Show Review of the Month Chesapeake Spring Arts Festival
April 23-24, 2022, Chesapeake Spring Arts Festival, Chesapeake, VA. Contact: Chesapeake Rotary and Chesapeake Fine Arts Commission, Jon Berry, 319 Cawdor Xing, Chesapeake, VA 23322; Phone: 757-676-4979; Email: jberry@chesarts.com; Website: chesarts.com; Space fees: $175 to $575; Space sizes: 10x10 to 30x10; 100% outdoors; Attendance: 3,000; Admission: free.
This was the second year the Chesapeake Spring Arts Festival took place, and many of the artists who reviewed this event see it as having the potential to become a prestigious event.
An arts and crafts artist who made $650 would participate again. “This is a wonderful outdoor art show with no admittance fee; variety of art mediums and prices; lots of traffic (people and dogs); friendly, helpful staff; and convenient to get to,” the artist said.
A jewelry artist who made $800 and a mixed media artist whose sales totaled $1,300 both said they would like to be in the show again.
Another jewelry artist had $750 in sales and would also welcome an invite back. “All of us artists were treated very well, and the venue shows a lot of promise. The staff were very friendly and welcoming and the weather great. I did not feel overly crowded in the show. There was a lot of customer traffic,” the artist said. “This is an up-and-coming show with an amazing venue and very promising for the future shows. I will do this again to see next year’s results.”
An artist whose mediums were jewelry and art glass made $450 and said the “coordinators and volunteers were very helpful and friendly. They did a wonderful job with helping set us up and checking on us to see if we needed water or snacks. A very good first experience.” This artist would do the show again.
Sales for one fine artist totaled $3,000. “Great show and I can’t wait to do it again,” the artist said. “I had a great time and got my name out in the area where many of my customers come from, and I made a tidy profit.”
A wood artist hopes to be invited back. “Second year I have participated in this show. Jon (Berry) does a good job of organizing and promoting,” said this artist, who had $2,300 in sales.
One ceramicist reported $2,100 in sales and would participate again. The artist provided feedback on the entertainment lineup. “The entertainment on Sunday did not attract crowds as they did on Saturday. That should/could be better managed. For a new festival, I’m pleased with how it’s growing, and the effort put into that,” the artist said.
Another artist also commented on the entertainment. “The entertainment was way too loud and not conducive to talking to clients. I’m sure my sales would have been better if there had not been a rock ‘n’ roll band and techno funk music going all day,” the artist said. This artist’s mediums were mixed media and wood, and the artist would not participate again. “Attendees were generally buying low-priced items. Although I did sell a few original pieces, the small prints were the price points people were looking for,” the artist said.
An arts and crafts artist would participate again. “The people running the event are super nice. They help you load in and out. They bring you snacks and water throughout the day, and make sure you’re OK,” the artist said. “Super nice people. Tons of traffic. Strong sales.”
A jewelry artist who made $1,300 was not pleased with that amount and would not participate again.
One mixed media artist made $650. “Everyone was so nice. They even offered to help load in/out with golf carts! They brought us water and snacks throughout the event. I met the people producing the show and shook Jon Berry’s hand. Good vibes and great people. I didn’t make the sales I had hoped to and the price to be a vendor was more than I’ve ever spent, but I would love to work with them again. Great people! They know how to organize an event,” the artist said.
An artist whose mediums included jewelry, as well as arts and crafts, reported $200 in sales. “I primarily attended the show to explore a new market and did not bring a large inventory with me. It was a great learning opportunity, and the organizer definitely cares about his artists, exhibitors, and vendors. This show has the potential to become a fantastic event going forward,” the artist said. This artist would probably participate again due to how the promoter took care of the artists and exhibitors. “The organizer also regularly solicited feedback, and everyone was very nice. However, I am disappointed that the event was advertised as an artisan event where all products were to be made by artisan hands; however, that turned out not to be a case as there were multiple importers and resellers there. I think the price point for the show is a little high with those sorts of vendors being present,” the artist said.
A painter who made $4,000 said, “Even though I’ve cut back on shows and am contemplating stopping nearly all shows, I would definitely consider participating in this one again. Rotary volunteers helped with load-in and load-out, which made a huge difference. The path of the show was lovely and easy, there was plenty of room around the tents, there were terrific food trucks, and communication from and with the show director was outstanding.”
Sales for one fine artist totaled $1,000. “I would give them another chance to improve. This was their second event, but a lot needs more work to help the artist. No Wi-Fi available to process credit cards, or nobody knows what the password was to log in. Load-in/load-out was not controlled. Parking was not controlled. People’s Choice Award was not addressed with visitors.......nobody knew anything about it,” the artist said.
An artist whose mediums were painting and drawing made $1,000. “Beautiful park, lots of room, good parking. The help with loading and unloading, and the treatment they give the artist is outstanding. Sales were pretty good but will hopefully grow in time. It was a perfect location for an art show. I think this show will grow to eventually be the best in Virginia,” the artist said.
An arts and crafts artist who reported $550 in sales would do the show again. “Very organized, friendly, great traffic flow,” the artist said.
A painter who made $1,715 said the “staff was super friendly and helpful the entire weekend. I enjoyed having plenty of space between booths to show on both sides of my walls. My only critique, other than having too many craft vendors (but I understand in the beginning you have to fill the park), is please allow artists to drive on for load-in and -out. Maybe schedule times for people to drive on and unload (no set up while car is there) and allow people to drive on to pack up after their entire booth is broken down already. It was awful to dolly up and down the hill several times. Very happy with the show overall.” The artist would like to participate again, describing it as well managed and a great venue. “I believe the coordinator is aiming to turn this into a fine art show and less craft. I can see great potential in the show becoming a prestigious event in our area in years,” the artist said.
An art glass artist with $1,500 in sales would do the show again.
A photographer who made $1,100 would not. This artist said the “show lacked general quality. I heard patrons say that booths looked like ‘peoples’ yard sales.’ The manager made it seem prestigious and important; the show lacked any semblance of quality. I had people with ABC pop-up tents, not weighted down, and at least one booth who admitted to not knowing they needed insurance while their tent roof flew away. Management emailed rules out but didn’t seem to follow up on enforcing them when inconvenient for them. One high spot was the response time from management to my emails, but the information given turned out to be inaccurate, so it’s all for nothing.”
Sales for one jewelry artist totaled $3,186. “We did well in sales, the location was really nice, had help loading in and out with very little wait for volunteers to become available to us in their golf carts, free artist parking,” the artist said. This artist said the “only issue was that we were set up directly in front of the stage which was fine for the most part but made it really difficult to hear our customers and vice versa when the headliner band played. They adjusted their volume eventually and it helped a little. Load-in and -out was easy; we didn’t have to wait very long for a golf cart to be available to us. It was also really helpful that we were able to load in the day before the first day of the event (as well as time in the morning of). The spacing of the vendors was nice, we all had a nice buffer in between (it wasn’t cramped like other festivals can be). Volunteers were friendly and helpful.”
A photographer who made $450 does not want to participate again. “I never saw any advertising. There was no signage along the road. One sign at the entrance. Music/entertainment was way too loud! Very few people came on Sunday and those that did came to see their kids perform on stage,” said this artist.
A wood artist with $800 in sales felt the opposite about the festival. “An excellent event. Our woodturners look forward to returning every year,” the artist said. “This is one of the best organized events where the Tidewater Turners attend. The organizers take good care of the artists and ensure that we don’t have any problems.”
An art glass artist would include it in a show schedule again. “This is a new show. 2022 was its second year. The Rotary Club treated the artists very well. There were regular runs of water and snacks all weekend, and volunteers helping with load-in and load-out via golf carts. The staff was great! I would like to see judging done in person rather than by images, but I’m sure things will come in time. Crowds were light on Sunday, but I think that has to do more with the newness of the event. There was a lot of social media marketing. I would recommend adding print and radio marketing next year to help get the word out to more people,” the artist said. “This show has potential. I made my goal. The staff are very artist-centric, making this a pleasant show to do. The setting is in the city park, with lots of space, and we had space between the booths. It was nice not to be on top of one another.” This artist made $1,800.
A fiber artist whose sales totaled $445 said, “Saturday had headliner musicians so drew 3,000. Sunday, local dance kids barely 300 people all day. Windy. I plan on a better location next year.”
An artist whose mediums were mixed media, sculpture, painting, wood, and jewelry reported $875 in sales. “Second time participating. Always a good crowd and great location,” said the artist who would do this show again.
Promoter Post Show Report
Jon Berry said he “was exceptionally pleased with our second annual show. The crowds exceeded what we were expecting, the feedback we got from artists and visitors was overwhelmingly positive. Overall, the event went very smoothly, and we were able to raise money for our Coats for Kids program and local arts programs.”
He is the director of the Chesapeake Spring Arts Festival and estimated attendance to be 3,500 at this year’s event.
Berry commented on the feedback received from artists. “Most of the artist’s feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Some even said this was the best run and organized show they have ever attended,” he said.
He said there were a few complaints and addressed them. “The onload process is a challenge. Our festival is held at a city-controlled park. They do not allow anyone to drive on the sidewalks. For this reason, we rent golf carts every year to assist artists in loading their gear in from their cars. Most of the feedback we got on this process was very positive saying they’ve never been to a show that had volunteers helping load and unload their gear at the start and end of the show. This year we had carts with 16 volunteers during all times of show set up,” he said.
Regarding the music lineup, Berry said, “We tried out having a big-name entertainment group on Saturday this year, a very popular local band, and they really brought the crowds. We are in discussions already to extend this practice to Sunday as well.”
On the topic of marketing, he said that “a couple people seemed to miss our marketing, even though we ran ads in the local paper, and we had large flag signs outside the park on a very busy thoroughfare the park entrance is on. I’m not sure how those were missed as they were 10 feet tall flags with the words “ART FESTIVAL” printed on them.”
Berry said someone wanted Wi-Fi at the park, but it is a 60-acre park with very good cellular reception. The city has no plans at this time to add Wi-Fi to the park, he said. Most use their phone data and payment app these days, Berry said.
Something learned this year that will improve future shows was Saturday’s entertainment was too loud for the closer rows of artists, he said. “We intentionally kept distance there, but still, it was too much, and sound levels will be addressed next year for sure,” Berry said.
He said they learned other things as well. “The park is windy, and some artists did not have tent weights. This will be a requirement next year,” Berry said. “Better communication with artists about the process to drive up closer for onload/offload and the availability of carts will be addressed next year.”
Berry also addressed a comment about the People’s Choice Award. “As this is not a ticketed event, we do not always get hands on with every visitor. We did pass out around 1,000 cards with the People’s Choice Award info, and we got about a 25% participation rate, though that is almost assuredly not all from the cards that were passed out. Some artists got the message and politicked for the award. If we decide to do this again, I will better explain to the artists how to market to this award through conversations with their booth goers, booth signage, etc.,” he said.
He said the best improvement made others might learn from was pulling a major, local band that had a big draw. “Dollar for dollar, it was better than any money spent on conventional advertising,” Berry said.
His message to those considering the show in the future is that “while we may be a new show, the Chesapeake Spring Arts Festival is run by a committed group of volunteers from the Chesapeake Rotary who provide a fantastic experience for artists and are constantly working to build a fantastic, profitable show every year.”
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