sales and dying fairs

updated fri 25 jan 02

Pamela & Evan Kohler-Camp on tue 22 jan 02

Dear Kathi,

Please tell me why you think fairs are dying? Is it the factor that they
have too many? Do you think it's because they have people selling
custom-dressed-geese next to expensive clay artists? Or is it because the
organizers are greedy and let just anybody with the fee in?

Please keep this thread on the list. I do at least one fair a month and all
the artists who have been doing them for many years say that they just
aren't the same quality. I'm interested.

BTW, We just did a show in Orlando and had sales slightly down, BUT- it was
a new site and my wares were nowhere near what I usually have due to being
the contractor on remodeling our kitchen/dining room.
I was very pleased with sales. Also, my wholesale folks are calling me
earlier than last year. So I see this as a good sign. Now if I could just
shake this chronic sinusitus!

Pamela in warmer than average sunny Georgia
Beneath General Lee's nose,carved on Stone Mountain:)

KLeSueur@AOL.COM on tue 22 jan 02

<have too many? Do you think it's because they have people selling
custom-dressed-geese next to expensive clay artists? Or is it because the
organizers are greedy and let just anybody with the fee in?

Please keep this thread on the list. I do at least one fair a month and all
the artists who have been doing them for many years say that they just
aren't the same quality. I'm interested.>>

I think fairs are dying because:

a. There are too many. Fairs used to be run by arts organizations to bring
artists and people together. The were a service to both groups. Now they are
fund raisers for any group wanting to make some money. both customers and
artist are overcharged for the "service" being provided.

b. the same artist end up at many of the shows across the country. Fairs used
to be regional events often run by the artists who were members of an
organization. the customers traveled to various fairs to see the work there.
Now we travel all over the country. My prime culprit in this is the
SourceBook. All of a sudden you had every artist applying to the same shows
all over the country. Fairs were more interested in getting a good SourceBook
rating than in putting on a good show.

c. The people judging shows have become an incestuous group. Art director A
(who started out as a receptionist but eventually became art director as
everyone above her quit) is invited to jury a show for art director B. Art
director B observes what A rates highly. Then B is invited to jury for C.
Her scores reflect the influence of A. Then A invites C to jury her show. You
get the picture.

d. Upgrading of the fair. More and more the average person can find nothing
they want or can aford. This is called "educating the public". But if you
want to educate someone, first you have to get them to class. And then you
have to provide them with a reason to come back. If you want to teach math to
a seven year old you don't start with geometry.

As I recently told someone else, a director of a ballet company explained
that there are "Swan Lake" people and "Nutcracker" people. Without the
Nutcracker there wouldn't be enough people coming to the ballet to pay for
Swan Lake.

Without enough people coming to buy "average" art and fine crafts you won't
ever get enough people to buy the high end stuff. And the by the time the
person who can't afford to spend alot enters a higher income bracket, they
will be in the habit of buying at some source other than art fairs.

A successful event has something for everyone.

d. As times have gotten tougher artist have become mean s.o.b.'s. They look
for any excuse other than themselves for why they aren't selling. They attack
their fellow artist, accusing them of cheating by one means or another. I
always know who the complaints are going to be against. They're the ones with
the line in front of their booths. Many of these successful artists have
found themselves blacklisted from shows. Once their favorite artist is gone
often customers don't return.

The solution: Younger artist need to organize their own shows with their own
rules. (I'm too old to do it). Don't fall into the trap of becoming a
non-profit. It's the first step to outsiders taking over your show. Pay you
taxes and keep your event to yourselves.

Kathi LeSueur

Jeanette Harris on wed 23 jan 02

Interesting discussion.

One of the main problems with fairs is that they are not run by
artists. Other organizers have other agendas and too many times use art
and artists as window dressing for the purpose of that agenda with
little interest in the success of individual artists. Those that
collect commissions on sales will be wooed into creating their shows
around whatever brings in the most money; not by the quality of the work.

Also, lets face it, much of the public have not had the advantage of a
good education in good art, since those are the program that get cut
first in the curriculum.


There are more things that can be done. For the last few years I've
been in a group called the Clay People and we have organized and run our
own shows with better success each year.

I've been working on a manuscript for about a year on how to organize
and run a show. Now I'm trying to find a way to get it published so
that not only artists, but organizers of shows can use it to improve
what they offer.


There are lots of things that can happen with artist-
run/artist-centered shows:

Control of the quality of work through the jury or screening process.

Targeting specific buyers using your own pooled mailing lists. (and
prying the lists from tightly gripped hands. : )

Sharing of marketing resources:
graphic design
organization of the venue to cater to the artists.
use of PR opportunities for further advertisement of your skill.
education value of demonstrations the enhance the perceived of the
value of the work
doing your own PR

Cutting the cost of the show by putting it on a non-profit basis. Or
collect entrance fees, conduct raffles, drawings, or commissions in
order to create seed money for future shows. Or to fund an agenda that
is relevant to the artists' needs.

Providing the workforce by doing your own security, hospitality, sales
force, slide screening, finance, janitorial, etc.


If artists took the initiative, we would be able to create wonderful
shows that would build our own pool of customers and enhance the market
in general.

Bob Santerre on wed 23 jan 02

Kathy, you're probably going to be deluged with responses to this
thread, but I'd like to quiz you further on your "solution". You
suggest that by being "for profit" the show/fair will be better. Is
that generally true in your experience? Truthfully I've not done many
"for profit" shows, but the ones I've done didn't really seem to have
many (read that any) advantages over the non-profits. And the grumbling
artists were always there, no matter what the venue. I think it's just
the nature of the 'beast' (and I've done my share of grumbling when
things weren't going well too, although not against fellow artists - I
seem to target the organizers, for-profit and non-profit alike).
Truthfully, I feel there are a variety of problems that conspire to
make a show good or bad. Many of the problems are totally
uncontrollable - weather, luck-of-the-draw on booth location, other
competing events in the area, etc.

I do agree with you analysis of the jurying process. There does appear
to be some "inbreeding" and selection based on what has "worked" in the
past. It seems bringing in new work is 'risky' and I think new artists
are given special scrutiny that goes beyond questions about their
art/craft. To some extent I can even agree a bit with that - it's
really difficult to judge the quality of an artist's "overall
presentation" based on one booth slide and three slides of the work
(which the judges get to view for perhaps 10 seconds). One thing's
clear. The jurying process has gotten increasingly more difficult, in
part because of the greatly increased number of applications -
especially for the shows with top reputations.

I offer three solutions:

* Fewer artists applying - maybe they could just start the jurying
process by arbitrarily tossing out every third application (A JOKE!)
* More customers - [really this is your point Kathy] advertise more
agressively, spend more $, time educating the buying public
about the value of owning original handmade
art/craft works (I really think this is the key).
* Fewer malls and TV ads telling the public about what everyone else is
buying - I go into malls and look at the pottery and
functional ware offered and it's clear what our
real competition is - Pier One, Wal-Mart, etc. The"value" they
offer is phenomenal! For a young couple
furnishing their first home there's no way we (artists at a street fair
in the USA) can compete with the
price/value of Malaysian, Chinese, Mexican, etc. products available at
the mall. I offer no solutions for
this one - capitalism is what it is and I personally simultaneously
benefit and
suffer from it's cruel economic forces.
Learn to live with it! Broaden your own venues/markets. Be a
capitalist. Create a niche market
for yourself and be prepared to move on when others start competing too
much in your niche. It's a
difficult master, but not impossible to survive in. I think
realistically one should
probably strive to make street fairs perhaps no more then 30% of your
total income as an artist and cultivate
other venues, e.g., local clientele, galleries, web sales, etc.,
whatever. Be creative and work at it - nearly as
much as you work at your art. The truth is - no money,
no artist. You gotta figure out how to get beans on the
table first and make art second. If you don't, you
won't be making art very long - the 'starving artist routine'
doesn't really work for most people.

Boy, this has really turned into a rant. Sorry, I'll quit now.

Bob

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


KLeSueur@AOL.COM wrote:

><>have too many? Do you think it's because they have people selling
>custom-dressed-geese next to expensive clay artists? Or is it because the
>organizers are greedy and let just anybody with the fee in?
>
><<<>
>d. Upgrading of the fair. More and more the average person can find nothing
>they want or can aford. This is called "educating the public". But if you
>want to educate someone, first you have to get them to class. And then you
>have to provide them with a reason to come back. If you want to teach math to
>a seven year old you don't start with geometry.
>
>As I recently told someone else, a director of a ballet company explained
>that there are "Swan Lake" people and "Nutcracker" people. Without the
>Nutcracker there wouldn't be enough people coming to the ballet to pay for
>Swan Lake.
>
>Without enough people coming to buy "average" art and fine crafts you won't
>ever get enough people to buy the high end stuff. And the by the time the
>person who can't afford to spend alot enters a higher income bracket, they
>will be in the habit of buying at some source other than art fairs.
>
>A successful event has something for everyone.
>
>e. As times have gotten tougher artist have become mean s.o.b.'s. They look
>for any excuse other than themselves for why they aren't selling. They attack
>their fellow artist, accusing them of cheating by one means or another. I
>always know who the complaints are going to be against. They're the ones with
>the line in front of their booths. Many of these successful artists have
>found themselves blacklisted from shows. Once their favorite artist is gone
>often customers don't return.
>
>The solution: Younger artist need to organize their own shows with their own
>rules. (I'm too old to do it). Don't fall into the trap of becoming a
>non-profit. It's the first step to outsiders taking over your show. Pay you
>taxes and keep your event to yourselves.
>
>Kathi LeSueur
>
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