Art Show Advice & Comments, Pros & Cons
Good Reasons To Give Art Shows a Try
1. If you just have be an artist, if it's all you ever dreamed of doing, and If you aren't making a living from the Internet or Galleries, its a great way to actually make a living as an artist - sometimes the only way.
2. Art shows force you to learn how to be very productive - very creative, very quickly. I have a friend who has been working on a sculpture project for 20 years, in his spare time. If he'd been doing art shows, he would have done 20 similar projects, each and every year.
2. You can make a lot of money at art shows. I have personally grossed more than $30K at a three-day show and have often done more than $10K. Rumor has it that several people (some jewelers and the rare painter) have each made more than $100K at a show. Potters used to be able to make $60K (in cash!) at the 4-day Ann Arbor art show. Jewelers can often gross $5-10K a weekend at the many shows around Chicago.
3. Its a good way to test the audience for your work. You get immediate feedback from the public regarding your designs, construction and pricing. If they like what they see, they vote for you with their wallet. That's the sincerest compliment anyone can give you. People don't lie when they are handing you money.
4. If you live in a remote part of the country, its a tax-deductible way to get out and get around and meet people.
5. You can make the art show part of a trip to Florida or Arizona in the winter. One friend always does the Salute to the Masters show in Orlando at Disneyworld, because her husband and daughter have such a good time doing side trips.
6. Some people actually enjoy doing Art Shows. Some jewelry couples travel around in a big RV, make their jewelry on the road, see a lot of different scenery, meet a lot of interesting people and do a show every weekend. Some painters do this as well. Some photographers work 6 months a year at the art shows, then spend 6 months traveling the world.
7. Some of the nicest people I have ever met were artists at an art show. In general, they are great people to hang around with and get to know. And its exciting to see how creative and innovative people are. Very inspiring!
8. Some people will start collecting your work. This seems to be especially true for Painters, Ceramicists and Jewelers.
9. You don't have to put up with the BS of the Corporate World. People
aren't going to comment about your shoes or tie or how new your car is. You
can't get back-stabbed for that promotion because there are no promotions.
Don't Waste Too Much Time Doing Art Shows - They are a trap, a rut and demoralizing!
1. You can waste a lot of money doing art shows, if the people don't come, if the people don't buy, if the economy is in a down-turn, if you don't have what the show attendees want. I have had many $0 and under $1000 shows. If you take artwork to a craft show, you can find yourself very disappointed/ demoralized financially. I have seen exhibitors leaving a show in tears.
2. You can waste a lot of time doing art shows. If you have to make a living to support yourself & others, you could be making a more reliable and larger income doing something else.
3. You can get locked in to doing the same work over and over again, until you are terminally bored with yourself. You rationalize that it sold well before and so you make another. The art show patrons are often the same people, over and over again, in the same area. In Florida, its a good excuse for the elderly to go for a walk. They will get bored with you showing the same work, again and again.
4. You can get very lonely, working by yourself all week, then the long drive there and back. In addition, if you are single, you are often away during the primary dating, group activity and entertainment days.
5. You can get very, very tired doing art shows. especially if you are over 50. You work like crazy all week, load the van, drive 6-8 hours, find a halfway-decent motel, get up at 6 a.m. to set up your booth, then the exhausting work of being charming and keeping your morale up for 8 hours at a time. And then you find you are too tired to socialize and you end up lying in your motel room watching TV for 8 hours and eating dinner by yourself. Then, you do it again on Sunday, pack up the van, try to drive all the way home without falling asleep at the wheel. Then you are exhausted for three days, before you can get back into the swing of the work, drive, work cycle.
6. When you get tired, your creativity suffers, your relationships suffer, your pets suffer, your life suffers.
7. It can be hard to get exercise. You work in one spot, you sit while driving, you stand or sit in one spot in your booth and then, at the end of the day, you feel too tired to get up and move around.
8. It can be hard to eat properly. Too much fast food, too much show food, not enough fruits & vegetables.
9. Unlike the corporate world, where a good idea or brilliant execution can get you a raise, promotion and more security, being brilliant in the art world or having a fantastic show or making some incredible, spectacular effort - they are all like writing in water. No one notices. There is no record of your achievement.
10. I did 24 art shows in 2004 - way too many! 2006 - about 18. 2007 - 4 and canceled the rest. 2008 - 1 or 2 maximum.
More Advice - if you decide to actually do Art Shows
1. Ideally, you should already be independently wealthy, or have a trust fund, or be retired and with a pension, or at least have a spouse with a good, steady income. Alternately, you should have a strong instinct for gambling and willing to live very inexpensively when times get rough - and they will! And never forget that Art Shows are a feast & famine cycle.
2. You will need a good tent and it needs to be white. I prefer the Lightdome - mine is over-sized - 8' tall with a skylight. A tall booth gives a grand, cathedral effect and tall people don't have to duck down when they enter. I have zippers on every side so I can install a rain shield or sun shield wherever I need it. (However, the KD style of tent is now selling for $100 at Wal-Mart. You could buy two and have one as a backup. They set up fast and are a good way to get started.) I tried the Craft Hut - much heavier, slower to put up, the rain tended to pool on the top and leak in. There are other tents out there to examine.
3. You will need to have tent weights. I often use concrete blocks - $1 each from Home Depot. You will need straps to secure the weights to your tent. If you are on grass, you will need doggie augers.
4. You will need panels or some kind of display. I use Armstrong panels with home-made cloth covers. I tie the panels to the tent to keep them from moving around in the wind. I use 18" legs to get the panels up high. Looking up tends to create the 'awe' effect.
5. You will need standing pads, if your feet are sensitive to concrete and asphalt, like mine are. I buy the 36 x 36 rubber pads (with holes) from Lowe's and cut them into strips, 12" x 36". Standing all day can make your dogs bark!
6. Dolly - I have a wonderful home-made dolly that breaks down and fits in the back of the van. I will get a design on the web soon.
7. Chair - I have two Hollywood chairs. They have a very nice cushion, which rises to reveal a large storage area inside. I've tried lawn chairs and directors chairs (from Pier 1). Lawn chairs are too low and look ridiculous. Director's chairs will hurt your back & shoulders after a few hours. You don't want to be sitting at the show, but when its slow, and you're tired, you need a refuge. You can also stand on the Hollywood Chair and it folds up nicely for the back of the van. The side tray is a great accessory. You don't need the optional foot rest - the chair has a good one already, and the optional one just doesn't fit right.
8. Lights are a very good idea. I use strip lights with fluorescent bulbs. Tents often look dark inside, especially if you are under a tree, or if the sky is overcast. Lights can make all the difference between sales and no sales. I use 3 strips with 12 bulbs.
9. If you have lights, you will need a marine cell battery (get the biggest) and a power inverter. Its even better to have two or three batteries, to get you all the way through the show. Buy the cases to put the batteries in - otherwise, everyone who comes by will comment on your batteries. You will need a good charger and a power inverter. Once you have the batteries in the cases, you can use them as tent weights.
10. You will need a credit card machine and a Merchant Card provider. I use a Nurit 3010 which is constantly causing me problems. Beware you Merchant Card provider. They gave me a low rate of 1.75%, then always charged me 3.7% with one excuse after another. More on that later.
11. You will need a cell phone.
12. You will need a notebook and pens to write down all your good ideas.
13. You will need business cards.
14. You will need a supply of water - I usually buy 1/2 liter bottles of water by the case at Costco.
15. You will need sun block, sunglasses and an umbrella that clips to your chair. Some people have the very large umbrellas for outside tables - that can work well too.
16. You will probably need some tools, duct tape, bags, sunglasses, price tags, artist statements - make your own personal list of what you need and keep the list where you can find it.
17. Ideally, you should have a website. Some people want to look at your website before they buy. Websites will give you the degree of credibility that you need.
18. You need to know which shows to do - I use Greg Lawler's Art Fair Sourcebook religiously. I find the on-line version easiest to use - its worth the extra few dollars.
19. And you need to know how to get into good art shows. That's a completely different story.
20. You need to know what your market will buy. Jewelry seems to sell everywhere. Women always need more jewelry, shoes and handbags. Some parts of the country love large paintings - especially large cities in the Midwest. The Eastern part of the country (original 13 colonies) seems to like small traditional items. Western & Indian themes are very big in the Southwest.
21. You need to know how to calculate your costs to see if you are making a living or not. The cost of doing a show can easily be $1000 for a 2-day show that is 7 hours distant (gas = $300, motels x 3 = $250, show fee + jury fee= $400, food = $150, misc = $50; total=$1000), plus cost of materials, plus cost of living, plus at least 10 days to get ready, plus 2 days driving plus 2 days at the show, plus 3 days to recover.
- You have to count your time in this equation. What is your day rate? Can you get by on $36,500 a year while expecting to also have $36,500 in expenses? Then your gross income needs to be $73,000/year.
- How many working days in a year? Everyone needs two days a week to mow the grass, do the taxes, rest, etc. That leaves 261 days minus another 18 days for Holidays and emergencies and that leaves you 243 days to actually work. $73,000 ÷ 243 = $300. And that gives you a day rate of $300/day. So you have to make at least $1000 + (17 days x $300) = $6100 or the show is a bust. You would be better off doing something else.
- If you can make this $6100 average per show, you could get by with doing 12 shows a year. That's do-able if you get into the right shows with the right artwork.
- if someone else is helping with the bills & expenses or if you have a pension or supplemental income, you could afford to make less at the shows
- If you can make your work faster, you can charge less per item and do more Art Shows.
- If you make less at the show, you will have to do more shows. After a while, it gets to a point of diminishing returns.
- My first year doing art shows, I did 20 shows and grossed $65,000, but netted - $250 (minus $250) after expenses on my 1040 Schedule C. I was out of town all the time, lost contact with my friends, and barely had time to see my girlfriend. But I was an artist! And people were voting for me with their wallet!
- Good Luck Out There!
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