I Hate Art Show

[ShttrdSpctrm]

BEWARE : RANT AHEAD

So I am doing this show this weekend that is supposed to be all hand-made/crafted art....not so. I walk around and see these fuckin ornaments that are all painted santa and snowman shit for 3.95. WTF and I also see a bunch of prepackaged shit for resale. then at the end of the show, this guy who was selling chenelle pillows fucking , admitted there from china, fucking sold out!!!! I hardly sold shit!!! :wes: I'm pissed at the misrepresentation of the promoters. the show was SUPPOSED to be juried, for whatever that meens. fuck, I hope I do better tomorrow.

[skip]

Some Juries judge wallets unfortunately...

[The Bigles]

Were there a few legitimate vendors mixed in with crap? or was the crap an exception?

Were you trying to sell pipes at one of those "One day only, car stereos $39!!!!!!!!, adidas shoes $2.99!!!!!!!!!, laptop computers $99!!!!!!!!!," pay five bucks to get in, downtown things? 'cause I bought a pipe from a rasta/phone card and socks seller at one of those.

[skip]

WTF Who let Bigles out???

[Glacier_Arts_Studio]

damn it man... i feel ya on the f&%$#@g walmart mentality of the buyers and
the scum that sucked you into the free for all sellers market, where they knew
you would most likely tank... they knew that if they promoed it for what it really
was, (el-cheep-o-crap-tus) a lot less people would show up... the church crowd may
be better but, prolly not...

[ShttrdSpctrm]

I'm not selling pipes. and its about half and half with the people who actually do make the stuff their selling and people who buy the stuff to resell. It's supposed to be, as they say, "high standards". fuckin bullshit. well I'll see how it goes today and be back with a report.

[Emmett's Glass]

GOOD Luck, I hate x-mas shows most out of the shows I do. I'll bet this show is put on by a church or school. I ask for a refund of your booth fee and take some pics of the crap at the show to show the organisers the problems.
E

[jahglass]

Sounds all too familiar. Juried show... Ive heard that one alot- it dont mean shit! I did a show over the summer and the application was super intense, they wanted copies of reciepts, phone numbers of suppliers, written description of how raw materials were turned into finished product, etc AND yet there was still a ton of crap at the show.

The best advice I have been given with regards to selecting shows is to call the promoter and ask for a list of last years participants. A good show promoter will have no problem doing this. Give someone who did the show last year a call and youll get an honest and objective opinion of the show. Obiviously promoter is gonna tell you whatever you want to hear cause he is trying to sell spots for his show. Id reccomend calling someone selling similar things at a similar price range- maybe pottery or turned wood... Also, listen to customers if they think your work will fit well in a certain show, its probably worth checkin out.

Matt

[kiss_my_glass]

i did a christmas boutique this weekend as well. It was advertised as basically a craft fair where you could by handmade gifts. I was in between the mary kay lady and a lady selling LPata(?) jewelry.

[Conchis]

Oh god.....I have one of these in a couple of weeks that I've not been to before....I hope this isn't a premonition of what's coming.....maybe a tupperware sales rep will be there...I just love hand made tupperware....

[ShttrdSpctrm]

today was no different then yesterday. I hate christmas shows. there was a person who had put elmers glue on a piece of construction paper and called it, melted snowman. how lame is that, well at least its hand made by the person who was there. all in all, I havent had a show this bad ever, except this one show I did where I made not one sale. deffinatly check out a show before you apply. i dont think my prices were high at all. I even put less money on my ornaments so they would sell. I sold 18. oh well, its over and I'm drinkin beer. good luck to everyone who does art shows, I'm gonna stick with what I know I can sell.

[DavidR]

A couple local artists and I started a fall show five years ago. We invite around fifteen artists to display their items and we advertise heavily. Each artist is also supposed to send out personal invitations to their customers. The show does OK. It’s a two day show and I can expect to sell around $1000.00 worth of Christmas ornaments. For some reason this year was not as good as years past. Anyway, starting your own show is always an option and you can control the quality of work shown. -dave

[J B]

Juried Shows , had our share of these also .? Got one next weekend that I can say is ! It;s a Pottery Fest in Seagrove,NC and they do look at your work... This is pottery country in NC and know for it ,throughtout the USA. They do about a 80 / 20 split on crafts at this one .
I do about 20 > 30 fest/shows a year and see this all the time w/ glass and jewerly and other stuff, YES it will make you Pissed. Esp when they ask - did you make this -- D A read the sign "all items made by us in the USA . well they can't read either ????
Do check w/ the peeps promoting it ... I'm doing this for next year also . Also talk it up w/ some of the peeps there and find the ones to go to -- sometimes this helps too.
Some are a pain to get into but the ones that are really juried, are. Wish you luck and don't give up -- Not everyone wants "wally world"
Peace Joe

[J B]

DavidR where you located ?

[DavidR]

I'm just outside of Toledo, Ohio.

[susheke]

SOS- shit on a stick, it is always the big seller at those shows. I did them for years with my Photography and it just sucks. I remember one show I saw flat plywood Christmas trees painted green and wrapped in lights. They were walking by me (at a juried show of course) left and right. I went to my car to get something and there was a guy with a trailer open. Inside he was frantically painting trees with green spray paint. The jig saw was set up and I could see he had just cut up a bunch. ????? How do you compete with that? It was "handmade".
Then there was the doll maker behind her booth, pulling off tags of dolls in big plastic bags. I actually asked her if they were hers and she quietly said. "No, I jury in with those." and pointed to one little shelf of handmade dolls.

So many stories..... so little time. I feel your pain.

[newmexicomagma]

sorry to hear that chris. thats a bummer that they shafted u like that. i hope the booth didnt cost to much. i guess now u know to never do that show again. good luck with the next one man.

[wisco lala]

I had a really bad one a few years ago.....so I wrote this crap show rap.


Up at 5 dyin'
my body is cryin'
all this big tryin'
PEOPLE....GET BUYIN!

just another crap show
underprice to make go
there goes another HO HO
come back and buy some glass ... YO!

it hurts me inside deep
never enough to make me weep (WA WA)
they pass me by....CREEP!
IT'S ART - SLOW DOWN - BLEEP!

fat asses and whipped pussy petters
spawning spoiled rotten bedwetters
buying chessy wood with letters
wearing nasty walmart sweaters

just another crap show
underprice to make go
there goes another HO HO
come back and buy some glass ... YO!

smilin sayin my stuffs "nice"
cluthchin' thier cash like survivor rice
hell I've already lowered my price
wish I had a knife for all you little blind mice.

[DanBrooks]

^^ that poem kicks ass man ^^^

[menty666]

SOS- shit on a stick, it is always the big seller at those shows. I did them for years with my Photography and it just sucks. I remember one show I saw flat plywood Christmas trees painted green and wrapped in lights. They were walking by me (at a juried show of course) left and right. I went to my car to get something and there was a guy with a trailer open. Inside he was frantically painting trees with green spray paint. The jig saw was set up and I could see he had just cut up a bunch. ????? How do you compete with that? It was "handmade".
Then there was the doll maker behind her booth, pulling off tags of dolls in big plastic bags. I actually asked her if they were hers and she quietly said. "No, I jury in with those." and pointed to one little shelf of handmade dolls.

So many stories..... so little time. I feel your pain.

and every day my humanity slips away just a little bit more. Though in regards to the plywood tree guy, at least he was making them himself and not just reselling crap from TJMaxx. One person's craft is another person's crap. I hate that folksy New England Cape Cod looking crap myself but for other people, it's their bread and butter and the bee's knees.

[misticglass]

Nice Rap Yo!