I was juried into the Florence ArtsFest 2009, both into the Juried Exhibition and into the Sale. This was my first time participating in these shows.
The show format was different from anything I have done before. Set up was the weekend before the show, Saturday and Sunday. Then the juror chose awards on Monday from the work juried into the exhibition part. The Monday - Thursday patrons were walked through the show to select Purchase Awards. The Exhibition and Sale opened Friday night with a Gala Opening - $50/person, with Martini bars, wine, heavy hors d’ouevres, and live music, capped with the awards presentation.
Saturday the Exhibition and Sale were open to the general public at no charge.
Frankly, leaving my jewelry out for the whole week made me more than a little nervous, but they had a policeman on duty the entire week, and security was as good as they said it would be. No one had a problem at all with theft or missing items.
The other thing they handle differently is that all sales are rung up at the main register - not by the artists. Each artist is given receipts, and when someone buys a piece the artist fills out the receipt and keeps the original; then the buyer takes the receipt to the checkout and pays, and has their copy of the receipt stamped PAID. They bring that back to the artist, who then gives them the work they purchased. After about 2 weeks the Arts Alliance will mail checks to the artists. The Arts Alliance handles all the credit card processing and all the sales tax filing. Different. Seemed to work ok, although I’m not thrilled with having to wait for my money!
In addition to the booth fee, they also take a 30% commission, which doesn’t thrill me either. That said, they did provide excellent security; a really great and well attended opening reception; breakfast and lunch and drinks for the artists on Saturday, and good PR. So I guess I got my money’s worth out of it!
This was my first show for 2009, and the economy in our area is really, really bad. We have plants closing, public schools laying off staff, colleges laying off staff, the state university system is talking about closing at least 4 regional campuses, and businesses are shutting right and left. So I really was not sure what to expect. Lets face it - arts and craft show purchases are not necessities! Pay the electric bill or buy a new necklace…gee….tough call! Not!
The Arts Alliance said attendance and sales were down from prior years. I had a personal goal for the show, and came very close to it, so I am pleased. I also made several high-end (for me) sales, and received a couple of commissions - so not bad at all.
The show was held in the old public library, and was on two floors covering 4 rooms. I was on the main, ground floor in a primo spot - not sure how I lucked into that! There were 5 folks selling jewelry on my floor, and at least three on the top floor - a surfeit of jewelry. Two were dichroic glass artists; one did some really incredible piercing in copper and brass; there were several beaders; and one with an assortment of stone items. I was the only one with soldered metal as a focus of their work; and the only one with genuine pearls and top quality gemstones.
There were lots of painters, a couple of potters, one wood turner, and a fiber artist with some really neat stuff.
In addition to the juried exhibition they had a juried exhibition of high school students from the local public high schools, which I thought was a nice touch.
The show was well organized and well run, and I will add it to my schedule for next year, hoping the economy will improve and sales will be even better.
Pictures of my booth, with views into the painters on each side, are below.
View looking towards the entrance
view looking toward the back of the room
view with stairs to second floor in the background
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