Fur In The Paint

Okay, so despite the photo which might indicate to the contrary, the event was pretty good in regards to sales. (Note the clamp stuck to my awning to promote shedding of water)

Sales were better than expected and perhaps the best in the past several years. I think the largest difference I have seen in spending habits is that instead of folks buying framed prints, they just get shrinkwrapped prints, but often 2 or 3. In the end the sale amount is about the same.

It rained both days in the morning, but let up in the afternoon and was sunny. We had no major storms or winds so the rain was just fine with me. Last year if you remember was the weekend when the rains poured down and in a few days left the area under many feet of water.

About The Event
They expanded the site and added more artists this year. The expansion for the most part took the form and spreading the booths farther apart with more empty spaces between groupings.

The festival provided some stats so I’ll go ahead and share.

Event Positives
Easy loading and unloading
When there was a thunderstorm warning, staff went around and told everyone
Volunteer help to booth sit
Booth Fees are reasonable
Had a couple of artist lounges
Provided coffee and donuts Sat.morning.
City tends to support art events. (Iowa City is the only city other than Omaha that we consistently do more than one event in per year.)

Event Negatives
I don’t really have any real complaints. The perks are minimal here but then the booth fee is less. (There’s really no such thing as a free lunch. You pay for all those “free” goodies.)

I think being downtown next to a bar and music concert tends to lead to trouble. (This is not just a Iowa City thing.) Homeless sleeping in booths overnight and drunks peeing and vomiting in and on booths happens. They have security but there is usually a lot of ground to cover.

Tags: artfairs

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