Cottonwood Art Fest 2008

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="05bfd5a3.jpg"> <div> <B>Cottonwood Art Fest  2008</B></div> <div> <B>6260 N.W. 19 Street, Sunrise, Fl. 33313 Toll Free 1-877-512-3333    Email: </B><A HREF="mailto:mike@mikealbin.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:mike@mikealbin.com"><U><B>mike@mikealbin.com</B></U></A></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="05cd2043.jpg"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mike Albin.Com "><U>Mike Albin.Com </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="wd.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Web design"><U>Web design</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="ma.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marketing Articles"><U>Marketing Articles</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="sr.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Show Reviews"><U>Show Reviews</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="mt.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marketing Tools"><U>Marketing Tools</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="l.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U>Links</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#777777" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>May 3-4, Cottonwood Art Festival, Richardson.</B> Contact: Serri Ayers, Cottonwood Art Festival, 2100 East Campbell Road, Suite 100, Richardson, TX 75081; phone 972-744-4582. E-mail: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="ITC-NewBaskerville" ><U>serri.ayers@cor.gov</U></FONT>. Web site: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="ITC-NewBaskerville" ><U>www.cottonwoodartfestival.com</U></FONT>. Application fee: $30 (through Zapplication). Space fee: $350-$700, plus $80 for electricity. Space size: 15x15 to 15x30. 100% outdoors. Exhibitors: 240. </div> <bR> <div> Setup for the Festival is the day before and starts at 11 a.m. Artists begin lining up early in the morning for their chance to pull into the park and unload. For the 39th annual show, Patty and I got there right at 11, and cars were already lined up all the way down the street and starting a new line on the other side. I spoke with several artists who had waited up to four hours for their chance to unload.</div> <div> Artists are given the opportunity to visit a local school as part of a visiting artist program, and for taking part in the program, we are given a load-in pass that allows us to move to the front of the line. Patty and I have participated in this program for the last three years and really enjoy giving back a bit of our time. And it really pays off here, as we skipped past all of the vehicles in line and were unloading in about 15 minutes! </div> <div> The staff here is very organized. The show is in Cottonwood Park, which is split down the middle by a one-way road, and booths are lined up on both sides of the road. As soon as a spot near your booth opens up, staff members radio each other, and the next artist in line is given the go-ahead to unload. Each artist is given one hour to unload and move out. And very enthusiastic Boy Scouts, who work for tips, are there to help with unloading. </div> <div> The weather was perfect for this year’s show, with temperatures in the 70s and lots of sun. Dallas is usually pounded by storms this time of year, so weather can be an issue. This was our third time participating, and in the past we have done very well, so we were hoping for more of the same. Saturday started off really great, as we sold two pieces, with an average ticket of just over $4,000! I love the shows where we sell on Saturday! Sunday was a different story, though — we couldn’t sell a thing. The Festival still ended up as an above-average show for us, but with such a great start, we had hoped for even better.</div> <div> I spoke with two painters; one reported above-average sales and the other about average. Two sculptors reported in, with one doing slightly above average and one below. A glass artist, a jeweler and a mixed media artist all reported above-average sales, and two photographers both reported well-below-average sales. All said they would return except three: One photographer was a definite no while a painter and the other photographer weren’t sure. </div> <div> Treatment of the artists was very good. The well-organized staff offered a dinner/artist party on Friday night and booth sitters. This show is a model for a city-run event. They know how to do it right. </div> <div> Breakdown can be a bit hectic to say the least. Many artists choose to dolly up to several blocks away while others wait in line to park on the one-way road. We chose to go to dinner first, go back to the hotel, rest a bit and then go back about three hours later. There were still quite a few artists packing up at that time, and we waited about 30 minutes for our chance to pull in. The road was a bit narrow, and we had to wait an additional 15 minutes for another artist to leave, as we could not get our wide trailer through the narrow street. </div> <div> This is a topnotch show from top to bottom! The quality of art is very high, and there are lots of buying patrons. I would recommend it to anyone, no matter how far you have to drive. We drive 1,300 miles to get here and are researching other shows that we could do on the way to Richardson, in order to reduce our expenses.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>