After receiving notification of my work being accepted to this Columbia, MD show, I was asked if one of my pieces could be used online and as part of the promotional ad for the show. I was pleased to accept. This was the first time I'd applied to ArtPark; part of a 2-week festival which includes dramatic, music, and dance performances. The show consisted of 43 artists, in the usual categories, and the overall quality of the work I saw during the show was high, with no buy/sell.
 |
| the view from the back of our booth |
We made the 6-hour drive on Thursday, stayed overnight with a friend, and arrived early for our desginated Friday 11 am setup time. We were met by show management, and walked to our tent location. The setting is around a beautiful lake, with tents facing a row of restaurants with both indoor and outdoor seating shaded by large trees. Cars are not allowed onto the actual tent site, so management provided motorized vehicles and able-bodied volunteers to load and deliver everything there. Cool! We like to have a leisurely setup whenever possible, and this fit the bill; the weather was gorgeous (as it was all weekend), and arriving early meant we were set up well ahead of our neighbors.
Friday was slow, and although there were many after dinner strollers, there were virtually no buyers. People who'd done the show before (the few there were) said this was typical of Friday night.
On Saturday, there was a steady stream of people all day, though no huge crowds. In Baltimore, which is about a 30-minute drive away, there was a major event going on at the harbor, with tall ships and the Blue Angels, so this may have accounted for the smaller numbers. We had several sales during the late afternoon, including one of my Kindred Visage mask bowls, as well as the usual complement of "I'll be backs," and overall, we were positive about the show.
Sunday brought us some fantastic surprises: two of the "I'll be backs" actually
did come back. One to purchase a companion piece to one she'd purchased on Saturday, and the other, to purchase three of my newest pieces, to adorn a law office wall. Adding these two sales made Sunday my highest grossing day ever, and I was beyond thrilled! The show ended with an efficient breakdown and load out, with the motorized carts, helpers, and advantageous parking space making it among the easiest we've ever had.
Would I do ArtPark again? Absolutely. In fact, I may be invited to do it next year. Apparently, the management extends invitations to previous exhibitors, which means they don't have to be juried for that year.
So, my show season has gotten off to a roaring start, and now it's back to the drawing board (literally!), to create more wall hangings to replace these, which now have new homes:
 |
| Nguvu |
 |
| Kibali |
 |
| Kituo |
 |
| Asili |
 |
| Milele |
Comments