Ranked #22 in the nation by Sunshine Artist Magazine, this event is held on Father's Day weekend - a peak attendance weekend for Cantigny Park. Show runs Saturday & Sunday from 10 to 5. This was my second year attending this art festival. My medium is Photography. 115 artists participated - Fantastic artists all and in my opinion, this show had tight jurying as I've not been to another show that had solely this level of top artistry - well deserves it's high ranking. I was humbled to be in their presence. Wonderful artwork in all mediums and nicely balanced.
The festival is set on the enormous and flat front lawn of Cantigny Park under a light canopy of honey locust trees. The park grounds are the former estate of Chicago Tribune mogul Colonel Robert R. McCormick. Cantigny Park is located in Wheaton, Illinois, and is about 25 miles west of Chicago. Cantigny Park is well known for it's 15 acres of gardens, ponds, woods, nature trails and golf course. This weekend seems to be the prime weekend for flowers as the blooms and smells throughout the gardens were abundant. The grounds also hold a visitor's center, 35 room McCormick mansion and the First Division Museum. Throughout the heavily treed grounds are many picnic areas and this year, as last year, most tables were well occupied.
The Organization - $25 jury fee and $355 booth fee with 2 pay option. Promoter Amy Amdur does a fantastic job in covering the details. This year, as with last year I have found that she has been quick to adjust to changes (weather etc) and provides a great show for both the artist and the patrons. Her presence is constant throughout the show - she's a worker. Her assistants roved the artists booths nearly hourly offering assistance, breaks and a few times a day brought food carts along the row of artists so the artists did not have to leave their booths to obtain food or drink.
The layout - Friday night setup is an option with Drive up to booth for unloading & loading working nicely. Artist vehicle and trailer parking a bit of a distance, but artist could request a bus pickup. Since the weather called for rain, Amy altered the booth setup a bit and aligned the booths so patrons would walk on pavement rather than on muddy grass - Last year two rows were located nicely under the locust trees but due to rain, the grass and inside the booths became a mucky mess. Good move on the change of layout as the only real mucky area after Friday nights storms were behind the artists tents. From what I saw and personally experienced, inside the tents had slightly wet grass, but no mud spots. Nice to see Amy made this adjustment for this year. There were no "dead zone" areas at this show. Patron flow was consistent throughout. I was extremely fortunate to be across from an amazing harpist. Her beautiful music both days contributed to the wonderful, easy flowing environment. Patrons remarked many times on how nice it was to listen to her music while browsing exquisite art. So pleasant especially when comparing to some events where the music is so obnoxious you can't hear your customers talk (we've all been there).
A large room inside the air conditioned visitors center is reserved for artists. This is the area for check in and throughout the day artists can take a break using the tables, couches and wi-fi in comfort. INSIDE real bathrooms were so nice - no porta potties here folks. Last year there were coolers full of ice bottles which was great. It was nice to see a slight change this year towards "green". Amy provided each artist with a reusable thermal mug and many cold cold water coolers to keep the mugs full. Tidbits of snacks available as well.
An artists awards and breakfast buffet was provided Sunday morning beginning at 8am inside the dining area of the welcome center. Eggs, bacon and all kinds of yummy foods started the day off well.
The weather - I have no idea how my tent made it through Friday night! We began setup at 1pm. Amy alerted all artists to inclement weather and reminded everyone to check their weights/tie downs. She applauded the artist near me for his wonderful home made weight system. Due to the storm predictions after we were nearly done, we decided to leave our more expensive artwork inside the van and weather-up the tent as good as possible. This time not only did we rely on our corner weights and tie-downs, we roped up the center of our tent to the plastic bins containing our matted art. Each bin is quite heavy. We then drove the trailer to the parking lot to drop it off prior to making the 2.5 hour drive home for the night. Just as we unhooked the trailer, 80mph winds hit - no exaggeration. Lightning filled the sky making it very dangerous to be out in the open.
We scrambled back into the van to drive to the tent sight and watch our poor tent get thrashed about a bit. Many of the other secured tents were blown away or broke up to pieces. I had to cover my eyes at times as I was sure ours would be toast soon. This is the 5th season for our EZ up and I had only planned on using it for one year but it keeps on hanging in there through tough, tough weather. Likely because we initially purchased the sturdy steel Eclipse II and not the lesser ones commonly found at discount places. After 25 minutes of terror, the winds subsided but the hard rain and lightning remained. OMG, this little tent is still standing, still protecting our artwork! Risking the lightning (I know... bad us), we could not help but go inside to check for any damage. What? All was dry? Upon further inspection, we found one of the legs bent up quite a bit - likely because the tent raised up a bit and was slammed back to the ground - lucky we did the center tie up bit. But that was it. Fear subsiding, we drove home. As soon as we got home, I checked the radar for that area.... What? Another cell with 60mph winds were hitting Wheaton at 10pm. My heart sank and I went to bed thinking we would arrive in the morning to shambles. That little tent was lucky to get through the first, but another would surely be the end.
During the drive in the morning, I dreaded the thought of the destruction I may face. Low & behold, no further damage to our little darling. There were a few others that were not as lucky and my heart sank for them.
Saturday and Sunday were overcast at times, but otherwise perfect weather. Highs between 80 & 85, a tad humid but not too bad. Saturday had a welcome breeze, while Sunday winds were minimal.
The crowd - Likely due to Cantigny's popularity for Father's Day weekend, the crowds were great. This combined with Amy's advertising brought all ages out in droves. They were wonderful people and comfortable asking questions and expressing their interests. Most families have made this an annual event. I saw many from last year. Yay, I'm developing a nice return customer base in Wheaton. Saturday's crowd was great and Sunday's crowd was nearly double. Spending was at a comfortable pace both days and I saw large and small selling fine. Every age group attended and all appeared to be well educated and happy being there. Even the teens & younger kids were having a great time. Lots of generation families. Kids buying for dads & grandpas, dads & grandpas buying for each other & their kids. Women buying for everyone.
The $$$$ - My first sale ($190) was at 9:30 Saturday am - yupper - 1/2 hour before opening and I wasn't all set up yet. I did not sit down the rest of the day. Sales were 50/50 between cash & credit. All interested in detailed stories behind the photos - moreso than any other show I've done. Perhaps all the history on the grounds promoted that but as we all know.... stories help sell the art. Last year I did just so-so here. Many of the artists from last year did not return and I questioned it as I typically do better lakeside. After Friday nights storms I seriously doubted my presence here. Sure glad I stuck it out. One of my better shows so far this year. Sales of large art and framed art seemed to go fine. But, beware - last year was tough - this year may have been a fluke. A painter next to me was a bit disappointed none of her originals were sold. A painter a few booths down demonstrated during the show and was terribly disappointed that her $7000 original did not sell. Jewelers from what I saw did well. 3D art went well - towards the end of the day one of the artists had only a few pieces left hanging and her art bins seemed half full in comparison to Saturday. I had no one trying to get a better price. One father bought (4) $50 matted prints for each of his under 12 year old children. Those four kids were quite precise in their taste and I was amazed at the intricacies they saw and appreciated in their choices. Several bought items for their kids graduations - oh my, one woman bought a $70 matted photo for her daughters 6th grade graduation. My opinion.... patrons attending this event were from the immediate surrounding areas of Wheaton. They were well traveled as most knew where much of my images were taken (throughout the Great Lakes Region). If people saw something they liked, they bought it.
Food - Food court area had Vienna Red Hots, Pulled Pork sandwiches, hamburgers and various snacks as well as bakery. Positioned at one end with a music stage and seating area. At the other end was a popular Lemonade Stand. This eliminated the crowd from turning around before getting to the last artist in the rows. Inside the Welcome Center is a wonderful restaurant and a nice stand up & order sandwich/goodies Ice Cream counter. Both unfortunately lost electricity during the Friday night storm, but last year I found the sandwich and salad choices to be outstanding.
Bottom Line - Charles, Colin: I know your sales were dismal last year, but I wish you could have been here this year. I think you would have liked it. Missed you Geri - you would have loved it. Kudos to Amy - well done (again). This is a class show. NO obnoxious music, NO stinky food vendors, NO porta potties, NO buy/sell. While I am a dog lover and typically enjoy seeing dogs walking through the shows, Cantigny Park does not allow dogs, so none at the show. Likely one of the more expensive to produce shows I've attended. Top Notch. Loved the creative artwork from all areas of the states. The only bummer (if you can call it that) was I had no time this year to walk the gardens and get more beautiful photos. Perhaps I was too busy talking & selling in my booth, but during my walkarounds visiting other artists and checking out their art, I personally heard no grumbles. What? No complaining artists? Perhaps others heard differently, but this was a first for me. Perhaps it was the high caliper of artists. Dunno, but it was sure nice. I sure hope I'm juried in next year.
My Review from Last Year
You Tube Video of Show & Layout taken Sunday Morning at 10am.
Linda Anderson
Anderson Photo Works
