My Booth at the Waterloo Holiday Art Festival
So here’s the scoop. As I said it was a mediocre event sales-wise for me. It appears (as so many are) to be turning into a jewelry/pottery show. Yes they had other artworks (like glass) but it was heavy in those things.
I believe the crowds were also down this year. The Patron Party was amazingly small. (mostly artists) They do have quite a good Patron system and many came on Sunday, just not for the party.
They had a Carribean theme going with the food and music. They had a wine bar (with glasses for purchase.) And a free buffet was chips with various dips, Jerked chicken, shrimp and fruit kabobs. The food was far less exotic than before but still pretty good. (Though with my hick-a-billy heritage if it’s anything more than pizza rolls or cheese whiz on a cracker I’m impressed.)
So here’s the up-side and down-low as I see it for this event.
First the good stuff
They have an unbelievable army of helpful volunteers. They whisked everything to my space in 15 minutes. And when it was over and we had gotten everything packed they whisked it out and helped put it in the van. We were actually tore down, packed up and driving away within an hour. (amazing)
The booths were a little bigger. Booth sizes vary depending on which room (or hallway) you are located in. But I had (as in, in our room) an extra 2 feet. (10×10) Still tight but a nice surprise.
Though with my hick-a-billy heritage if it’s anything more than pizza rolls or cheese whiz on a cracker, I’m impressed.
Reasonable rates $10 jury fee $80 booth fee and no additional charge for electricity. I think this is the only event I have ever done that doesn’t charge for electric. (once again a very nice perk)
Artist/Patron Party Again it is a pretty good spread with live music. The music was nice and festive but it was a guy on steel drums. Very Carribean. Not really what I’d call holiday. Non-the-less happy music is always a good choice.
Free coffee and donuts in the morning
The Waterloo Art Center gift shop actually purchases art from the vendors to sell in their shop. Which is great if you’re a jeweler, potter, fiber or glass artist. Walking around their shop there wasn’t much for 2D work to be seen. Once again a really nice and rare perk.
A Patron Purchase program This is where they get people to pledge to spend a certain dollar amount on artwork. Clearly a good thing.
The Down-Low
And yet again I think they may not realize how they are cutting out the painters in their event. By limiting the original to print ratio. And also by supporting (through purchase) the other types of work. I might be sounding bitter, but I’m not in any way. I’m just noting the trend I see.
The crowds were thin Not sure how much the economy has to do with that.
The event appears to be getting smaller. This may not be a bad thing. Less competition for those in it. But it also has potentially less draw for patrons. Generally I like an event to have a minimum of 75 vendors.
The artist/work distribution
They had around 55-58 artists. (some didn’t show)
15 jewelers
13 potters
6 glass artists
6 wood (this is anything from pens to tables)
5 metal
5 fiber (scarves, clothing etc)
4 Painters (2 watercolorists, an oil painter and myself)
As I mentioned in the last post I probably won’t do this event again. We made enough money to make it worth our while. And if I had nothing else going on, I probably would do it again and hope for better sales. But the gallery is busy and while gone I got web orders and email orders. At this point I need to factor in if closing the gallery is worth it. For this event, it was not. Perhaps when the economy really picks up I may try it again. You never know.
Tags: artfairs
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Wow, that really wasn’t many painters. I see you point because I feel the same way about ceramics in our area. I was really disappointed that our art fellowship (of which I am a member) did an exhibition this month for 2D only. As a member I expect the same opportunities as other artists.
So far, most of the exhibitions I have been to have only had one ceramic artist, with the exception of last June, where there were 3 including myself (for the first time). I think it’s nice to have a bit of variety. The only advantage I see is that if there are less potters then viewers perhaps are more likely to buy your stuff, but on the other hand, there are probably less people coming for pottery if they expect to see paintings. I expect the same is true if you are a painter at an event like the one you have just been to.
I get the impression that pottery is more sought after in the US than the UK? Or maybe I’m just not moving in the right circles yet!
Thanks for the round up Mona
Ceramics are big here. Other than jewelry they are the most popular item. Perhaps it is the circles you are currently selling in. Or it could also be that pottery is big in the circle I run (the Midwest) but may not be so in the rest of the country. Hmmm.
I dunno, I read quite a few blogs written by successful potters, and they seem to be from all over the US. I think I have to be willing to travel more, which maybe I will once I have more of a collection and feel more confident about my work. I think ceramics are more popular in some of the cities here, like Cambridge.