Art in the Park (Boise) Reviews.

Medium: Photography
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show: 2017
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $5,001 - $10,000
Price Range of your Work: $70 - $1,100
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show:
5-10 times
Number of Years You have been doing Art Fairs overall: 5-10 years
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 5
Location: 5
Facilities: 4
Ease of Participating: 2
Sales: 4
Overall: 4
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Okay
Estimated Attendance: 10,001-50,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
Unbelievable support in the community
Beautiful location
10x15 booths are standard
Plenty of storage space available
Both shade and sun locations
Artist amenities better than most
Sales can be excellent

What could this Art Fair have done better?:
20% commission is steep. 15% would be appropriate

OMG, load in/out has gotten so much worse! There is a central lane that runs down the center of the show. You used to be able to drive in on this road to your booth location, dump and then setup. You can no longer drive on this road. You have to find a spot along the perimeter and then schlep your setup into your spot. The distance to schlep can be 100 yards! They have some ATV vehicles with volunteers. If you can grab one to help you out, great. But they can be hard to find, especially with tear down on Sunday. This makes setup and tear down VERY labor intensive and extra time consuming.

Also, it can get quite hot. Seriously, this change of setup and tear down has put a serious dent into the attractiveness of this show. Shame on the City of Boise for instituting this drive in restriction! :-(

Their application process was a little wonky this year. A number of folks got their acceptance email days after everyone else. You send in your booth preferences soon afterwards. Booth assignments are largely based upon first come, first served. If you get your acceptance email after most others, your booth preference gets put in late as well.

I was in the same location for 4 years in a row. This year, because I was sent my acceptance late, I didn't get my preferred location, nor my second or third preferred location. I feel that this resulted in less sales.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
Bring your hard carts, trucks, whatever you got. You will likely have to schlep your booth setup quite a distance to/from your vehicle. Bring extra patience.

Additional Commentary on this Show:
This show can produce some really good sales. Don't be dissuaded by the production goods around, if you have wares that are more art and less craft, and your art is unique from most others, you can do very well here.

The URL of your profile on ArtFairInsiders.com.
http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profile/JeffGracz

Posted by: Jeff Gracz | 09/20/2017 at 06:31 PM

Medium: Photography
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show:
2015
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $5001-$10,000
Price Range of your Work: 30-1000
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show:
3-5 times
Number of Years You have been doing Art Fairs overall: 5-10 years
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 5
Location: 5
Facilities: 4
Ease of Participating: 4
Sales: 5
Overall: 5
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Okay
Estimated Attendance: Not really sure

Good Things about this Art Fair:
Easy load in/Out

Plenty of booth space (each space is 10x15) - booths are not on top of each other. You can spread out a little more and have room for backup inventory.

Tremendous community support. This is THE art event for the City. Nice location

Excellent sales - at least for me, your experience may vary.

Hospitality tent for artists has a nice array of snacks/drinks. It isn't Morton's Steakhouse, but it is better than most shows.

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
A lot of production goods - dilutes overall quality of show.

Application process somewhat awkward.

Parking can sometimes be a challenge.

Very high commission of 20%. The wait to pay commission at the end of the show can take some time, but to be fair, they provide beer while you wait and it has gotten better.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
However you feel about it, vendors running production art can do very well. Vendors running fine art is hit/miss. If your art stands out, and is different, you will have a good chance of doing well.

Follow all their directions about getting parking permit, and keep up-to-date with the latest postings on the artist of their website.

Additional Commentary on this Show:
Can't say enough about the energy of the crowd. It seems like the entire city comes out for this event. Bravo Boise!

My two best shows $$$-wise are both Boise. Again, your experience may vary.

If you stay in hotels, book a room at the Hampton, which is three blocks away, super convenient and super friendly staff.

The URL of your profile on ArtFairInsiders.com. http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profile/JeffGracz

What prompted you to submit a review today?
Need to give back to the art community some more. So this will be the first of many reviews.

Any comments or feedback? Any suggestions on this form or our service?
Wish that ArtFairInsiders, ArtShowReviews, etc were all one website, not separate URLs

Posted by: Jeff Gracz | 02/02/2016 at 12:35 AM

Medium: Jewelry
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show:
2014
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $5001-$10,000
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show:
1st time
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 4
Location: 4
Facilities: 4
Ease of Participating: 4
Sales: 5 (great)
Overall: 4
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Great
Estimated Attendance: 10,001-50,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
It was a easy move in and out, people to help lift and carry to and from the truck. The people over all are very nice in Boise the show seemed organized and the booth sitter are great...

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
The booth I had was VERY hot in the sun most of the day hopefully will choose the shady area next year. There was a few buy and sell booths... I think the organizers should maybe have that on the comment sheet as to who might be , or they should maybe walk around and see for themselves.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
I think overall its a good show for me and will do again if asked . The commission is high but if they have the buyers and the backing I say why not.... also goes to the Arts.

Posted by: Tamara Kelly | 09/15/2014 at 02:03 PM

Medium: Pottery
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show: 2014
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $501-$2000
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show: 2-3 times
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 5 (great)
Location: 4
Facilities: 3
Ease of Participating: 3
Sales: 2
Overall: 2
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Okay
Estimated Attendance: 50,001+ people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
Beautiful park setting

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
So far this year, this is mostly lookers. Some buyers, but inexpensive items do best. Not a very sophisticated buying market, though a few are. A disappointment.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
In the past, this show has had the reputation as hard to get into. It isn't about quality of art, but, rather, what will sell. It is a fund-raiser for the Boise Art Museum. They do let in mass produced items, ie, lizards that are factory produced in China, though application says that the maker must be in attendance. A wide array of items, not necessarily art.

Additional Commentary on this Show:
This show is a fund-raiser for Boise Art Museum. They have upped their artists/vendors to 265--the more the merrier. I live in Boise, so figured I'd do this show one more time. I won't be doing it again unless changes are made. If they think it will sell, they let it in. Commission is 20% of sales. Vendors have to sign for the ticket books, they keep track of everything. And if you want to stay in your vehicle overnight, be prepared to hand over $25 per night! IMO, they really don't care about the artists' wellbeing.

Posted by: Patricia Trainor | 09/11/2014 at 02:54 PM

You neglected to mention 20% commission for the art in the park show.

Posted by: Joe Watkins | 06/22/2011 at 06:01 PM

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