The Art of Applying How Some Artists Stagger Applications, Make Decisions
Artists who participate in outdoor art festivals try to do as many as possible during their seasons based on where they go or where they live. It is their livelihood and ways and means to pay bills, buy art supplies, go on vacation, and remain in a general state of comfort.
During their slower months, artists spend long hours creating as much inventory as they can in preparation for their heavy show seasons. Some artisans hold other jobs as well and must juggle art fair dates with their time off for weekends or vacation time.
Others are retirees. They choose to look at creating artwork as a viable means to supplement their Social Security income or pensions.
Artists know they can never rely on a promoter or show organizer automatically sending them congratulations for being accepted into the event. As a result, they apply for multiple shows in any given month.
Steve Kowalski, an artist whose primary medium consists of oil and acrylic wildlife paintings, lives in Minnesota and shows his work in Florida for about three months. Kowalski makes his way back home after July — taking the East Coast route for a couple more shows.
“This works for me, but only because I have relatives in Florida, and I have a small RV. I have to apply for two or three shows (per month), hoping to get into one of them,” he said. “More often than not, I get accepted into all of them, and I’ve lost $130+ in jury fees. But, that one I get in to ensures I’m going to have a show. Most of the time, I can do two of the shows, because I stagger the show dates. But, you know, sometimes they’re all on one date here in Florida, based around weather, and that’s nothing you can do about that.”
What does Kowalski do when he gets accepted into shows on the same date? How does he decide which one to choose?
If he has done one of the shows before, and it was successful, “of course, I’ll go with that one,” he said. Sometimes, Kowalski chooses a new show over a favorite just to try a different demographic or explore a new show promoter.
“I’ve gotten recommendations for new shows from other artists, and I’ll try them out,” he said. “I’ll tell you — it can be a hard choice and sometimes not the best one.”
When an artist applies for multiple shows within the same month — or even on the same dates — it is a given that they will need to make choices. In addition, they will also need to consider their inventory requirements.
For example, with my original artwork, I must have at least two weeks for creating work to make a festival prosperous. Therefore, my dates must stagger at least two weeks.
I have also found you cannot determine your foot traffic (or as they say, eyeballs), based on a city’s population. A small Georgia town of about 9,000 people pulls in more than 20,000 for its festival.
With other locations, you may as well look into a crystal ball when choosing where you apply. One artist says, “Consult your Magic 8 Ball and hope for the best.”