Rehoboth Outdoor Fine Art & Fine Craft Show Reviews.

Medium: 2D mixed media
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show: 2018
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $501 - $2,000
Price Range of your Work: $150 - $3,600
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show: 1st time
Number of Years You have been doing Art Fairs overall: 1st year
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 4
Location: 5
Facilities: 5
Ease of Participating: 5
Sales: 3
Overall: 4
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Okay
Estimated Attendance: 501 - 10,000 people
Good Things about this Art Fair:
It's VERY well run and the staff treat you well. If you are from out of town they will pair you up with a host to let you stay for a nominal fee in their home, as opposed to paying high prices for staying at a hotel during high tourist season at the beach.

Our hosts were wonderful people and the home was lovely. They also provided free fruit and bagels and have an air conditioned 'comfort station' for artists during the show (free water, a real bathroom) and they give out phone numbers for staff if you have any questions and can't immediately find a volunteer.

The show was also well juried in that every artist there was of good quality, even if not every artist was to my personal taste. Every one deserved to be there.

They also policed for buy/sell and misrepresentation (while I was there they kicked out one jeweler who misrepresented herself (she was selling work by a bunch of other artisans, not her own work). So they were doing good quality control.

I thought they also had a good mix of more contemporary styles vs more traditional work.

What could this Art Fair have done better?:
It is my first year doing the show and I am a newbie at doing outdoor stuff. I have done a few smaller outdoor events in previous years but not a big outdoor fair in many years so I may not have the experience to say what they should be doing.

However, I am very happy with the show even though my sales were moderate (I made double by booth fee). I feel it has good potential for me and I did well for my first time ever there (and no major art following in that area).

I do think the show could have utilized social media a little better (there was maybe one or two mentions of the show during the week it was on) but I know most of the volunteers are older so it's possible they are not comfortable with it, or else they need a full time person managing social media (to be fair, I would say the same about MOST shows and galleries I've worked with - I always end up doing way more promo for the show than they do :)

However, as I said before, I think they staff were WONDERFUL to work with and really did a great job with organization.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
You are not allowed on the grounds before 8:30 AM due to some HOA restrictions (the venue is in a residential neighborhood). It's also at the beach in August so it's VERY hot and humid and can be rainstorm season (I know we had a thunderstorm the first day I was there, so be prepared for HOT and HUMID weather and for thunderstorms, which can be very heavy at that time of year. WEIGH YOUR TENTS :)

I should also note the show runs two weekends (and you can leave your tent set up between weekends if you wish). However you don't have to do both weekends, you can choose to do one if you wish. I did the second weekend.

Additional Commentary on this Show:
Overall I am pleased with this show. I will be going back even though my profit was modest because I think the show has a lot of potential for me.

My work is somewhat unusual and distinctive and so people need time to get to know my work. I had a lot of positive comments and people who were taking my cards so I am hopeful that if I keep going back to the show I can build a following there.

Posted by: Lynnette Shelley | 09/17/2018 at 10:00 PM

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