A Different Kind of “No”

Posted on May 12th, 2010 in Blogs by Giesla

A few months ago I was in an absolute panic because I was put on the waiting list for two of my regular art fairs. About a month ago I was called up from the waiting list for both of them. Crisis over, right? I was updating my art fair schedule page with my booth numbers today and then a new kind of panic set in.

Let me backtrack a tiny bit…

I’m participating in an art fair that since its inception has grown and grown and grown. This growth is despite the fact that there aren’t very many optimal places to put artists. Instead of being more selective about their choices of artists or not allowing gigantic oversized double booths (which I think is tacky), they’ve crammed booths into every nook and cranny of this upscale intersection and add more every year. Aside from that, this art fair has also taken on more sponsors and overall has just become rather “shiny”. It’s not about the art and artists, it’s about how much business the event brings into the neighborhood and how awesome their advertising looks.

LOOK AT HOW POPULAR WE ARE!!

Sure, it looks great for a show to say “WE HAVE 350 ARTISTS!” but when 275 of them are jewelers, potters and photographers who do A LOT of the same work, people get bored. (I don’t know how many of those artists there actually is, but there is usually a lot.) And walking several city blocks is not exactly everyone’s idea of a picnic. So they wander through the highly concentrated booth clusters and completely ignore the outskirts because they’re tired, they’ve seen enough, it’s probably more of the same stuff, etc. etc.

So this is how this relates to me. The “before” is where my booth was located since I started doing the art fair about 5 or 6 years ago. The “after” is where my booth is now after being called up from the waiting list.

Kinda goes without saying why the artist that originally got that space bowed out, eh?

This art fair charges $400 for a booth space. Not $400 for a prime location, $300 for a further location or any sort of bracketed pricing. $400 and you can be in an awesome spot or in the next county. And it’s obvious that they’re not laid out in any sort of grid because they can’t be, so it’s not exactly easy for Joe Customer to go up and down all the aisles and wander through making sure they hit every one. The only shining spot in all of this? See those yellow squares? Those are port-a-potties. At least I’ll be near a bathroom, right?

So what’s your point?

My point is, these art fairs are screwing the artists for their own glory of looking awesome to art fair organizations and ranking systems and collecting more money for the local business associations. It’s become akin to people offering HUGE EXPOSURE if you give them something for free or very little. There is no huge exposure. It’s a parlor trick. See how we used your money for all this advertising? You mean you didn’t have any customers because we don’t care about your booth placement? Oh well! Poof! Your money is gone! Thanks for being part of our event!

There are plenty of art fairs that do it right. The number of booths at these fairs has never changed but their reputation has increased over the years. By bringing in quality art that isn’t repetitive and building upon a neighborhood feel, these shows continue to attract customers who are there to buy and not just to look at the giant shiny spectacle sponsored by Pepsi and Starbucks. The only problem is, the big shiny spectacle shows CAN bring in huge sales simply because they attract gigantic crowds, but you have to be lucky enough to get a booth in a location that people go to. Or you have to get into a show that still organizes its booths well.

I was one of those lucky people with an awesome booth spot for a number of years. I’m considering dropping out and writing a strongly worded letter to the organization on how their growth is detrimental. Problem is, what do they care? They’ll find another artist willing to drop $400 on a space in a minute. I’m probably just being negative about the whole thing because what was once a good thing for me has gone sour, but I’m not just thinking about myself. I’m thinking about all artists out there who have chosen art fairs as a means of showing their art and how the system is negatively impacting them as well. We don’t make a gajillion dollars. Booth fees continue to go through the roof but the attention to the artist has gone down.

Some shows offer fantastic artist hospitality areas with food and drinks and indoor bathrooms. At this art fair you’ll be lucky if you get a cup of coffee since the local Starbucks only provides 2 thermoses for OVER 350 ARTISTS in ONE LOCATION. See that star on the map? That’s where artist hospitality is. See my booth in the “before”? I used to walk to artist hospitality to get my free coffee because they advertised that you could between 7-9 am. Do you think there was any left when I’d get there at 8:30? HELL NO.

:::sigh::: Sorry. Side tracked.

Despite the acceptance, I still feel rejected. Will this year’s sales be as good as last year’s? I’ll just have to wait and see. I’m really hoping I’m wrong.