Wells Street Art Show

<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>Wells Street Art Show</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> 2004 Wells Street Art Show</div> <div> June 12-13,  30th Annual Wells Street Art Show in Old Town Chicago, Il.  Contact: Chicago Special Events Management, 1960 N. Clybourn Ave, Rear Building, Chicago, Il. 60614. 773-868-3010  Web.  www.chicagoevents.com  </div> <div> This show is on Wells Street with booths back to back, storage is plentiful across the street on the sidewalk.  Spaces are ten feet wide and packed in very close together.  Set-up is early Saturday morning, very hectic and quite honestly probably the most dreadful set-up we have ever done!  There is one lane on each side of the street with artists in the middle.  Food vendors with their massive trucks are also setting up at the same time and blocking access to almost everything.  Set-up was supposed to be staggered but fell way behind.  We drove down one side of the street and were able to park fairly close to our booth to unload.  Then we were stuck there for the next hour because the street was blocked by food vendors.  Parking was paid for in advance and close to the show.  One artist I spoke with arrived early, waited over an hour past his set time, drove down the street towards his booth and got stuck in the log jam of trucks and waited another 30 minutes.  By this time he was so frustrated that when the log jam finally started to move he found the closest side street, darted out and went home.  </div> <div> After parking the truck and making it back to finish setting up the day went very well for us.  The weather was good and crowds came out to buy.  We sold six pieces and had a very good day!  This was a very art knowledgeable crowd that appreciated great art.  We had close to 15 different couples going home to measure and promised to be back on Sunday.  The show runs until 8:00 pm and with people on the street, artists parked in the artists lot were forced to wait till 9:00 pm before allowed to leave.  A very long day! </div> <div> Sunday rain was forecast but we got lucky and the weather stayed nice.  It was a bit windy but remember your in Chicago, for them this is calm!  Sunday was a bit slow for us, we sold 3 more pieces.  The frustrating part was not one of the couples that had been there the day before had come back to purchase.  We really had high expectations for Sunday and for us it just didn't happen.  This was still an above average show for us sales wise and we do plan on returning next year.  Most artists I spoke with said they did very well and planned on returning also.  A metal artists, two jewelers and a glass artists all said this was an above average show for them and planned on returning.  A ceramic artists and a painter I spoke with reported below average sales and said they would probably not return.  </div> <div> Break-down wasn't nearly as hectic as set-up.  We decided from the start we would take our time, dolly our stuff the 3 ½ blocks to the artist parking lot and be in a hurry.  I didn't want any part of trying to drive down the narrow street and waiting for trucks in front of us to clear.  We finished in just over two hours, about double our normal break-down time.  </div> <div> The staff at the show was very friendly.  The quality of art here ran the gamut from wow, very good, to wow, how'd they get in here with that!  The crowds kept you on your toes with very little time to catch your breath.  Both days were very long, this is a tough show to do but for this kind of money we'll be back. </div> </td> </tr></table></body>