St. Stephen's Art Show Reviews.

Medium: Jewelry
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show:
2016
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $501-$2000
Price Range of your Work: $45- $350
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show:
1st time
Number of Years You have been doing Art Fairs overall: Forever...
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 2
Location: 3
Facilities: 3
Ease of Participating: 2
Sales: 1
Overall: 2
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Poor
Estimated Attendance: 501-10,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
People who run the show, esp Daisy, are extremely helpful and welcoming and send frequent emails prior to the show. Great communication!

Load in and out are very organized, with each artist assigned a load in time, which is enforced.

The show benefits St. Stephens Church and the location is lovely.

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
Shockingly low sales for the 2016 show, not only for me, but for everyone in our area. Low attendance, maybe 2000-3000 for the 3 days. Some fine artists did 0 for the show!

It is a 3 day show, on President's weekend held at the same time as Coconut Grove, so expenses are high and restaurants in the area and parking are expensive.

There is also a flea market adjoining the show.

Parking fees are high for the weekend at private lots in the area. One day $20, another day $30.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
Keep expenses low.

Proceed with caution! The whole Coconut Grove thing may be over.

It is a shame, as the people who run the show are lovely and do a great job.

What prompted you to submit a review today?*
wanted to add a few helpful reviews as I am a frequent user of AFI, whose members have been very helpful to me.

Posted by: L MacNaughton | 04/08/2016 at 11:19 PM

Good Things about this Art Fair:
People who run the show, esp Daisy, are extremely helpful and welcoming and send frequent emails prior to the show. Great communication!

Load in and out are very organized, with each artist assigned a load in time, which is enforced.

The show benefits St. Stephens Church and the location is lovely.

It is a 3 day show, on President's weekend held at the same time as Coconut Grove, so expenses are high and restaurants in the area and parking are expensive.

There is also a flea market adjoining the show.

Parking fees are high for the weekend at private lots in the area. One day $20, another day $30.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
Keep expenses low.

Proceed with caution! The whole Coconut Grove thing may be over.

It is a shame, as the people who run the show are lovely and do a great job.

What prompted you to submit a review today?*
wanted to add a few helpful reviews as I am a frequent user of AFI, whose members have been very helpful to me.

Posted by: L MacNaughton | 04/08/2016 at 11:15 PM

Medium: Painting
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show:
2015
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $500
Price Range of your Work: $35 - $800
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show:
1st time
Number of Years You have been doing Art Fairs overall: 3-5 years
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 5
Location: 5
Facilities: 5
Ease of Participating: 3
Sales: 1
Overall: 3
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Poor
Estimated Attendance: 10,001-50,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
The staff is wonderful and the facilities great. They give you a lovely spaghetti dinner, and coffee, bagels and pastries every morning.

Staff walks around and offers booth sitting and they are very attentive. The grounds are gated and closed at night so security is good.

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
Load in is tough, the Grove is very crowded. Arrive early, traffic is brutal.

Load out is awful. We didn't get out until 3 hours after the show was over but other friends didn't get out until after 10 at night.

3 festivals are going on at the same time in that area so bring patience. The staff does the best they can.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
It is worth a try but many of the artists didn't do well except for the wood turner next to me. I was told they have done well in previous years but it could have just been a tough year.

We heard the artists in the big Coconut Grove Festival didn't do well this year either. I do better further north.

Posted by: Tina Corbett | 04/15/2015 at 12:06 PM

Medium: Wood
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show:
2015
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $501-$2000
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show:
1st time
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 3
Location: 4
Facilities: 4
Ease of Participating: 3
Sales: 3
Overall: 3
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Poor
Estimated Attendance: 501-10,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
A lot of volunteers, great February weather and close proximity to Coconut Grove Art Festival.

Pasta dinner and awards ceremony on Sunday night was a nice touch.

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
Load in is atrocious. You have a scheduled time to load in, as does everyone else.

I travel alone and have to unload my entire booth set up alone. Rather than barking out orders and continually asking "How much longer are you going to be?", have a crew to help unload the artist's items like they do at Penrod in Indy.

I really don't mind unloading, parking THEN setting up but stay off my back when I've only been parked 5 minutes. It takes at least 40 minutes just to unload.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
Be patient with the load in process. I was given a 1pm load in time. I got there at 12:35 and was not let on property until 1:40.

While you may get some residual traffic from The Grove festival, do not bank on those folks coming to St. Stephens. Forget the may-be-backs.

The URL of your profile on ArtFairInsiders.com. www.artfairinsiders.com/profile/MattEstrada

Posted by: Matt Estrada | 02/26/2015 at 10:22 PM

Show Name: St. Stephens 2013
City and State: Coconut Grove, FL
Your Medium: Pottery
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show: 2013
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: Rather not say
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show: 1st time
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 5 (great)
Location: 5 (great)
Facilities: 5 (great)
Ease of Participating: 5 (great)
Sales: 5 (great)
Overall: 5 (great)
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Good
Estimated Attendance: 10,001-50,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair: The artwork was very good, the volunteers and the committee were very friendly and helpful, the location was right across the street from Coconut Grove. Quite a few people walked both shows and bought. Sales were good considering the cold spell lasted almost all 3 days. The setting was beautiful. The show meandered around the school grounds and parking lots, some treed/shaded areas, some sunny. Private bathrooms for artists, continental breakfast each morning and a free spaghetti dinner on Saturday eve with $$ awards. (Very nice)( blessing of the art work and booth was a nice touch)

Bad Things about this Art Fair: Unloading and setup were very smooth, however we did arrive early. Maneuvering a large vehicle pulling a cargo trailer was a little tricky parking to pack up and leave, however do-able. Volunteers worked very hard to direct vehicles smoothly.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show: Arrive early, bring a dolly or cart and if you have a large vehicle or towing a trailer, not a bad idea to bring a bike, (that way you can park them and bike back to the show). If you have a friend to stay with you can avoid the hotel cost, however the committee suggested a few hotels $119/nt within 20 min. of the show and you can park your vehicle there (trailer). This is a big plus.

Additional Commentary on this Show: The nicest committee and all volunteers, artist friendly, quality artwork, great restaurants nearby. My sales included mostly large items and mid range, hardly any small items. The artists around me all did well, some extremely well with very high end items, I was not able to speak with many in other areas of the show. Artists came from all over the country, CA, TX, IL, etc.. I would definitely participate again.

Posted by: Jackie Zajac | 04/06/2013 at 11:52 AM

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