Garage Sale Art Fair Reviews..

Every experienced artist realizes that January of each year is a "dark" month with very few events. The exception for us was the Garage Sale Art Show in Kalamazoo. The 2018 show was great! We were wait-listed until January 5, 2018, when we received our invitation. Now mind you, the published date for paying fees was 11-15-2017 but assurances from the promoter confirmed that artists will be invited up to the day of the show.

Guess what? This event was nothing if not consistent. First, the final date for paying fees was published as mid-November of 2018 for the January, 2019 show. In November, We were told that we were number 1 on the wait-list. We got wait-listed for the second time! We also got the same explanation from the promoter that invitations will be made up until the day of the show.

When someone publishes a Zapplication firm date for payment of space fees, the prudent individual expects a promoter to hold to the date and invite someone on the wait list to fill the opening. Keeping me hanging again into January was foolish optimism on my part. Maybe it was the "Number 1" that fooled me this time.

It's interesting that the official list of artists didn't hit the website until after 1-1-2019. Again, most promoters are anxious to post the artist list closer to the posted final payment date. It is a little disrespectful to the attendees & vendors to post within the month of the event.

It will be interesting to see if this long comment is posted considering potential relationships between the Moderator and the Promoter.

From this date forward I will scrutinize the following:
1. Long periods between app release and formal invitation release date
2. Long period following the formal invitation release date to the final payment date
3. "Wait-list" will mean look to another event from now on.

I for one, will not apply to this show in the future.

Posted by: Brian Reagan | 01/24/2019 at 09:35 AM

Medium: Jewelry
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show:
2018
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $501 - $2,000
Price Range of your Work: $5 - $100
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) 5
Location: 5
Facilities: 4
Ease of Participating: 5
Sales: 4
Overall: 5
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Good
Estimated Attendance: 501-10,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
Extremely well run and well thought out. All aspects are very artist friendly. There are not too many venues for artists to clean out old stock and supplies!

The show producer even put together a Facebook group just for artists participating in the show to let others know what you'll be clearing out at the show.

They work hard to promote the show, and the locals seems to look forward to it.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
Regardless of what you plan to sell at the show (old stuff), when you apply, put your best foot forward just like any other show.

Additional Commentary on this Show:
It felt so good to purge! Patrons will try to haggle, so be prepared for that.

I have so much more to get rid of, so I'm hoping to return.

Posted by: Claudia Winter | 04/14/2018 at 09:56 PM

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