.

The weather during the show was nice and sunny with temperatures in the sixties. The estimated attendance was 30,000 and the crowds were good all three days. The only slow time was waiting for foot traffic to reach my area in the morning. Since the show encompasses the whole village, it is quite spread out. Friday was my best day for sales and the serious buyers showed up. Saturday and Sunday sales proved to be one third of what my Friday sales were. Other exhibitors in my area experienced the same thing. BTW, I sculpt folk art dolls and my price range is $75 to $175 with my average price being $135. I sold seventeen dolls and my sales were down about one third from what I did two years ago. So, I covered expenses, I made some money, but I was hoping for more.

Load out was much easier because you were allowed to drive up to your booth. My husband was packed up and ready to go in an hour. Even though there are no artist amenities, this is a wonderful show and once you are juried in, you feel like part of the Waterford family. It is an expensive show to do and when you add up booth fee, motel and gas, the expenses are over $1,000 before you even begin. Looking back, I realize that I needed lower price points and if I do it again, I will address that issue. Let me add that I was not able to be at the show this year due to a medical emergency. The Waterford Foundation was kind enough to allow my husband to fill in for me. I think he did a great job.

When are arts and craft shows going to get rid of buy sell

Posted by steve appel on October 6, 2010 at 9:13am

This past weekend i did a show in Boulder City NV. Art in the Park. I walked the park after setting up and noticed a lot of buy/sell. One park had nothing but buy/sell. The fine art park was rather skimpy when it came to filling a park. It was 1/2 full. The art was very good with some b/s. Most artists had their own art and then there were one or two that had b/s. The other three parks had scattered booths of buy sell. What is the arts and crafts show coming to and when are they going to clean their act up.

4th Street Section St. James

Posted by Ann Light on October 5, 2010 at 8:56pm

This was my first year at St. James and I only applied to 4th Street on the recommendation of a friend. I was pleased with everything - I won't repeat what other exhibitors said but disagree that Friday is a slow sales day. When I saw the crowds I was wondering "don't people work, don't the kids go to school?" and was told that the show is so popular that most of the schools are closed that Friday as are some businesses and it's a "take-the-day-off" event. I believe the real buyers come Friday (I had a very good day), and other "buyers" and I mean those who plan to add to their collections look things over on Friday and come back Saturday for another look and buy. I think this is truefor most of the few shows I do. I had more "be-backs" who came back than at any other show.

Sunday, I expected those who had missed Saturday because of the rain and because I had a "ribbon" (third place, best of show) to display. Wouldn't people be interested in seeing someone's work who won a prize? NO. Also were expecting two couples, I put in the "sure to be back" category.

I sold nothing n-o-t-h-i-n-g. Most people seemed more interested in where I was from (Morristown, NJ) than my work. Seems everyone once lived there, had family there, went to school, blah...blah and expected me to be fascinated by their "stories." It was disappointing, BORDERING ON AGGRAVATING. All the "Look at that booth, let's go in" was because they wanted to talk about NJ, most didn't glance at my work and a few said "oh, you won a ribbon, cool!"

But, that said, this was my best show in years even with no sales on Sunday. I actually sold more in the rain than earlier in the day. It's a long trip for us but we drive to Centennial in Nashville the weekend before so it's worth it for two shows.

One last remark - although, as an exhibitor, I didn't have time to meander around St. James Court as much as I would have liked to, I found the work to be mixed just as I did on fourth and third street. Some of it wonderful, some I see in every show I do. Actually, fourth street had some exciting artists - the second pace winner whose booth was next to me sold like crazy and he deserved it, very original, beautiful work. I didn't talk $$$ but I would guess he hit well over $10,000 (just a guess). Some of my favorite artists were on third street, one I purchased a piece of jewelry from (with my prize money) and the other I did a trade and I will love her work forever!

So, go figure....I was told I made a big mistake not applying to the "inner court" and I don't see any reason to be there other than perhaps it sounds more prestigious but prestige doesn't translate into sales.

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