Blog

What a weekend! Because I was doing this show on my own, I decided to set up the tent and walls on Friday night. We NEVER leave inventory in the tent over night, NEVER! Am I glad we have that policy. The weather predicted rain over night and rain on Saturday morning. So I figured it was better to have the tent up and waiting for me on Saturday morning, when I arrived. Nothing worse than setting a tent up in the rain.

Everything was fine on Friday night. The tent was up, the walls were good, I put an extra tarp over the entire tent for good measure. I brought extra weights (totally 175 lb). About midnight the rain started. It rained hard, but apparently my tent did just fine, as nothing in the tent was wet. Then at about 2:30 am (according to the airport) there was a 50 MPH gust of wind. Based on the location of my tent around other building, it was just too much and down went my tent.

When I arrived at 6:00 am, my tent and walls were twisted every-which-way. The tent is broken in 6 different spots. The mess walls (from Flourish) did survive.

One other neighbor had their tent damaged too, but were able to save it. In all, 28 tents were damaged over Friday night. Most were able to repair and remain in the show. The show tried to find extra tents, but only found 2 tents. So, after an hour or so of being in shock and with all the support of my artists-neighbors, I decided to stay, with out a tent. The woman on one side of me offered her outside wall, an other offered their huge umbrella, someone else handed me a tarp. The 7 artists-neighbors around me were incredible. I would not have stayed, if they had not helped.

At the end of the show, I ended up with decent sales ... I can only image how strong my sales would have been, if I had a full set up. I was only able to put out about 25% of my regular setup.

This is a very good show. The people from Spring Green are very supportive of the artists. Many people come from Madison, WI as well.

This has long been one of my favorite festivals. This year, not so much. The exceptional work just wasn't there. There were many fine artists there but nothing breathtaking as there has been in the past.

The really good news---last year you couldn't get near the stone duck booth. This year, it was empty. I never saw any patrons in it. I also never saw anyone carrying any stone birds of any type. (I was at the festival both Saturday and Sunday)

The not so good news---a new yard art booth that seems to be franchised like the stone birds. I was suckered completely because the items are made of what looks like recycled material and what they sell is actually a lot of fun. The prices are exceptionally attractive. I am not trying to start another debate but since they were at both shows I went to this weekend, and they knew each other, I am wondering if the product isn't produced through kits of some kind like the stone birds. They were busy the whole time I was there.

I didn't see a lot of packages being carried either day although one large sculpture was gone on Sunday when I went to look at it again.

There were a lot of new artists there. This is pretty typical of this festival. Unfortuneately, a lot of the new ones weren't as good as in previous years.

I am confident that this is just a blip and not a trend for one of my top 5 festivals.

(the many dogs were not only well behaved but they were of exceptional quality)

November 11-14 & November 18-21
Apply Today!
150 spaces
Application Deadline - July 2

1. Located in a new highly desirable location on 34th Street at 5th Avenue across from the Empire State Building and a block from Herald Square- 7W New York gives shoppers access to some of New York's best restaurants, hotels, entertainment, with convenient access to public transportation.
   
2. With only 150 spots available each weekend, this show is sure to be the best of the best!
3. Our extensive booth package is like no other show. We provide gallery like space that includes hard walls painted white walls, carpet, free drayage, booth signage and extensive marketing.
4. Unique Exhibiting Options:
   We invite juried artists to exhibit with us for 4 days
   Option 1: November 11-14
   Option 2: November 18-21
   We invite juried artists to exhibit with us for 8 days
   Option 3: BOTH weekends!
5. We work hard to promote you, the artist. Our promotion begins the minute you contract with the inclusion of your images and contact information in our online artist locator, which links to your website and lists your contact information. We provide complimentary show passes, full color brochures and VIP passes for your individual distribution! Exhibiting artists will be featured in an extensive online campaign and through our aggressive PR efforts.

2009 Artists Talk Shop:

Or, apply right now: www.zapplication.org

Does anyone know of large art shows where you can take a well-behaved small dog?

Do you know of any larger festivals that have tent-camping nearby?

Ephraim, Wisconsin is in Door County....you know, the thumb of Wisconsin.....it is the summer playground of the semi rich and not famous.....this Ephraim show has both fine art and crafts....it is part of the Fry Bal norwegian festival.....YAAA YAAA.

The show is along the road on a narrow strip of land between the road and Green Bay......maybe it is called Ephraim Bay.....I dont know.....also all the buildings in Ephraim are painted white.....and it is the hometown of Charles Peterson.....nationally famous artist.....last year....I saw him and talked to him .....it was very wonderful....because he is my hero....and I paint ghost too....maybe I can call him Chick now....well maybe not....

You can park right by your booth to load and unload....food is good....esp if you go to the nearby restaurant....I dont do grease....and Door County is always 5 degrees cooler than nearby inland Wisconsin places.

Ok, now the scoop.....(Wilson's Ice cream pallace sells lots of ice cream)......well, now the real scoop.....first there were only 40 booths plus or minus...so the total spent was divided among fewer vendors than normal......Yea!!!!!...the crowd was light to medium....but they all had money....many of them were Chicago area people who could afford to drive to Door County for the weekend and stay..... I sell a whole line of Chicago Sports art......so I did very well....Go Bears!!!!......oops I am a Packers fan......I retract that.....well I like the Bears after the Packers are eliminated....lol....Boo Vikings....but I like Brett.....gee remember it is only a game.....lets not get carried away here.....this is artland.....not sportsland.

It is a two day show with a low booth fee.....sold a lot of sports art prints....and quite a few landscapes too......and a jewelery friend nearby always does well.....we have both done this show for 5 or so years.

3 Daveys!!!!!! (out of 5 possible) Try it, you will like it....think of it as a paid vacation.

I found this website on an artist's website and thought it was interesting.

It is too late to enter this year but I don't recall seeing a website with so much information on it. It has the accepted artists slides available for viewing, explains the jury process and has lots of bells and whistles.

http://www.milwaukeedomesartfestival.com/

Enjoy.

I've been given some good advice on displaying so far but don't have that kind of $$$ YET! Could anyone steer me to some pics of simple displays or just give me advise??? Please

Does anybody know anything about this show? It is 10/23 and 10/24 in Herndon, VA. They do not have a list of last year's artists that I saw. A second year show is scary enough. Thanks, Linda

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