Leap of Courage (2012) - Mixed Media Textile 50'x33"x2" |
Every artist, visual or performing, who seeks to earn a
living looks for ways to share their work with the buying public. The festival show circuit is a viable option
for many visual artist. I stepped into
this arena for the very first time with my participation in the Fountain Square
Art Festival (FSAF) in Evanston, Illinois.
For those of you not familiar with the festival circuit, in a nut shell
it is all the spring, summer, fall, and winter opportunities were vendors
display their wares for purchase. My
husband likened the experience to the medieval merchants traveling the
countryside in horse and wagon selling their goodies from the roadside.
The Festival Show circuit is a thriving industry in the
creative world. Festival promoters make
money through artist application fees, vendor booth rentals, corporate
sponsorships, and entry fees. Artists
are paid through their booth sales and ,in some cases, cash awards for
outstanding fine art or
craftsmanship. Participation in the
festival show circuit comes with both benefits and risks, but many artist see
it as a way to expand their opportunities beyond gallery representation.
As an emerging artist, I choose to enter the festival circuit
as a way to self-promote my work. I view
my art as a business venture. The
festival circuit gives me a platform to begin branding my work and introducing
it to the public. I have total control
over the presentation and marketing of my art.
I decide where my art is viewed and how it is seen. Many galleries are reluctant to represent an
artist with limited exposure. I am
absorbing some risks in order to gain exposure in anticipation of future sales
and gallery representation. What are my
risks? The most costly risk is infrastructure investment to promote my
work. Then comes festival circuit expenses. And finally unpredictable consumers.
My goal for 2012 is to participate in at least 3 juried fine
art shows, with one of these being outside of Illinois, my home state. I only apply to juried
shows with projected attendance of over 20,000.
Shows of this size give me a broader audience resulting in increased
opportunities for sales. But sales are
not my only goal, I wish to add 120 potential clients to my mailing list during
each event.
FSAF was my first opportunity to test my
plan. Part 2 of this post will describe
my results.
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