Preparing for an art show is like getting back on a bicycle, except since it’s been 32 months since my last show, I had to: take inventory, redesign the booth layout, order what I needed, put fresh covers on the matted pictures, rewire some wall hangings with stronger wires, cut and drill holes in new flat hangers for other wall hangings, and redo all pricing tags (since I couldn’t find the old design shape).
And that’s before the grid walls…
Decisions: the grid walls
This year’s addition of cloth covers for my grid walls is an investment to achieve a gallery look for the booth.
Decision 1 – what color/ colors? With the help of my crafter friend and my daughter, I went with pewter for the display panels and black for the featured panel.
The photo below (to the left) shows one of my trial runs minus a sign talking about Evening Song Farm CSA as my inspiration. At each show one of my bigger works will be featured on a black cloth background. What About Me?, my climate action piece, is the first one.
In the right photo, you can see two bags of matted pictures and the larger canvas ones in the distance. They don’t get loaded up until the day of set-up.
Note my assistant, Via. She decided to bat a bottle cap around. I reminded her that those are her toys and she should be cleaning up after herself. I was ignored.
Decision two – Even though the previous themes for each gridwall panel are the same, what to hang on each one? There are new pieces as well as ones from before. Multiple versions of the possible layouts were made. The final ones are tucked away on my clipboard. I learned years ago that this makes the set-up go much faster … then I’m not having to make decisions on the spot.
Once that is done, the totes are packed accordingly. Extra inventory is packed and a list of what’s inside each one is posted inside the lid. This prevents the frustrations of “Now where DID I pack that piece?” when someone asks if I have XYZ with a different background color.
Fortunately my show preparation/packing list didn’t need much tweaking. Hand sanitizer and masks were two additions… a sign of the times.
The car is fully packed!
Setting up for the first show
You wonder why you’re doing this when:
- You are placed 15 feet away from the music stage and there’ll be bands all day long.
- It’s been so long since you set up your tent and it’s hot and it takes you an additional hour and you’re not even done.
- Getting the bungie cords through the gridwall covers takes so long that you just attack/slice more of the sewn openings to get it done quickly.
- 9 feet on paper does NOT match 10 feet on the ground.
- The sides of the tent billow like sails while you’re trying to set the tent up.
- You wake up at 4:15 AM the day of the show and can’t get back to sleep. Oh, and the show goes from noon until 7 PM.
- You get there 3 hours early the day of the show because you never finished the night before.
- There’s no breeze for most of the first day and it’s 89 degrees F and your booth faces the afternoon sun.
You do a happy dance because:
- You got moved away from the stage.
- You have the location of everything already decided and it’s all in one tote and product placement is a breeze.
- You like the way the booth looks and it’s not even all finished.
- A fellow crafter you haven’t seen in 2+ years pops by your booth and his booth is diagonally behind yours.
- You see your friend for the first time in 32 months and it feels like it was just last week. (Of course, that could be from talking on the phone 2-3 times a week.)
Inside of booth with featured panel in the middle
Not all shows are the same
So craft shows are a unique entity unto themselves. Some have only crafters who make their own product; others allow people who assemble pre-made things. Some have just crafters with a small food section; others have the vendors and a food court. Some add additional attractions to bring people in – petting zoos, bands on stage, beer tent, etc. Each draws a different crowd.
Even shows where a crafter/artist has been before, things like the weather, economy, world events, or other things happening in the nearby towns affect who attends. One year you could have a buying crowd, the next a strolling crowd. As a vendor, one never knows.
Since shows are a way for people to find out about my custom pet portrait and pet memorial work, I never determine “the real success” of a show until the end of the year when I find out how many custom orders came from a particular show.
Don’t get me wrong, I do a huge happy dance inside when I sell my works at shows. Seeing how much the person likes that particular piece is always so gratifying and affirming. I love knowing I’ve covered all my expenses and more. And at this time, shows are also a strong marketing strategy.
Here’s some of the new Faces collection and the Spirit Animals collection on the new shelving unit. Looks like Calvin, the Crafty One, and Tom-Tom, the Pouncer, made their way off the shelf and over to the adjacent panel.
Notes from behind the scenes
Going to the bathroom at a craft show or getting lunch at a food stand is a developed art form. It involves finding a nearby vendor to “cover your booth” as well as timing it perfectly (looking for that lull in the crowd traffic) and then hoping there isn’t a big line ahead of you at the porta-potty or food truck. And when the stars align, you can get there and back before another customer shows up.
Wind is not an artist’s friend at a show. A slight breeze, yes, for that can certainly cool you down. However, the gusts that grab your tent top and sides and turn them into sails are not welcome.
There is a learned skill to holding onto a truss or side pole with all your might to keep the booth from going slightly airborne. Even with heavy weights, tents can lift. I bring four or eight 5 pound weights to go at the base of the legs, stakes to pound legs into the ground, 4 concrete-filled PVC pipes with rope attached to tie onto the tent at the corners, and, in case of strong wind forecast, dog screws with 4 ratchets to attach at corners. Not that I use them all each time; however they’re there if I need them.
Rain and dew aren’t a vendor’s favorites either. Besides the fact that rain keeps crowds away, it’s a matter of protecting your art as rain hits the side of the tent and roof. Some sides are completely waterproof. Mine are not, thus requiring plastic to go behind the panels when there’s moisture. On those cool late summer/early fall nights, dew forms inside a tent requiring everything to be covered with plastic or tarps at the end of the day.
But the most challenging thing for me is when it’s raining hard during a show and the rain starts coming into the tent. Clear shower curtains clipped to the front tent trusses and weighted down with clamps have worked the best for me. There is an opening for people to come through and they can still see what is being sold while the clamps prevent the curtains from flailing all over.
This event was held on a recently mowed field. There were crickets everywhere! One or two came home with me.
What makes it all worthwhile
At my second show, I was so moved when two different former clients came up and talked with me about how touched their daughter and wife were with their holiday (2019) gifts. Here are those portraits…
Kitchie and Tanner
Other tidbits
There are certain things that are constants and require no thinking at this point in my career: insurance, a shopping app, and a packing list.
I use SQUARE for my transactions. I find it simple to use and even with my sometimes wonky phone, it worked like a dream this past show. An investment in a battery pack is invaluable so that you can still process sales if the phone runs out of battery.
I have ACT insurance. Prior to moving to Vermont, I only had a rider on my homeowner’s insurance. At one Spring Marketing Conference sponsored by the Vermont Crafts Council, there was a couple who shared what had happened to them. Their studio had burned down completely. Listening to them talk about the help and support they received as a result of having their insurance policy through ACT just convinced me that this was an investment I needed to make. I chose to get annual coverage because that way it was on auto-pilot. I didn’t have to remember to apply for insurance for one show and then the next and I had that backing all year. Besides, it ended up being less expensive.
A packing list is another necessary tool. I was able to pull up mine from 2019, tweak it a bit and use that to be sure I had everything I needed. With the exception of the phillips head screwdriver I left on the kitchen table, everything made its way to my first show. Even had extra tent stakes, electrical tape, and string to lend to other vendors who needed some supplies.
For the following three shows, my routine was basically the same. It definitely was an advantage that I had been to two of the shows before.
Olivia at her first show. I decided to bring her even though she is still a WIP (work in progress).
I’m currently unpacking from my last show. The next one is in 6 weeks, which gives me plenty of time to go through my winter-themed inventory and make whatever is needed for the November shows.
What has been so satisfying has been sharing my art with others in-person once again. Being able to describe the how-to to interested visitors and watching people’s reaction when they go through my Look Book of completed pet portrait and pet memorial custom orders is always invigorating as an artist.