By Carl Buehler
SA Senior Writer
Help, we are being overwhelmed by a tsunami of jewelers! They are everywhere, sucking up dollars and swamping shows with their cheap beadwork or overpriced, high-end gem-embedded gold. What is an artist to do?
Those are the thoughts of many exhibitors on the show circuit these days, but is it actually true that jewelry is on the rise? When a fairgoer walks the show, are they seeing more jewelry than any other medium? And if so, should promoters establish limits?
What percent is jewelry?
"Jewelry has always been the most popular medium, followed by glass," says Janice Hunt of Carolina Shows, who explains that although applications may run as high as 40 percent at her shows, she and her staff limit the number of jewelers to around 10 percent. "There has to be limitation in the number of jewelers, as with any medium," she says. "Otherwise, every exhibitor in that medium would suffer from an over-saturation of competition, and nobody does well."
Lori Walker of Harvest Festival Shows in California says, "We maintain a percentage range of 15-20 percent per show depending on the size but receive 30-40 percent in jewelry applications. We want to provide our attendees with a huge range of work and use percentage charts with sub-categories to monitor the range."
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