On one of my other blogs I had lamented about the decline of the Powers Crossroads Festival. They started taking in buy-sell, they alienated a lot of their artist regulars and generally it turned into a disappointing shadow of past days of glory.
I was just scanning down the column of blogs and saw that old blog had a comment pending approval. Someone left a comment saying Powers Crossroads had a new director and they were working hard to try and get it back up to snuff. They're reaching out to old art vendors trying to entice them back to the show.
Realistically once a show has a bad rep it takes a lot to get the vendors back to try it again. It costs a lot to travel to a multiple day show and pay hotel costs, gas, food, etc. You have to be pretty sure you'll be able to sell enough to do more than cover costs. It's a double whammy these days given the tough economy.
A lot of people, like me, have stopped going. I wanted art, and lots of it, and so after trying it twice and not buying anything I didn't go back this year. Not only do they have to reach out to the artists, they have to reach out to the buyers who expected quality and got a mish mash.
Don't get me wrong, there were some good artists at the show when I went! The really good artists just kind of got lost... There weren't as many vendors as usual the last time I went either.
The Powers Crossroads show and the Cotton Pickin' Fair were two that were always on my "must go to" list and I hate to see them struggling.
A number of artists from the Cotton Pickin' Fair were are my last two shows. They said they did horribly and wouldn't be going back to that one either. I think some of the problem is the economic times we're suffering through right now. But then again, those same artists did fabulously at the subsequent shows we participated in together.
I guess next year I'll go check out both of them and see if the quality has improved and if the artists are happy. If the artists are happy, I may give Powers a shot the following year.
I want both of these shows to succeed! This year Powers celebrated their 40th year. That's a lot of history and it was always a well-respected, very cool show.
Karen Cohen, an excellent artist/advocate, is involved with the Johns Creek Art Festival during the Labor Day weekend. You may want to check into that one, too.
ReplyDeleteFestivals in general have been quite diluted by shear numbers of them, and by farmers markets and various gatherings saying their "vendors" (shudder!) include arts and crafts, when they mean hobbyists. Btw hobbyists and b/s, festivals are frequently doing more harm than good edu-taining the public. It is past time for innovation and quality to make a comeback. We're dumbing down the public's notion of art and craft.
Camille, I applied to the Johns Creek Art Festival. Not sure if I'll be accepted as I did it about ten minutes before they stopped accepting entries! I'm keeping my fingers crossed as I've heard it's an excellent show. I liked their stringent requirements, it's the kind of show I'm looking for these days...
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to do a blog about your second comment, good topic!