Art in the Park Steamboat Creates (Steamboat Springs) Reviews.

Medium: Mixed
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show: 2019
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $501 - $2,000
Price Range of your Work: $25 - $525
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: 4
Ease of Participating: 3
Sales: 3
Overall: 3
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Good
Estimated Attendance: Not really sure

Good Things about this Art Fair:
Beautiful park off the main road, well advertised, booth fee very reasonable, tourist town with complementary events before & after show

What could this Art Fair have done better?:
Within their control, not sure anything.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
Bring sunscreen, warm & cold clothes, need to have a good range of pricing. Expenses are high.

Additional Commentary on this Show:
We drove for 8+ hours through sunny & hot, cold & wet, breathtakingly beautiful country to arrive at Steamboat Springs, CO. Got there without a minute to spare; at 5:00 on the dot.

The sign-in folks were packing up to leave as we and a couple of other people made it to the transit center, a half mile west of the park.

Once we had our parking pass, we were directed to the east parking lot, a small lot close to the hot springs.

Loading in, we had to wheel down stairs, or a steep grassy slope, or back to the street to the sidewalk, then through partially opened makeshift fencing, uneven terrain & deep-piled, lush grass, to our space.

The show allots about 45 minutes to unload, but since we were late arriving, we weren’t concerned about the time; once in the park we had until 8 p.m. to set up.

After driving 8+ hours, we had no desire to do a full setup. While there, friendly artist neighbors told us about the woman across the street who charged $10/day to park. Next morning, early, we unloaded our stock (repeat load-in challenges), completed setup and took advantage of the suggested parking across the street.

Most artists, even wall artists, left their work at the park Friday & Saturday nights. Not something I’m comfortable with for many reasons. Security was supposed to be provided, but when we left Saturday after the show, I saw a group of (obvious) tourists walking among the tents ...

Steamboat Springs is a tourist town. During the weekend there were various other events being held, a hot air balloon regatta and rodeo, which I think helped with attendance - there were Lots of people Saturday, not so many on Sunday, a combination of locals and tourists.

The park is on the main road, a good location for attracting traffic. They had a huge banner across the main street; it’s a well advertised event. Unfortunately I didn’t sell any larger pieces, tho I gave out lots of cards amidst oohs & aahs, and I did cover our expenses with my smaller pieces.

Which brings us to how expensive everything is in Steamboat Springs. Very. Unfortunately there aren’t any towns close by to cut expenses, although I’ve found a B&B and a small hotel online which are good prospects.

There did seem to be condos which could be less expensive, if you know other artists who will share accommodations; it seemed that a lot of the other artists had RVs (which we don’t yet), were local, or knew locals.

The weather in Colorado is - different. Cold in the morning & evenings, searing hot in the sun, chilly under the clouds; need sunscreen and a sweater. Staking is prohibited; weights recommended.

There weren’t any restrictions about storage; some areas did look messy and unprofessional. There were the usual soaps, honey & barbeque sauce booths, as well as fine art & crafts. I didn’t see any buy-sell ‘artwork’ and a volunteer was checking the booths & taking notes - a good sign.

There weren’t any limits on sales being made before or after the close of the show, but time was restricted during load-out. They closed off the main road and we weren’t allowed a parking pass until totally broken down.

On Sunday my husband opted to park free at the transit center; the bus was free and operated every 20 minutes. Unfortunately, between getting there, the bus schedule, and not getting off at the right stop, the 20 minutes put us 15 minutes past the 6:00 deadline, when the road was supposed to be reopened. Luckily we were not the only ones running late, and a very nice volunteer helped us pack out, but there was a policeman hovering, waiting for us to be gone.

The policeman mentioned that the City was thinking of moving the show closer to the ski area, but off the main road, because of the parking issues. I don’t think that will be a good move for the show or the artists.

Nevertheless, I think I’ll probably apply again next year. I covered costs, which were higher than I’m used to, and I believe its necessary to do a show at least twice before throwing in the towel. Besides, the scenery was breathtaking and the food totally amazing!

The URL of your profile on ArtFairInsiders.com. https://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/settings/editProfileInfo

Posted by: Kate McKeough | 07/31/2019 at 10:55 PM

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

Posted by: |

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Your comment could not be posted. Error type:

Your comment has been saved. Comments are moderated and will not appear until approved by the author. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.