Fountain Square Artisan Summerfest Reviews.

I just did the 2016 Fountains Square show this past weekend. Organization was spotty: initial acceptance indicated that set up would only be available on Saturday morning. Only on the Monday before the show did an e-mail arrive with instructions on set up on Friday as well. There was an intersection indicated for my particular spot which happened to be the first one at the north end of the two block show which also had two more blocks crossing it east/west. There were no instructions as to where vehicles were to line up while the show streets were being barricaded. There was no communication between the show organizers and the parking staff and the police. Cars were being towed from some areas and not from others. Once vehicles lined up, artists had to leave them and walk to a table that was set up at that intersection (at the north end) and get their packet. Only then did a show staff member at that table announce that all artists with certain booth numbers need to go to another location. That meant maneuvering their vehicles out of the line, around barricades and through a series of streets, some one-way to the other location. I can see how frustrating this was especially for out of towners who were not familiar with the local streets. I used to live in Evanston so I was familiar with the area and knew how difficult this maneuver was.

The other confusing issue was the inconsistency on the web site and other published info, about the show times on Saturday. Some indicated 10 to 6 and some 10 to 9. There was music and a beer tasting event on the same venue so artists were "allowed" to stay open but in reality, most closed up shop at 6. Visitors showed up after 6 and were disappointed that most of the show was closed as they had read online that the show was until 9! (I was waiting for a friend to see my booth until 7:45 and everyone had closed up by then. I was told jurors had showed up but I never saw any. Typically, jurors leave colored stickers on the booth name sign to indicate that they had seen that booth.

I wasn't thrilled with sales but at least had better than usual for my first show of the season. But then, the sales are really up to me so I don't blame the show. I may do this show next year, we'll see. I didn't have a chance to visit other booths as I concentrated more on attending to customers than I usually do. What few booths I did see were of pretty good quality so this is a good fine arts show with lots of variety. Attendance was high, more on Sunday then in Saturday. I was pleased to see a steady stream of people fill the wide street between booths.

A note on booth placement: there is a tendency in some shows not to allow space between tents which makes it difficult to place weights on the sides. This leads to having place them sticking out front and becoming potentially a tripping hazzard. This was one such show. Since I was the first booth, I was able to move my tent about a foot away from my neighbor to allow some much needed space.

Overall I would give this show a 7 out of 10.

Posted by: Bari Tarmon | 06/28/2016 at 12:47 AM

I used to attend this show as a visitor in the 80s and it was pretty high quality. I have not been back since I moved away from Evanston in the early 90s.

I decided to take my chance and applied to the show for 2016. I was accepted and will be there in a few weeks. I hope the experience will be worth it. I didn't have a very good season last year and this year I only have a handful of shows so each better be good!

Posted by: Bari Tarmon | 06/07/2016 at 12:31 AM

Show Name: Fountain Square Art Fair
City and State: Evanston, IL
Your Medium: Fiber
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show: 2013
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $2001-$5000
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show: 10+ times!
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 3
Location: 5 (great)
Facilities: 4
Ease of Participating: 4
Sales: 4
Overall: 4
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Poor
Estimated Attendance: 10,001-50,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
Downtown Evanston, close to my home

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
Very bad choice of artists, organizers do not have good reputation so in order to make money they take anything and anyone, buy -sell, printed t shirts with native American Images and there is always some empty booths.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
I would like to see better quality of art in this show and yes, consider this show, so we can flip the coin. This town and community deserves great show, so please come.
Additional Commentary on this Show:
I would like some better promoter to take care of this show and make it more classy, as it deserves to be.

Posted by: Ana Petercic | 01/17/2014 at 12:48 PM

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