This is a second year show. It is small with maybe 50 artists. Jurying was tight and I didn't see any questionable art and the overall quality was high. There are only 3 awards but they are generous at $3,000; $2000; and $1000. There is a big Jazz festival several blocks away, but it starts in the late afternoon and goes into the evening. There is a small stage in the middle of this show for jazz performers too. Many attendees to the show are carrying folding chairs and are on their way to the "real" jazz show. Set up was on Friday afternoon, but as soon as I arrived the heavens opened up and it poured rain for an hour. Many hardy souls continued with set up, but Kim and I waited it out. We pulled up to our booth and unloaded. Then parked and set up. The show is right in downtown Clearwater on a boulevard with grass down the center. There is room for only one vehicle at a time but everyone cooperated and all went smoothly. We set up against the curb and most spaces were 11 to 12 feet wide. We worked it out with our neighbor and had an outside wall to display on. There is room behind for storage. I would estimate that 80% of the store fronts were empty and there were homeless folks every where I looked. The police asked some of them to leave for the day. Clearwater is the Florida home of Scientology and someone told me 70% of the property was owned by the cult (as decreed by the Supreme Court). Down the block was the "Church of Scientology". It is a huge converted bank. The show opened at 10 AM to light crowds and slim sales. The day ended the same way with our total somewhere in the $300 range. Kim walked our pull-behind luggage bag and soft-sided cooler to the corner while I went for the van. The jazz crowd was building (while our show was closing) and it took me almost 10 minutes to pick her up. When she got into the van she said a couple of homeless guys took pity on her and told her to come with them as they were on their way to the food bank for a free supper. They too, were pulling everything they owned behind them! Sunday was more of the same but cooler and windier. We totaled out at $750 but our neighbors all around complained about not making expenses. Pack-out wasn't bad we were headed for home by 6:30. Kim had a long talk with the director of the show and said she had confidence that he would take some of her suggestions to heart and improve the show for next year. My inclination is to write this one off, but Kim wants try it again, so... we'll see.
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Winter Park is a well-to-do suberb of Orlando. The fall show is held in the same park where the spring show is held, but it has fewer artists (maybe 200). When I am able to get into the spring show, it is always my best show of the season surpassing Gasparilla, Mainsail and Coconut Grove. I therefore had high hopes of having a really good show. These are my people!I returned to Florida early this year (right after Louisville) in order to do the Winter Park Festival. I have applied for several years and have only gotten as close as the wait list. This year I got in. We left Michigan's 50 degree weather and arrived in Florida's 100-year record setting heat (95 and humid).We went over to Winter Park Friday afternoon and killed time until sundown to set up. Most of the booths were already in place. The heat was oppressive but we were able to pull into the park (crossing the RR tracks) and unload from about 30 yards away from our booth space. You can't drive into the park, but the fringe is assessable. Garry and Rita Seidel were setting up across the fountain from us and we had a good time drinking beer and trading insults (he likes to think he walks like John Wayne, I had to add, "A short, John Wayne).The show opened Saturday at 9 AM and a crowd was present when we rolled up our sides. Breakfast was available both mornings. We had a corner booth with space behind and 2 sides. It was perfect. Our neighbor said we had the spot he was in for the past several years. This year he said he couldn't afford the extra $50!Sales were average in the morning and by noon we were between 3 and 4 hundred dollars. We had one sale over $100. We ended the day at $600. Garry and Burt (Herrera) came by often complaining about low sales. Steve Vaughn and Dick Cunnimgham also had little to praise. There were good crowds but poeple were not buying.The show was top quality and the judges came around and picked a piece or two for judging. The awards dinner was well attended, but while we were lined up drinking beer and wine waiting for the food to be served it began to rain. Have you ever seen an artists stampede?All semblance of order faded away and it was every man/woman for themselves. Fortunately, Kim and I had plans to have sushi with Garry and Rita after the awards were announced and didn't have to vie for sustenance. We, therefore, were able to maintained our dignity.Sunday was a 9 AM opening again and it was in the high 80s. By noon it was 95 and breaking records. Sales were near to nonexistent. Again I had one sale over $100 and did $300 by the end of the day. I felt lucky. Many did not make booth fee. At closing time the clouds were building and the cops were swarming. This is a show that is held along a busy double railroad line in downtown Winter Park. Two years ago, an artist in a van pulling a trailer along the tracks got a front wheel caught over the rail and suddenly heard the wail of an Amtrak train coming into the station. He leaped for his life and lived to tell the tail! He is a friend of mine and told me it pushed his engine all the way to the back of the van.So, the cops are reluctant to give us a free hand at loading out. I had to cart out about 70 yards over the 2 railroad tracks: it was anything but easy and then the rain came. It poured for an hour and it almost fell good to be wet from fresh water as opposed to sweat.I think I'll pass this one next year and stay in cool, cool Michigan an extra week or two.
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In the midst of writing my weekly newsletter for ArtFairCalendar.com (you are a subscriber, aren't you?) I started reviewing this site for tidbits of activity. As they say in blog world, OMG! I really try to keep up but someone out there has been talking about ArtFairInsiders.com to others. Who in Virginia started that flood of
new members? Was someone talking about us at an art fair? At last count ten new members joined us from that state. Who do we give credit to? Was it Dave from Norfolk? Whatever, thanks so much.
Then I went looking for
show reports. Not only do we have the high profile ones by our stalwart bloggers Nels Johnson, Michelle Sholund, Linda Anderson (and many more), but I visited the
Show Reviews tab and saw lots more, including: Don Crozier, Jorge Caligiuri, Whitney Peckman, John Hatcher, Cindy Schmidt, C. David, Pauline Ross, Terri Drake, Kaelin Cordis, Genece Hamby, David Hipwell, Lizz Harris, and so many more covering art fairs from Missouri to Massachusetts. Very cool! There are over
3000 photos in the gallery! And, amazingly
274 discussions! We know Ron Mellott did not write all of those, or William Eickhorst or Paula Johnson.
We have had a few spammers that I have had the high pleasure of "banning" from the network. Thanks to those of you who ferreted them out and let me know. I'm still waiting for participation from DJ "Assassin" who joined in the winter. This is my sincere thanks for everyone's participation (even you lurkers). Art Fair Insiders is just about to celebrate its 1st birthday. Look what we have done together. I'm trying to come up with some presents to celebrate. Maybe you have some ideas? Are you recruiting for Art Fair Insiders? I hope so. We are working to help everyone out in this business and I need numbers so I can impress advertisers so I can afford to keep this running and pay my Internet bill. Right? You're there for me, I know. How about some suggestions below to let me know how I (we) can improve the site. Your input would be so welcome and it would be great to know I'm not just talking to myself.
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It's always a thrill when friends receive recognition for years of work. Recently in my mailbox:
The Board of the Tennessee State Museum Foundation Cordially Invites You to the Members’ Reception & Private Preview of Renaissance Jack: The Work of Jack Stoddart "Hippies, Hill People & Other Southern Marvels" And Celebration of The Museum Acquisition of The Jack Stoddart Plateau Collection of Photographs Thursday, November 19, 2009 6 to 8 p.m. Hors d’oeuvres with a Southern flair Tennessee State Museum 5th Avenue & Deaderick Street, Nashville RSVP by November 13 to beth.lekander@tn.gov or (615) 741-9255 These photos are his documentation of the hill people of rural Tennesse and his life among them. Congratulations, Jack. This is a well-earned reward. Tennessee loves you and we do too! Do you know Jack? Visit his
ArtFairInsiders page and send him a message. Comments below also welcome.
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June 25-27, 2010 Western Gateway Park Des Moines, Iowa Deadline: Oct. 31, 2009 The award-winning Des Moines Arts Festival invites you to be a part of the Midwest's premier celebration of the arts on featuring the art work of 185 of the nation's top artists and 24 juried emerging Iowa artists. Creating opportunities for people of all ages, cultures and backgrounds to embrace the arts, the Des Moines Arts Festival is one of the most respected arts events in the country, and brings more than 200,000 art enthusiasts each year to its downtown location in Iowa's capital city and largest metropolitan area. The Festival is a non-profit organization founded by the Des Moines Art Center, attracting over one million people to Des Moines' downtown since its inception in l998. Festival proceeds benefit the Des Moines Art Center and the continuation of the Des Moines Arts Festival. What the artists say:
"This is one of the most professionally produced events we have participated in that caters thoughtfully to both patrons and artists." "Des Moines Arts Festival should be a benchmark for all other outdoor craft shows. One, we are lucky enough to have had very excellent sales. Two, the treatment of the artists before, during and after the fair is so good, it's almost sad when it's over." "Stellar event in every way." "I was mightily impressed with the obvious effort extended for this festival and glad to have the venue to present my work within. I was proud to be part of it." What to expect: Projected Attendance - More than 200,000. * $11,000 in Cash Awards at the time of publication. $600 to each category award, $1000 to the Best of Emerging Iowa Artist; and, $1000 to The Des Moines Register People's Choice Award * Official Festival Guide includes color image for each artist distributed to 220,000+ households via The Des Moines Register; as well as distributed to point of sale locations and on-site during event * Web site includes full-color image with name and live link to artist web site * Free reserved parking
* Invitations to special events and receptions * Exclusive Hospitality Area * Free Electricity * Leisurely set-up (full day is available) * Booth sitters and energetic volunteers
Introducing New Directions We are implementing a new program for juried artists in 2010. New Directions is designed for professional visual artists (we make the distinction because we have an emerging artist program) who are juried into the show and who, between the time they are juried and the date of the show are exploring new directions in their current work. All artists will jury with their body of work as they normally do. Upon acceptance into the show, artists will be notified of the details of the policies surrounding its integrity. Should any juried artist find themselves exploring a new direction with their work and want to participate in the program, we will work with them on a case-by-case basis within a set of parameters that all of us (including the show) must follow. In order to keep intact the decisions of the jury, the rules will be: new work may occupy only a small percentage of the overall exhibit space; the work will be identified as "new work" within the exhibit space;
the work must be an extension of the work juried into the show; the new work must be clearly defined within the exhibit; and, it all must be original. What it may not be is a completely new body of work. Our goal is to encourage artistic exploration while trying to maintain the high standards of the jury process. We recognize that artists wander outside their box and often find themselves rejuvenated by the journey of discovering a new talent you had or wanted to explore, but didn't because you were working too hard to stay inside the box we created for you. And because we appreciate that we are collaborators in this industry we are reaching out to offer this "new direction."
Note from me: My husband Norm Darwish and I have participated in this event several times. It was our favorite. Terrific hospitality, wonderful promotion, friendly and interested visitors who actually thank you for coming to their city for the festival. Plus, they take art home with them. All art fairs should be this good! Apply:
Zapplication.org, For more info:
www.desmoinesartsfestival.org ***************
More art fairs looking for artistsRead more…
Posted by Terri Drake on October 13, 2009 at 11:00am
Just wanted to quickly introduce myself, know how busy you all are so won't take long . My name is Terri Drake and I have a newly formed company called The Drake's Nest Studio. I operate my business out of my home (temporarily until the 16 ft x 26 ft garage renovations into my studio are complete). I have an Associates Degree in Fine Arts (hope to go on for a Bachelor's, but that is on hold for a while). Not only do I do photography (put a few pictures on my page), but I also replicate children's artwork in fabric, right down to their tiny little signatures. As we all know glues disintegrate, maccaroni shells break, papers fall apart or become nesting material for unexpected and/or unwanted visitors. I help to preserve a memory by making a new one. I replicate the artwork, without any damage to the original. A few photo's of samples of the art work is on my page, there will be more as I complete projects and it will show a picture of the child's artwork and the completed fiber replication. I will travel to either photograph the artwork or to pick it up and any and all work that I do is secured by a written agreement.Being a fiber artist I work in many mediums, painting on fabrics, weaving, embroidery, quilting, crocheting and the like. Oh, I also make fully jointed teddy bears 1 inch and larger. The 1 incher's I don't make that often due to their being so time consuming.I look forward to any helpful advice, suggestions or constructive critique you, my peers, may have to offer. Just starting out and stretching my wings, as it were, I look forward to learning what pit falls to avoid, what seems to work in way of displays, tents, or shows.I hope to meet many of you in my travels or, if you're ever in Northern Michigan, send me an email, I'd love to meet you or even have you over for dinner! I have a beautiful 3 1/2 acre spread with a 1 1/2 acre pond. When the weather is nice, we can paddle boat around the pond and watch the sun set, makes for some nice photo ops as well.Guess my intro wasn't as quick as I had intended. Thanks for any and all help/advice. Looking forward to learning from the "experts."Namaste - Terri at the Drake's Nest in very fallish Ossineke, MI where geese are floating on the pond and a Giant River Otter is playing on the far banks.
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Posted by Dave Hinde on October 12, 2009 at 10:48am
Just getting ready to unload the truck from the weekend's show at Ocean View, in Norfolk, VA. The show was a great one-day show - but it lasted two days! First, the location is Ocean View Beach Park, in Norfolk, VA. Despite the name, the park is on the Chesapeake Bay. It's a nice park with grassy fields and paved pathway winding through the middle. Chesapeake Bay Art Association has been putting on this show since 1962.The weather didn't cooperate with us Friday or Saturday. Gusting winds both days, with rain on and off Saturday. Still we had people out walking with umbrellas and shopping on Saturday. Unfortunately a couple artists lost tents during the day Saturday. One came back on Sunday with another tent, one of the club members brought out a tent for another artist, and I saw a couple people set up without tents on Sunday! Sunday was a great day, weather wise and crowd wise. Sunny, slightly breezy, fall weather, with the temps in the 60s. There were a steady throng of people all day long and we could have stayed open later than 5 and still done good. I saw one sale being made while the artist was loading up their truck!Artist attendance was down a little from last year's 71. This year we had 62 spaces, although at least one canceled at the last minute for health reasons. Publicity was good, with two TV stations coming by, several newspaper articles, and radio announcements. Our "Student Tent" took up 2 spots, and was full of artwork from local High School Students. All the proceeds from the weekend will go to an Art Scholarship fund for one or two students.Next year, keep the second weekend in October in mind for a nice show in Norfolk. Booth spaces are about the lowest around (under $100), and it's an artist run show where we try to make everyone feel at home. To some of the artists it's just like a big picnic in the park with friends. Sales are an added bonus.
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Posted by Susan Lukas on October 10, 2009 at 9:41pm
$200 to do the show25 vendors at the show when promoter said there would be 125.Less than 1,000 people walking the show. Many vendors said they were leaving on Saturday, including us.Promoter, Debbie Netter, called my husband a bad name when he wouldn't move his van fast enough and said she would call security. We had only just arrived and were still taking down our tarps in the morning.Then if that wasn't unprofessional enough she had to say she pitied me being married to him.After a few inches of rain, the spaces were mud holes. She refused to get hay or do anything for vendors.Poorly advertised, small signs for show.This show wins the prize for my worst show of the year.
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Irving Penn whose idealized perfect images brought photography to a new level died this week at age 92. He was a
lucky man -- his first photo landed him on the cover of Vogue. He began his photography career in the l940's just as advertising was really hitting its stride. He had a lifelong career at Vogue, revolutionizing the shooting of fashion. He also traveled and put together museum shows. He constantly explored the boundaries of photography as evident in his stunning imagery. "Thirteen of Mr. Penn's photographs are being auctioned Thursday at Christie's, including "Guedras in the Wind," a 1971 image of two Moroccan women, with an estimated pre-sale price of $40,000 to $60,000. One of Mr. Penn's photo, "Cuzco Children," sold for $529,000 last year, including an auction house premium of 20%. Mr. Penn further developed his austere style that placed models and fashion accessories against clean backdrops. It was a radical departure at a time when most fashion photographers posed their subjects with props and in busy settings that tended to draw attention from the clothes themselves," says
Mary Panzer from the Wall Street Journal. Well-known for his fine black and white palladium prints he also did color work for clients such as Clinique.
"Woman with Roses on Her Arm (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn,) 1950," by Irving Penn. Read more about Irving Penn:
www.wsj.com Why am I writing about this here? I am a great admirer of Penn's work and sometimes despair when I hear art fair photographers discuss mass producing their images and how much it costs to have this done at Costco. Photographers like Penn led the way in turning photography into art with his fine sense of illusion and careful lighting and imagination. Call me old-fashioned. I still believe in the hand made image, carefully crafted and matted and framed under glass. Do you agree?
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Due to late cancellations we now have three spaces open for the
Great Lakes Art Fair to be
held on
October 16-18 at the
Rock Financial Showplace in
Novi, MI. Do you live near? We are working to establish a good solid indoor regional event that you can keep in your art fair schedule twice a year. We have excellent exhibitors for this date but need to fill out the show. The wait list holds only categories that are full: photography and jewelry, so we need you! The advertising is rolling out and includes TV spots, radio interviews and sponsorship by the
Detroit Free Press Homestyle section -- the "go to" guide for area weekend activities.
Glass by Shawn Messenger Michigan area art stars will be there (Jerry Berta, Tom Hale, Sonny Dalton, Shawn Messenger, John Leben, Cynthia Mann, Linda Chamberlain, Madeline Kaczmarczyk, Joe Cyberski), why not you? Help us build a fine event that can extend your art fair season. Booth fee: $400, includes electricity, 12 x 10 space with four feet behind; drive up to unload and load Learn more at:
www.GreatLakesArtFair.com While it is fresh in your mind contact: Erin Woody, Events and Marketing, Rock Financial Showplace -- 248-348-5600 ext. 236 Or email me for questions:
connie@artfaircalendar.com. Don't delay. The press begins with this story in the suburban news, The Observer:
Great Lakes Art Fair Comes to RockRead more…
A little late on this, but here it is:
September 26 & 27, downtown on the riverfront in Peoria, IL, 150 artists Since I was not exhibiting, but rather visiting I can't give too many ins and outs. Load in was all day on Friday (part of the day it was pouring rain), and early on Saturday. Vans could drive up to their spaces and parking was nearby. Friday evening the artists were served excellent pizza and beer.
Artist dinner: Doug Sigwarth, Andy SheaArtist (sorry, I don't know her name), Brenna Busse & Carol MenningaThe show was set up on pavement in a meandering pattern along the riverfront. There were flowers and fountains. It is a very attractive destination. The organizers said that years ago they held it at a suburban shopping center but about seven years ago when the Riverfront was turned into a park the city lured them downtown. They are not sorry.
Kim Armstrong, Director of the Art FairGlass artist Greg Heihn, Photographer Lou Zale and Jeweler Marilu Patterson
Saturday morning dawned misty and chill...but lo and behold show time arrived and the sun came out. I had to leave by noon, so no sales reports. I saw lots of artists I know and I have to tell you for the size of the market here (population 44,000) this was one fine looking art fair and the Peoria Art Guild really knows how to pull a community together for the arts!
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Many years ago there was a Virginia artist lugging her art to art fairs who became a superstar. Really!
Ever hear of Pat Buckley Moss? Her work has been coveted and collected for over 40 years. I was at Art Expo in New York City one year and her large booth (at least 30-40 feet wide) was inundated with fans. I put her story here for inspiration. She did it, you can too! Here is a recent story about one of her personal appearances from
The Kalona News.
Visit Pat's website to learn more and make your plans to become an art star too.
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Strictly speaking probably the coolest art project in the country this year was the $500,000 Art Prize project in Grand
Rapids. It was backed by the Amway fortune and many other corporate entities joined in. It will be wrapping up and awarding its prize next week. Read more about it here:
www.artfairinsiders.com/blogs/the-really-big-deal-grand I love watching our Rust Belt cities taking on the challenge of their environment to bring cultural activities and cultural life to their cities. In Detroit the
Russell Industrial Center is in a downtown building complex erected in 1915. It was originally home to the Murray Mfg. Company, an auto body supplier. It is now home to many businesses, artists, craftspeople and printers. They hold art open art events there throughout the year.
Take a look and visit next time you are in Detroit. On September 25 and 26 Cleveland hosted
The Bridge Project, an offshoot of the Cleveland Festival of Art and Technology, transforming one of the most fascinating under-used urban spaces in the City into a center of art and performance. Literally "Under the Bridge", a party and art show, held under the Detroit-Superior bridge in downtown Cleveland. Originally an underpass for the "Rapid" (I rode on this a couple of times with my great aunt when I was a kid and downtown Cleveland was enticing) the streetcar level spans approximately one mile and includes, at the west end, a series of archways and rooms that were animated by art installations, exhibits and performances.
More about this. Were you there? Do you know of any other projects like these? I'd love to hear about them--comment below!
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Posted by LARRY GOODE on October 7, 2009 at 10:53am
Hello Everyone,Please check out my curiousroom.com site where I am selling my work and excellent artists friends work. I am looking for a few artist to add to the site. If you're intested shoot me an email.thanksLarry
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This past weekend I sold at the Darlington Apple Festival located in a beautiful VERY small town of Darlington, MD. This was my 3rd time selling there although I want to say I sold there 4 times, but can't really recall if I did or not. That is besides the point. I do look forward to this weekend as it usually occurs on one of the best Fall weekends we see - not too cold and rarely too hot, maybe temps reaching 75 degrees, and some of the best crowds any show has seen in the area. Vendors (and this time I am going to use the term vendors) have the option of setting up the day before (Friday starting at 5:00 p.m.) or early morning Saturday. It is an hour drive from home and decided this time I would set up on Friday and SOOO glad I did. I got to my spot just in time - same spot as in the past, where 1 minute later my neighbors brought their big trucks and tractor trailers with barely enough room to maneuver around. There are other reasons why setting up early at this show is wise. 1) It takes place throughout the whole town - not just on the main street. Spaces can be found in parking lots where churches are, all around the elementary school and in the park as well as a few other little outlets. The main street is about 5-6 blocks long and driving through the area with many willing to cause accidents getting around other people who are simply trying to find their spaces, it is not a pretty site. This occurs throughout all of set up time and then all over again in the a.m. only there are more people set up with more canopies and cars blocking aisles. 2) The show takes place both on grass and pavement and the sooner you set up the less likely you will have to contend with mud. Mud everywhere as the who drive the "big wheels" are not considerate of where they drive creating huge ruts in the grass and carrying it all over. 3) Spaces are super tight not one inch can be spared on all three sides of one booth. In the past, there was a few inches, but even this year people who buy 2 spaces couldn't put up two canopies - each space, where I was, was expected to fit in a parking space width with another behind you. When I got there in the morning to finish setting up my work, I couldn't get my sides down as I couldn't get behind my canopy or on the sides - it angered many of us. I would hate to think how I could have gotten my trimline up with all the others set up first. So, the rest of the show. After setting up many of us were thankful the sun came out - it rained that night and the forecast claimed it would be a wash out day. It was a beautiful day. The crowds showed up too. I learned, from a police officer, that last year's "gate" count was 65,000 and I believed it. I want to think it was about 60,000 this year as it seemed the crowds thinned out early. Sales for everyone were all over the place and attribute it to two things - location of your booth at the show and what you sell. A majority of the booths were geared towards country craft like stuff with berry vines, country portraits, flower arrangements, wooden toys (and if I hear another pop gun I will "shoot" someone), all kinds of jewelry, handmade kids clothes (not the crocheted stuff, but NICE clothes), alpaca fabric wearable art, mixed with some watercolors and other 2D art. All in all, I liked the variety. There is always buy/sell at this place including the pan flute players, but the Amish mums and whoopie pies as well as other nice handmade items drowned out the other "stuff" nicely - there were 250 exhibitors. The area I was in many didn't make much although it seems those of us at least made our booth. I made 2 times my booth and that isn't wonderful, but hey it could have been worse, and did have quite a bit of lookers and new fans too add to my list. One friend - Gus who is on there - did well, selling out of her table runners, place mats and the like! In the past I did quite well, and attribute this year to people not spending as much yet still come out to want to support the event. I can't fault that. So, would I do the show again? This for me is tough. I have done it years in the past (not 10 or 15 times) but want to think yes as long as the economy bounces back. The area has suffered some set backs as it is near Aberdeen Proving Ground and they had major layoffs recently and other businesses in the area closing or closed. There isn't much in the area there - no gas station or McDonalds, a few shops, one main one closed and if the economy doesn't pick up, I could see it become a ghost town despite some historic/farming attributes the town contributes to the area. At least it is close to Rt. 95 and another popular area, Havre de Grace (a sailing town with historical nautical museums and art places too). I want to add the photos are ones I took at the beginning of the day (first five mins. of it being open). The one is an aisle shot from my booth (my booth is the one with the chair on the left side) and the other is from the aisle looking down the Main Street. I do not have any special food or drink type things to report - when to the Cracker Barrel both Friday and Saturday and have to say their trout is like butter and love their service.
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We are functional potters, been at this about 30 years now, and have done South Third St. on and off for 18 years or so.Mostly we concur with Nels about this year's show. We were lucky enough to be on Third St., parked behind our booth...and yes, that IS worth about a thousand dollars in sales, especially as our older bodies get tired faster.Crowds weren't quite as thick as in previous years, but we still sold well, being down only about 10% from last year (when we had lots of politically-themed things).We didn't see any of the committee from Third Street, but they are always nice to deal with, promptly answering emails, and taking care of any problems that do arise on site. Breakfast on all three mornings is a nice benefit of South 3rd St.Third Street has a committee prejury system, and artists are notified before apps come out if they are preaccepted. I love those years.Next to us were some of those large canvas photographers that Nels mentioned. They said that they were happy on Third St. this year, that by mid-Sat. they had eclipsed last year's total on St. James!They also spoke about some kind of 'by' system that St. James uses, whereby one medium each year is given a pass on having to pass the jury, and all in that medium are invited back. Anyone know anything about that?Anytime we can get in to South Third Street we'll show up in Louisville.
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Here is some of the best news around the art fairs this year. In Louisville they actually passed an ordinance keeping unauthorized vendors away from the art fair! If you've never been to St. James let me tell you, you park and then you walk and walk and there is just about anything for sale there. Now they are proud of this event (750 exhibitors - I am not saying "artists") but things have definitely gotten out of hand over the years.
Here is the first report I came across: Ordinance to curtail unlicensed vendors at St. James art show
There were some changes this year, mostly caused by the impact of the economy. Here is the info: Changes Afoot for St. James Court Art Show. I especially liked this one: Visitors might notice fewer vendors who had independently set up outside the show area in past years. That’s due to an ordinance the Metro Council passed in May. It prohibits them from seeing up booths within 100 feet of a Metro Louisville special permitted event. Well, hooray for them!
Crowds smaller? So said Margie Esrock, organizer of the fun-for-all St. James Court Art Show. Here's a good rundown from the Louisville Courier: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20091004/NEWS01/910040349/St.+James+turnout+declined+this+year
Supposedly 300,000 people turn out for the three day event. I've been there many times. One thing you never have to fault St. James with is not having enough people turn out. It is elbow to elbow usually all three days. The event is so popular in Louisville that they close school on Friday. I kid you not! The schoolteachers are there in full force wearing their Halloween sweaters. It's pretty folksy but fun too in a beautiful neighborhood full of extravagant Victorian homes.
Here is another article from WLKY, including an interview with jeweler Helmut Goral: Economy Didn't Impact St. James Court Art Show
I'm expecting full reports from many of you as I know you were there!
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Posted by Rick Bryant on October 1, 2009 at 2:56pm
This comes from my friend Aileen Lampman, who I know because she exhibits at my show, the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. Aileen was contacted by the organizers of the G-20 Summit--just held in Pittsburgh, about including her work as a presentation gift for those attending the summit. Aileen says it better than I could, so here by the magic of cut and paste is the story from Aileen: In early September my good friend and liaison to the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Susan Callahan, informed me that a few sample designs of my necklaces were being requested. These samples would be a gift for someone connected to the G-20 Summit that was coming to Pittsburgh at the end of September . I submitted a few different designs and my leaf and tendril design was selected and I initially was asked to make only 2 of these necklaces. A few days later I was asked to make a total of 18 leaf and tendril necklaces and they needed to be completed by Sept. 18th. On the Monday of the G-20 I was again asked to make an additional 5 necklaces. Whew...this all required a lot of rushing on my part! I had suggested adding matching earrings to the "gift" but was informed that earrings may not be accepted a suitable accessory for the variety of cultures and countries involved in the G-20. Every detail, down to the color of the boxes, was considered. They all had to be the same color as not to offend anyone who belongs to a "caste" society- different colors could carry different meanings and if one person got a pink box and the other a green box it could cause trouble! Okay, great point and something I never would have considered. Still I did not know who these were going to and I was asked to keep this all very, very quite - only told my mother, husband and a few close, trusted friends about it. On Wednesday, September 23rd I was asked to go to the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts for an interview and a few photos. No big deal, I figured, just something for their archives. I arrive to find something that looked a lot like a press conference! Still scratching my head, but beginning to think this must be pretty big, I see the mayor of Pittsburgh and other city officials walking into the room, along with all of the Pittsburgh media. Okay, this is pretty big! During the press conference I am made aware that there are 3 levels of gift baskets being given, all filled with Pittsburgh artist's work as well as other "Pittsburgh" gifts. Level one baskets are for the heads of state, the next for their V.Ps, and the third level is for the sherpas (these are the personal assistants to the heads of state). My necklaces will be part of the gift boxes being given to the heads of state and their spouses- my necklace intended for the female spouses. Germany and Argentina have female heads of state so therefore these women will get the necklace as their gift. After the press conference I met Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and was interviewed by the Pittsburgh press. I'm still kind of in a state of shock. It is all tremendously flattering and I am speechless. Check out Aileen's work at: http://aijewelry.bigcartel.com
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Posted by Kevin Kaye on September 29, 2009 at 9:58pm
This was my second year here and it is turning into one of my favorite festivals. It is held in a beautiful park outside of Lowell, Michigan. Small show with 85 artists. It is run by the art council and they really care about all aspects of their show. Great food and entertainment. Weather hampered things this year with rain/drizzle all day Sat.. People still came out in good numbers. Sun. was beautiful but I think the Lions winning a game put them into shock :) Sold many items in the under $30 range and a few lamps. Had past collector of mine buy two $650 lamps, offered them a discount and they refused!!! There are still true gems of people out there. Load in/out easy. Parking close. My sales were down around 25% from last year but was still an acceptable show for me. Other artists I spoke with were happy with sales. I plan on retuning for as long as they will have me.Kevin
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Posted by Linda Anderson on September 29, 2009 at 3:46pm
60 artists gathered in beautiful Usher Park for the inaugural Fine Arts & Wine Festival in Itasca Illinois. The event is sponsored by the Village of Itasca who is fortunate to have the funding to do what it takes to enhance and promote the event. I typically do not do a "first" show, but my weekend was open.......Setup was Friday morning and was extraordinally easy. Drive up to the curb and a team of village worker volunteers were lined up to assist artists - enjoyed greatly our help from the personable chief of police! A gazebo stands in the center of the park with sidewalks that meander to that core so all booth locations were fantastic. There was generous spacing that allowed about 5' between booths and unlimited amount of space behind each booth. Vehicle parking was streetside, around the park and along neighborhood streets. Each day I arrived to park my van a close 100 ft from my tent. Overnight trailer parking was found at the neighborhood school a block away. Along one side of the park, artists assigned to those booths could park both on the grass behind their tents.Since the show ran from 4pm to 9pm Friday evening, electricity was included. Unfortunately, heavy rains were also included Friday evening which dampened the spirits of all. Still, residents turned out and the lighting in this park area looked spectacular! (4) Vineyards had booths throughout the event and while nicely dressed patrons came Friday evening, I think the artists enjoyed the yummy wines more as we were quite saturated while hunkering under our tents. I don't think many artists had sales Friday.Saturday and Sunday went well - predicted rain stayed away. Residents from Itasca and neighboring Chicagoland suburbs attended and those interested in purchasing had no reservations. This was not an elbow to elbow turnout, but rather a consistent flow of patrons. Over the weekend I would estimate attendance was approximately 2,000 to 4,000 (lower than it should have been due to weather). But..... sales were better than I would have expected. My neighbor, a fantastic mosaic artist with high price points ($2,000 & up) did very well Saturday selling five or six large pieces but nothing on Sunday. They also took home the $1,000 second prize ribbon. I had a good day Saturday selling more framed than matted only pieces and was greatly surprised that Sunday was even better. A jeweler on my other side had beautiful work and received the $500 third prize ribbon. Good thing she won that as her sales were the lowest she's had all year with nothing sold Friday or Saturday. A nearby painter from TN had lousy sales until Sunday - he was glad he did not pack up early and went home Sunday with great sales. While this was not a huge money maker for me, it was the best Chicagoland area show for us in terms of profit and environment. Cheerful organizers and volunteers helping constantly.When the rains came Friday night and the lighting presented problems, the public works guys were on it immediately - working efficiently and with great attitudes. Talented musicians playing non stop through the weekend from the gazebo offered great ambiance to the festival. A nearby nature center brought animals to a grassy area on Sunday and had supplies for children to draw the animals. Another childrens activity included sidewalk artistry. Prior to the festival artists could pickup a park bench from the village and paint it. Benches were then sold via an auction with half the sales going to the artist. These benches were great pieces of art with the highest sale at over $1200 and the lowest at $400 or so. The city will use the funds from these sales to improve the park area. One of the park features that attracted me was the swan pond. Swans even had a little house they stayed in at night!Onsight food included a rib guy and an Italian Beef & Vienna hot dog guy..... This is the Chicago area afterall and the food was FANTASTIC and reasonably priced. Both had restaurants in the downtown area. A nice artists breakfast was held Saturday from 8 to 10 at a nearby restaurant.Hats off to the organizers and village employees. Well done. Other than the obvious drawbacks of low atttendance for a "first time" show, the only complaint I had was to find one artist snuck in resell crap on Saturday and Sunday. Pay attention promoters - I'm giving you his name and his booth is shown in my video! Bear with me as I describe the drama:Saturday Neil (my husband and indispensible assistant) & I noticed a great amount of white garbage bags with matted work going by our booth. We were quite busy too and did not give it much thought that day or investigate who was doing so well..... but our mosaic art neighbors noticed it as well. General initial thought was "good for that artist". Shortly after opening Sunday morning we noticed the trend continuing but when my first "looker" of the day said to me - "Why should I pay $50 for a 16x20 here when I can get something for my wall for $10 over there" well.... that got me going. Neil was the first to check it out. An artist by the name of Hailin Gong got into the show when the organizer saw his paintings at another event. When Neil arrived at booth #45 what he saw was about 5 small paintings on a wall and a rack full of knockoff prints matted in cheap black mats - photos of Wriggly Field in the 20's, Marilyn Monroe, Chalk drawing reproductions of baseball/football players.... you know the stuff. Neil asked the guy for a business card..... no card. Neil asked the guy where his booth sign is..... don't know - I'm here helping my boss. Neil asked where his boss was.... don't know - getting a sandwich? In the mean time the crap was selling right & left and Neil noticed the helper was placing them in the bags facing each other so the actual work could not be seen by others as the purchasers carried them throughout the park. Neil came back & relayed the info to me and my mosaic neighbor friend Laura Harris. Laura said she had seen this guy roll in a couple of large racks early both Saturday and Sunday mornings but didn't give it much thought.I was still tending to my customers so Laura went to visit the booth and ask more questions. By this time the helper was acting a little nervous. Laura asked to meet the artist. The helper responded - he's at another show. After Laura returned, I finally had some time and went to the volunteer booth looking for the organizer. She was out & about, but I discussed the matter with the charming chief of police and mentioned that since it was their first show I didn't think they'd want the reputation of allowing resellers participate. He was stunned and said he would pass it along to be taken care of.ok....ok..... I could not help myself.... I finally went to booth 45 myself. I too asked to meet the artist and the nervous little helper explained to me that he is handicapped and could not drive the 40 minutes to run his tent so he was just helping him out. I pointed out the matted stuff and questioned the validity of ownership. Oh yes.... his boss took those pictures and drew those Marilyn Monroe and Walter Payton faces...... To which I replied - well, he must be pretty old to get a photo of Wriggly Field in the '20's. This poor guy (perhaps his green card should be checked) was very well trained and replied - oh yes, he has the rights to those photos....... I think I was more amused than upset at the overall situation. I explained to the helper that his boss put him in a bad position and he should call his boss. I mentioned the rules clearly outlined in the artist packet was the artist must attend all 3 days and that work was to be done by the artist. Again I heard the sad story about the artist's disability and distance and he did not want to call his boss. It was easily recognizable this routine had been done many times in the past and I did not want to get carried away so I told the guy I mentioned the problem to the chief of police and he will likely be at his booth soon to tell him to put away the reseller stuff. The guy responded - why.... this our first show.... give us warning....The lies were ones a teenager would not even expect to get away with. They need to learn a little consistency :-) I left the area before my giggling began. The show was to end at 3:00 and it was now about noon. I needed to get back to my booth and take care of my customers. The organizer visited my booth shortly thereafter and expressed her regret that this "artist"? got away with sneaking in the crap and did make him shut it down. We all regret we did not come across it early on Saturday.Overall I was highly impressed with this art event. The patrons were unlike those at Deerfield or Cantigny in that they purchased AND were personable - enjoyed talking with artists about their pieces. My thoughts are that given the well thoughtout planning, fantastic involvement by volunteers and obvious availability of funding by the city, this event will grow stronger each year. I've discovered my niche is any event on one of the Great Lakes or anywhere in Michigan and while I have pretty much decided to stay away from the Chicagoland area shows next year, I may do this one again if I have that weekend open.Below is the link to Neil's you tube videos. Views of booth 45 belonging to Hailin Gong showing his assistant are on Itasca Show #3 - the one without the tent top.Itasca You Tube VideosHave a great fall season everyone. Perhaps will see some of you in Novi!Linda AndersonAnderson Photo Workshttp://www.andersonphotoworks.comRead more…
