clennell on sat 12 jul 03
Sour Cherry Pottery
> Hi Earl,
> Well, I finding out (from the posts) that this may be a bigger problem then we
> all thought.
> We don't want to hurt feeling, but our retail space is small (about 250 sq.
> ft.) and we have about 15 members. we didn't think about jurying members prior
> to membership. We thought we needed everyone we could get, just to get the
> place open (which ended up being true) but now we are running into this. We
> want only high quality work to represent the co-op, so I think this is going
> to be a sticky situation. We are planning on having a jury of 5 people. We
> also have a board of directors, but the board doesn't nessessarily want to be
> on the jury. Well, this is turning out to be more complicated than I thought.
> Thanks Again,
> Stacey Ballard
Stacey: Perhaps I was too hard on the pottery scene yesterday. Apologies to
the Pied Piper and all those that are giving it berries (giving it their
all).
for my mind the jury may be at the center of this sea of work that i dumped
on. Jurying for most shows is a "marketing ploy". The organizers jury it and
call it a juried show so that buyers will be impressed. I'm in favour of
hiring an outside juror and a different one each year. No on gets too comfy
this way.
These art fairs are big business and the lawyers that run them want to fill
the stadium to the brim with craftspeople. They make a fortune off the backs
of the craftpeople in booth fees and then they fill the wine cellar with
profits from charging admission fees for people to come and shop.
Guild shows are a grass roots event. Everyone in the guild is allowed to
show. I think this is a mistake. I think getting into a great show is a
brass ring worth reaching for.
The Toronto Outdoor Show is run by a non-profit organization that is
committed to showing the best. they pay jurors to jury you in and then jury
you at the show for awards.
One of the grass roots members ( Sue chen?) of my Guild The Hamilton Potters
is in the Toronto Show this weekend. We are proud of her. She has reached
for another rung in the ladder.
Pay someone to jury the work. then you can put the blame on them. It's part
of the payment. you take the flack for having an opinion.
Cheers,
Tony
stacey ballard on sat 12 jul 03
Tony,
Thanks, that sounds like a great idea. I think there might be a few local ceramics teachers that might do the job. It would certainly take the pressure off the members. On another note, I did fairs for a while (about 5 years, part time) but do to health problems I had to stop. I had a friend in the interior design business, that got me interested in marketing to interior designers. I have only being doing it part time for about a year, but I think it's a great "middle" market. I have my work at two interior design galleries so far, but I am working on more market areas. I do custom pieces for people who like my "style" of work, so it still allows me a lot of creativity. I think it's a great market for potters to get into because the people that use interior designers, want one of a kind pieces.
Thanks again for your help,
Stacey Ballard
http://www.basicelements.biz
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