Richard Aerni on wed 7 mar 12
mel wrote:
at my last uptown art fair 1960 something/ the guy in the
next booth melted beer bottles. added some color and sold
everything he made in like three hours.
another booth had a gal with painted milk cans.
she sold them all. welding rod flowers went like hot cakes.
i thought...`well, good that they make a buck, but it is time
for me to re-evaluate if this is my venue.`
i packed up and went home after the first day,
never been to an art fair since. of course i predicted
that art fair organizers would figure a way to make big
money on the artists. no one believed me...was i right?
some artists would sell their kids to be in a big fair.
silliness.
mel,
I'm sure you realize that fairs and galleries have changed since the =3D
1960s...they got hot, got cold, got hot again, and seem to be cold =3D
again...everything changes. It seems what is more and more "in" now is =3D
to either sell your work online and/or sell it in smaller artist run =3D
shows...everything from the St. Croix Valley tour to smaller shows such =3D
as the one run in Ithaca, NY by Julie Crosby and Cary Joseph. I could =3D
probably name a couple of dozen in the east, and I'm not really in the =3D
know about them. =3D20
I'm sure there are lots of greedy promoters...but you can certainly do =3D
shows that benefit good causes rather than private entrepreneurial =3D
promoters...the ones I do benefit arts organizations, museums, "causes =3D
(cancer research, etc)", clay centers...that kind of thing. It's a way =3D
to get artists together to make money, and help out worthy institutions. =
=3D
I use my work (selling in these venues, as well as donating to =3D
reputable and well-run benefits) to promote the causes in which I =3D
believe. Just another way...
Best,
Richard Aerni
Rochester, NY
www.richardaerni.com
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