Festival Canopy - Page 3

Lacey Lewis · 05-08-2006, 12:12 PM

Yesterday was my 1st art fair! I replaced the tent that flew away with an EZ-Up, and it came with sandbags so I filled them up with 30lbs of sand each. I decided 30lbs per leg wasn't enough, so I added a 20lb concrete brick on top of that! Needless to say, I still have my tent.

I had a good time out there and did a live demo throughout the day. I also won 3rd place in the 2D category! It was a lot of work, and I hope that a couple of commissions will follow, and I will be doing at least one more art fair this year depending on what applications are accepted.

Cris, or anyone else with an answer, when I do an art fair that lasts more than one day is it generally OK to leave up the walls and the tent? I am just not sure about setting up and tearing down 3 days in a row.

Chris Saper · 05-08-2006, 09:13 PM

Congratulations!

I would rather shoot myself than take down and set-up the tent every day. As to whether you leave your artwork in the tent at night - you'll have to decide how you feel about the security of any given show. I would prefer to leave the art on the walls and zip up the tent, and I have done that several times.

If you think that there might be a lot of wind, you would not want to zip the walls, just leave them open so the wind can move through - and do take the art off the walls - you can lay it flat in protective covering or take it to your car - depends on the situation. In one really windy situation, several of us lashed our tents together for extra weight. I don't know whether that was a good idea, but they were all more experienced fair-goers than I.

Lacey Lewis · 05-08-2006, 09:39 PM

Yes, I think I would bring home my artwork everyday, but I didn't know if I should be worried about someone swapping my gridwall or tent!

Enzie Shahmiri · 07-02-2006, 02:30 PM

Lacy,

Can you please tell me where you got the display panels from? Even though I had decided not to do shows any more, I decided it's time to dig out the tent and start generating more business.

My old set up just takes to long to assemble and I like the larger panels that you have. How did the tent hold up with the added weight?
One of the shows will be in September and we get those nasty Santa Ana winds that send everything flying.

Any other suggestions you might have are appreciated.

Lacey Lewis · 07-02-2006, 04:31 PM

Sure! Actually, I got the panels locally here: KC Store Fixtures . They had better prices than I found elsewhere, and the delivered it free. I don't have any idea what shipping charges would be, but these are heavy; 3 2ft x 6ft panels together weigh 60lbs.

The tent held up awesome and didn't budge an inch. I filled up the sandbags that came with the tent with 30lbs of sand each (I had an issue with trying to get PVC home in my little car) and then bought a large, flat gray brick that weighed maybe 20lbs and put one of those on top of each of the sandbags. I was not messing around this time!!!

Like I said, the gridwall is heavy, but in case of winds I wonder if you could tie the tops to the bars of your tent? If your tent is sturdy, I bet that the gridwall would be pretty difficult to knock over then.

Enzie Shahmiri · 07-02-2006, 04:39 PM

Thanks Lacey, I will check them out. I hope your event was successful and that it generated new commissions for you.

Lacey Lewis · 07-02-2006, 04:43 PM

Eh, no commissions yet.

Any tips on that? I will be doing 2 or 3 more shows this year; should I have a guestbook/sign-up sheet?

Enzie Shahmiri · 07-02-2006, 05:05 PM

All I can say is hang in there. First show, no sales and no commissions. Later on I set up my easel and painted, which made people curious enough to stop and look. I did not generate any portrait commissions either, but I sold several small decorative paintings, tons of postcards of my work and added many names via the guest book to my mailing list. I did see other paintings sell though, and that made me wonder if maybe my prices were too high for the venue.

This year, besides displaying samples of portraits, I am going to offer prints mostly 8"x10"of some work along with the postcards and small pet portraits in oil . Don't forget to print brochures! I will be at two outdoor art shows and one street fair in September and figured if the paintings are affordable enough for browsers, it might lead to future portrait commissions that are priced higher.

I am looking at this as purely advertising, it is less costly than advertising in the paper and I get out of my studio and can gage how my work is accepted by the general public.

Should you stumble across the magic solution of how to generate sales at art shows, please share.