Show Review of the Month - Art & Apples Festival
The 30-acre Rochester Municipal Park was the site of the Art & Apples Festival. More than 200 exhibitors participated in the event, which also included live entertainment, art activity stations, and food trucks.
A metal artist gave it high marks. “Top notch show,” said this artist, whose sales totaled $8,000. The average item sold for $155.
Another mixed media artist gave it a 10: “Best show of the summer every year,” the artist said. “I love the people and the area.” This artist had $8,590 in sales. The average item sold for $300.
Other mixed media artists also experienced high sales and would participate again. Their sales ranged from $2,900 to $5,600. They commented on the beautiful park setting, well-organized show, and great attendance.
A painter said, “Great location — fantastic time of year and beautiful place, well-advertised.” A jewelry artist who lives five miles from the show had $5,000 in sales and said, “Very good show. Good attendance. Great weather.”
Another jewelry artist also gave the event a high rating and said, “I always do well at this show and always find new clients.” That artist’s sales totaled $8,000. The average sale was $100.
A printmaker with $6,000 in sales described the event as a well-known, reputed show. Others also commented on the event’s location and how it is put together.
“Committee does a wonderful job on communication and artist amenities. Beautiful woodsy location,” said a fine crafter whose sales totaled $4,000. A fiber artist said the show is well organized. “I love this show. It is a place where people are happy to be in the park and enjoying one another.”
A digital artist said, “Great show. Excellent staff and planning. Ideal location.” The artist’s sales totaled $5,200.
“Great organization, friendly staff, and loads of shoppers,” said an artist whose medium was drawing. That artist made $4,000.
The sales for one fiber artist totaled $2,500. “Love this show, love the ambience, the other artists, the quality of the work, the size of the show and the turnout,” said this artist.
Another fiber artist rated every category a nine or 10. “The location was great. The crowd was diverse and there to spend money. Great artist amenities,” said the artist who had $5,000 in sales.
A photographer wants to do the show again and said, “Good sales, good time of year.”
The artist said the only negative would be the parking and judging. “Parking was a long walk and was filled with non-artists. I had to park on (the) street some of the days. Judges awarded mostly painters and drawers, not very diverse. There were many talented people at this show. It was disheartening for my booth neighbors.”
Several artists expressed dissatisfaction with the event. “Show has gone way down, clearly not getting quality applicants and are desperate to fill booth spots,” said a photographer. “Sales were poor, Friday is a waste, Thursday setup was not necessary, the attendance was uneducated, unsophisticated blue collar not there to buy art. Only sold prints for three days.”
A ceramicist will not return. “They have let the quality slip. I was next to sock puppets. Not a buying crowd. Way too big a market for this to happen,” said this artist who had $3,000 in sales.
One painter said there were too many low-end craft vendors, and another painter thought the booth fee of $450 to $1,235 was too high. Another artist said handicap parking for artists was too far away from their booths, with no shuttle service for mobility challenged customers from the parking areas.
A fiber artist had sales of $6,000 and would participate again. “Have a loyal customer base. One of our best shows,” the artist said.
However, the artist also commented on being wait listed every year. “Looking at some of the other vendors they let in, we wonder why they get in and we’re wait listed. We have a loyal following who spend money and look for us annually. When told we got wait listed, we can’t understand why. It seems they sacrifice quality products for variety of products regardless of quality.”
Other artists gave the show nothing but positive feedback.
Someone whose medium was art glass made $5,000. The average sale was $100. That artist always looks forward to the event, saying it has a beautiful location with great sales.
A jewelry artist with $2,000 in sales said, “I love this show and the staff is amazing! I will apply again next year! This is a fantastic Michigan show!"