October 5, 2008 by louiselittle
Today is the Hyde Park Square Art Fair in Cincinnati, OH. I have done this show for the last 3 years. My friend Lorie got me interested in doing outdoor shows again when she told me how wonderful the weather was for the Hyde Park Show… perfect crisp fall sunny days. So I dusted off my tent and applied to this juried show in 2004. The first year I participated we had “unusual weather” It soared into the upper 80′s and even though I got a little hot, it was a good show. The second year we had even more “unusual weather” and into the 90′s it went. Parched, dehydrated, but still not discouraged as the show was still a good show for me, I hoped the next year would be more fall like. But last year!!!! It soared over 100 degrees. My PMC jewelry had the afternoon sun shining directly on it, and it was so hot people couldn’t touch it. My tent broke and I had to rig one side for it to stay up. The customers were sweltering, and the only one with a brisk business was the guy selling bottled water. So when the show was over I ditched my broken tent and vowed never to do an outside show again.
So today it is a perfect sunny crisp fall day… 40′s in the morning and up to 70 this afternoon. I betcha the Hyde Park show is just perfect this year!
So how many of you out there do art shows? I have decided that indoor shows are much easier. Booth fees tend to be higher, but I am just to old to be putting up tents all by myself. But the indoor art shows tend to be wholesale shows (which brings up another topic for discussion) or very high end retail shows. Right now I am concentrating on Bead Shows. This November I will be trying the first annual Bellevue Bead Show. My daughter lives in Seattle so it also provides me with the opportunity to see her. And she has agreed to help me.. for jewelry of course.
Participating in art shows is a wonderful experience. I love to interact with the public. And I come away with ideas and inspiration, and knowledge about my designs… I have to admit I was naive when I first decided to do a show. The time committment is large, and your display takes as much time to design and implement as it takes to make the product you sell. And of course it takes several years of shows to tweak and refine one’s display. It has to be attractive, easy to transport, easy to set up, and it shouldn’t conflict with your product. My display is in it’s 4th generation now and I think this one might be it! More on the display tomorrow….
