Featured Review Armonk Outdoor Art Show

March 2023, by Sunshine Artist Editor

October 1-2, 2022; Armonk Outdoor Art Show, Armonk, NY. Contact: Friends of the North Castle Public Library, Inc., Judy Moniz, 19 Whippoorwill Road East, Armonk, NY 10504; Phone: 914-273-9706; Email: info@armonkoutdoorartshow.org; Website: armonkoutdoorartshow.org; Application fee: $40; Space fees: $500 to $1,500; Space sizes: 12x12 to 12x24; 100% outdoors; Exhibitors: 160; Attendance estimate: 8,000; Admission: $15. 

Compiled from FastAudit reports 

The Annual Armonk Outdoor Art Show ranked FA5 in 2022’s 200 Best list. All the artists who reviewed the 60th show in 2022 would be in it again. 

An artist whose mediums included drawing and printmaking made $7,000. 

Sales for one photographer totaled $11,000. This artist described the promoter as a well-run organization that cares for and understands the artists’ needs. “Great layout and many corner booths are available with nice wide aisles for load-in/load-out and patrons,” this artist said. “Good knowledgeable patrons who are nice and do buy art. Great show!” 

A printmaker who made $11,100 wants to participate again because of the show’s quality attendance. 

One fine art artist had $7,500 in sales. 

A sculpture artist said, “The crowd has money.” This artist made $1,500 at the show. 

An artist whose mediums were fine art and sculpture reported $4,800 in sales and said, “I will be happy to participate again. It is a pleasure to be part of that show.” 

Sales for an artist whose mediums included ceramics, sculpture, digital art, wood, photography, and metal totaled $2,000. “Great staff, great patrons, and topflight artists,” said this artist. “I would love to be invited back to this show. Although the weather kept a lot of people from coming, the people who did show up were terrific.” 

A fiber/textile artist who made $550 said it was a good show, but the weather was bad. 

An artist whose medium was painting said it was great last year (2021) and would therefore participate again. This artist made $3,000 at the 2022 show. 

One fine art artist had $8,500 in sales. 

A printmaking artist who reported $20,000 in sales said the show was well organized. 

The sales total for a different printmaker was $5,000. “Best organized show. Beautiful location. Great on-site facilities. Ticketed customers mean focused customers. Great management,” said this artist. 

An artist whose medium was painting made $2,200 and described the show as well run and well attended. 

A jewelry artist whose sales totaled $900 wants to participate again because attendance and sales are usually better. 

Promoter’s Self‑Review 

Nicole Blum said the 2022 Armonk Outdoor Art Show was the first time in recent memory that the “outdoor” portion of the show’s title was felt so strongly. 

“Rainy and cold weather brought our attendance down by about half of our regular numbers. Fortunately, the disappointing weather gave way to feelings of celebration and validation when artist after artist reported to having a terrific show despite the smaller crowd,” she said. “We know from experience that our patrons are very serious about purchasing art, but it was especially rewarding to see that our show can withstand imperfect weather and still allow our exhibitors to turn out their most impressive sales of the year.” 

Blum, the show’s managing director, said, “The rain and wind left us with somewhere between 4,000 and 4,500 attendees this year, which is half of our average attendance.” 

They sent the artists a survey after the show to capture feedback. One purpose of the survey was to find ways to continually improve what artists experience at the show, she said. 

“We specifically asked how this show was for them compared to other similar shows. While some understandably saw a decrease in sales that were in line with our decreased attendance because of the weather, we were thrilled to read that the majority of our artists reported sales were very much on par with other shows despite the weather impacting our attendance,” Blum said. “And quite a few still had their best show of the year under our gray, windy skies! That really speaks to the nature of the crowd our show attracts and how excited they are to see the talented artists that exhibit in our show each year.” 

They implemented a new layout in 2022 with wider aisles and more space overall between the booths, she said. “The overall effect was a more open feeling that both artists and visitors enjoyed. Aside from making setup and breakdown easier for the artists, it allowed visitors a better view of more artists as they walked and provided plenty of room to stand back while evaluating work they were interested in,” Blum said. “We’re going to take a look at the parking process next year to see if we can make some improvements that will allow artists even more ease in their setup and breakdown. This was our smoothest year yet, and we’re just looking for more areas that we can fine-tune to help the process for everyone involved.” 

She said the more open layout was the best improvement they made others might learn from. “Other shows are likely facing their own individual limits on space, but we managed to find ways to maximize space that’s limited just by utilizing it differently,” Blum said. “Our social media presence continues to grow each year, and many artists commented that they appreciate our engagement and interactions with artists and patrons. They feel it’s a vital portion of a show’s marketing strategy, and we couldn’t agree more.” 

Her message to those considering the show is, “While the sun didn’t shine on our 60th anniversary show in 2022, we had so many bright moments that showed us the Armonk Outdoor Art Show is better than ever. When a show can experience half of the attendance in a normal year and STILL have artists experience their best show of the entire year, it means we have succeeded in building a reliable audience of affluent, art-savvy buyers, along with the high caliber, talented artists they are excited to see.”