Show Review of the Month Artsplosure - The Raleigh Arts Festival
Photo courtesy of Brian Magee
October 9-10, 2021; Artsplosure – The Raleigh Arts Festival, Raleigh, NC. Contact: Artsplosure, the Raleigh Arts Festival, Inc., Hannah Liebel, 19 W. Hargett St., Suite #310, Raleigh, NC 27601; Phone: 919-832-8699; Email: info@artsplosure.org; Website: www.artsplosure.org; Application fee: $35; Space fees: $330 to $660; Space sizes: 10x10 to 20x10; 100% outdoors; Exhibitors: 175; Attendance estimate: 75,000.
Compiled from FastAudit reports
Artsplosure — The Raleigh Arts Festival is a two-day event featuring an Art Market of approximately 175 juried visual artists from across the United States. The event also includes live music performances on the main stage from emerging national and regional artists, free arts and crafts at Kidsplosure, and one-of-a-kind art installations on display throughout the downtown footprint.
The artists who reviewed this show gave it high ratings for the overall event and its management.
One jewelry artist made $3,000. “Great show! Already applied for 2022,” the artist said. “The way they attend to their artists is incredible.” Volunteers watched this artist’s booth on the second day of the festival and offered snacks and water. The artist appreciated this.
A ceramicist who made $1,300 said, “The organizing staff was super friendly and attentive, always asking us if we needed water, snacks, or a booth watcher.” However, this artist would probably not participate again because the “booth fee is so high, and they don’t allow a load out on the first night. I ended up having work stolen because of that.”
A jewelry artist who made $4,650 would participate again, though. “Love this show!” the artist said.
The sales for a fiber artist were $415. The artist recommends applying to the festival, saying, “Artsplosure really knows what they are doing. This was my third event with them, and I just applied for another. The events are large enough that there are multiple porta-potty locations and lots of food trucks. They always provide booth sitters, who during COVID-19 were wearing proper face coverings. They provide snacks and water bottles.”
A jewelry and metal artist made $2,200 at the event. “Well run and always good sales despite the bad weather!” the artist said.
Sales for a painter totaled $9,000. This artist commented on the need for better security at night, saying some tents were broken into. However, the artist said, “One of the best shows I’ve been in! Sunday weather was fabulous and had wall to wall crowds after all day rain Saturday. Great music and coordination.”
A photographer made $1,900 and said it was one of the biggest and best shows of the year for that area. “Awesome show, great people in charge, and incredible support of the artists,” said the artist.
A jewelry artist said it was a great show, with a “great attitude from the promoter and customers.” The artist made $8,000.
Sales for a mixed media artist totaled $7,000. The artist would participate again.
A fine artist who made $2,000 said, “Though it rained us out Saturday, Sunday was lucrative. The customers were positive and interested.”
A mixed media artist with $1,000 in sales described it as a great experience.
“Good sales for me even in bad weather,” said an art glass artist whose sales totaled $4,500. The artist would like to participate again, saying customers appreciated the art.
A mixed media artist who had $1,200 in sales said, “Can’t wait for this year! I had a great time and met a lot of people. Great place to get my name out there.”
Sales for a jewelry artist totaled $900. “Artsplosure is one of my top events for the central NC area. The event management is well done, the staff are easy to work with, helpful, and supportive. Attendance is always good (even on rainy days!), and there is a good balance of artists,” the artist said.
A ceramicist also commented on how the rainy weather on Saturday did not impact sales. “While the weather was terrible on the first day, sales were still strong. Many people mentioned how they had waited all year for the show, and the weather wouldn’t stop them! The second day was beautiful (if windy), and sales were phenomenal! It was my best show to that date,” said the artist who made $6,000 at the festival.
A jewelry artist who had $1,400 in sales would like to be invited back.
A wood artist gave the event a high rating and said it was a “super good show, well managed, great communication from the staff, even with rain on Saturday sales were still strong!” The artist made $5,000 and said, “Great show, even with Saturday being a washout, the traffic on Sunday made up for it. Would apply again for sure.”
Another wood artist made $3,500 and would like to participate again because it is a well-known event in Raleigh that is well advertised and run. “This was a two-day event. Saturday started out strong, but the rain came in three hours after it started. Sales would have been much better. Sunday the weather was nice, and the crowds showed up ready to buy,” the artist said.
With $3,700 in sales, a jewelry artist would participate in the event again. “It is a great show, and the community really supports the show and artists. It is a delight to do,” said the artist who described it as a favorite show.
A painter who made $1,500 would participate again.
“Well attended and good sales. Plus, great show staff and volunteers!” said a photographer whose sales totaled $1,475.
A jewelry artist who made $4,300 would like to be part of the show again “but not at the same location, because in that corner, the wind was too hard and blew my tent, even with the 20 pounds per leg that it had.”
Sales for a mixed media artist totaled $2,000. “Good show if the weather is not ugly. We had a terrible weather system come through, and it poured rain and was horribly windy,” the artist said.
A ceramicist also noted the weather affected sales on the first day. “Oct. 9 was raining hard. Oct. 10 was very pleasant,” said the artist who made $1,600.
An artist whose mediums were ceramics and sculpture said, “Good sales in pouring rain day, and excellent sales on good weather day. Well managed load in and out!” The artist had sales of $3,400 and said there were motivated art buyers in attendance.
“Best sales ever,” is how a fine craft artist described the event. Sales for this artist totaled $2,500.
A painter who made $5,500 said it was a fantastic experience. “Artsplosure was extremely well attended in spite of torrential rain. It was very organized, there was an impressive diversity of quality artwork, and I was quite happy with my sales,” the artist said.
A ceramicist who made $1,900 said it was a great show. “The weather was horrible on Saturday, but on Sunday when the weather improved, a lot of people came,” the artist said. “It was a fun atmosphere with nice support for the artists.”
Promoter Post Show Report
Hannah Liebel is the operations manager of Artsplosure — The Raleigh Arts Festival. “For the first time ever, Artsplosure produced our Raleigh Arts Festival in October instead of May. This decision came after postponing our May 2020 event due to a statewide stay-at-home order put into effect until COVID-19 cases declined. This special fall edition came with many changes, including a rainy Saturday and diminished crowd sizes due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, clearing weather on Sunday brought out a large and enthusiastic audience,” she said.
Attendance was estimated at 50,000, and Liebel commented on the feedback received from artists. “Despite a rainy Saturday, feedback from our Art Market artists was positive, in terms of their experience and overall sales. Over 90% of our artists reported their sales to be above average to excellent,” she said.
Liebel shared what was learned at the show that will improve future shows. “We are always trying to improve our load in/out process for artists by increasing safety, efficiency, and communication. Overnight security is always a top priority, but unfortunately the labor shortages this fall made it difficult for us to hire a sufficient number of off-duty police officers to staff the overnight shifts,” she said.
She said the best improvement made others might learn from was that “in October, we decided to make our Artist Hospitality area mobile instead of stationary. Our Artsplosure volunteers walked through the Art Market with refreshments to accommodate our artists instead of requiring artists to leave their booths and congregate in a common area. Even though this alteration was due to COVID-19 protocol, we plan to continue delivering hospitality to artists, as well as providing a stationary space, in upcoming years,” Liebel said.
Her message to artists considering the show is “we hope artists will consider applying to our May show as we expect a return to normal attendance and more predictable weather. We love our returning artists but love meeting new faces as well. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email hannah@artsplosure.org.”