Arlington Festival of the Arts Reviews.

Medium: Photography
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show:
2015
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $501-$2000
Price Range of your Work: $75 - $295
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) 3
Location: 4
Facilities: 2
Ease of Participating: 2
Sales: 2
Overall: 2
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Poor
Estimated Attendance: Not really sure.

Good Things about this Art Fair:
The location is good. I think this festival will improve as word gets out.

Many parking garages that take vans.
Very well run.

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
Demographics are quite young if your work, like mine, sells mostly to the 35 -55 age group it was not a great demographic. People seemed to not realize they were supposed to buy things.

Hotels are very expensive with most having little flat parking. Saturday morning setup.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
Be careful choosing a hotel. I stayed at the Best Western and there was not the "ample" flat parking that they said. If I do this show again I will forget about running back to the hotel after setup for a shower and stay further out.

Additional Commentary on this Show:
I had the exact opposite experience of the previous reviewer. I sold almost nothing on Saturday and the bulk of my sales came Sunday.

A lot of people liked something and then asked if I sold online, which I do. I'm hoping for some online sales after the show but so far they have not materialized.

I'm on the fence about returning. I made money but still hoping for those online orders.

Posted by: Alison Thomas | 04/27/2015 at 03:21 PM

Medium: Photography
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show:
2015
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $501-$2000
Price Range of your Work: $20-$900
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) 4
Location: 5
Facilities: 2
Ease of Participating: 3
Sales: 1
Overall: 3
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Poor
Estimated Attendance: 501-10,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
Nice location

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
Poor amenities for artists, no information sent regarding where to check in, what my booth number would be and no site map.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
As seems frequently the case, serious buyers on Saturday, sightseers on Sunday.

Additional Commentary on this Show:
I decided to do this show literally on the spur of the moment, just a few days before (Howard Allan promoters re-opened the entry -- obviously needed, wanted more artists).

I did so at the urging of my wife, who felt it would be a good, advance dry run for the rest of the season. I'm a photographer, and this year I have changed much of what I'm showing. As a result, I was stuck in a position between an Andersen Windows sales booth and someone selling high end patio swings. Hmm, thought this was supposed to be an "art show".

The area of the show (in it's 3rd year) has promise. The Clarnedon section of Arlington has seen tremendous redevelopment, with many new restaurants and condos. It seems to be populated by young couples who appear to be financially secure, upwardly mobile, and frequently as not, starting young families. The combination seems to have lots of large blank walls to be filled by art. What seemed like a promising start on Saturday, died Sunday. In my conversations with other artists (jewelers, pottery, photographers and painter), the same scenario seemed to play out. The serious buyers were out on Saturday, while Sunday seemed to be largely related to those out for an Sunday stroll or something to do. That said, there's the potential for some post-sales from the Sunday people, but I never count those till they happen. The actual makeup of the crowds Sunday was totally different as well. It's hard to put into word, but while Saturday, everyone was dressed smartly, wi th a trendy flair, I'd say Sunday seemed more like going to a county fair. In general, the crowds seemed to be about half of what they were Saturday.

Overall, the show seems to have some potential, but I for one, covered my booth fee, but not generously so, as a result of drop Sunday. There were apparently 19 photographers in the show! Perhaps too many for the number of artists overall. Lastly, the booth fee was onerous in that Howard Allan, despite opening entries at the last minute, charged an additional $50 for late entries. Seems counter intuitive. I would never have entered the show for that reason, except I had additional motives for doing the show -- which proved useful and productive, since I sold several of my new pieces while some the older ones languished.

Posted by: Nemo Niemann | 04/23/2015 at 12:33 AM

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