FEATURED SHOW REVIEW
September 2007
TENNESSEE
June 15-17, American Artisan Festival, Nashville.Contact: Nancy Saturn, 4231 Harding Pike, Nashville, TN 37205; phone 615-298-4691. E-mail: info@american-artisan.com. Web site: www.american-artisan.com. Space fee: $100-$200, plus 15% commission. Space size: 10x10 to 10x20. Exhibitors: 170.
By Mike Albin
Florida Reporter
E-mail: mike@mikealbin.com
Medium: Landscape photography
The Festival is held in Centennial Park, with setup all day on Thursday. You can park right next to your space during setup, and some booths, including ours, allow the added convenience of parking your trailer behind your booth all weekend. Patty and I like that - it makes breaking down sooo easy! Speaking of breakdown, it was a breeze. We broke down a double booth in about one hour. (We were motivated to get out of the 95-degree heat and into our air-conditioned truck!)
Discounts were available at a Holiday Inn across the street from the show site, so you could park your car there all weekend and walk to the show. And there were plenty of great restaurants within walking distance.
For three days, the weather was brutally hot. Some of the artists who have been doing this show for years said crowds were a little down from previous years, considering temperatures were in the 90s. Well at least it didn't rain!
This is an invitational show, and as long as the quality of your work stays high and you continue to make sales, you get invited back. This was our first time doing a show in Nashville, so we didn't know how well we would do. Sales for us were slow. In fact, we got rid of only two small pieces all weekend, with the average sale at only $1,000, which was low for us. We sold a few magnets and smaller reproductions, ending up with a total of $2,500, way below average for us. Plus, the show charges a 15-percent commission, although that money does go to Gilda's Club, a cancer-support group. Patty and I had a few people looking at larger pieces, though, so I hope they'll come back next year. We'll try one more time to see what happens, as we like to give a show two chances.
As for the rest of the artists around us, a woodworker reported his best show ever, anywhere! A glass artist said he was down from previous years here, but it was still an above-average show for him. A metal artist here for the first time said sales were below average for him, too. I also spoke with several jewelers, one selling low-end work and another high-end. Both reported above-average sales. A fabric artist said sales were about average for her, while a photographer reported slightly above-average business.
A big party with an open bar and lots of great food was held on Friday night at Director Nancy Saturn's house. (Saturn also runs the American Artisan Art Gallery in town and knows lots of art buyers.)
This is definitely not the most crowded show we've ever been to, but the people who do come come to buy art. Only one artist I spoke with was unsure about returning - everyone else said this was one of the events they look forward to every year.
