Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Show Calendar Set



I just heard from my last pending show application, Issaquah Salmon Days in October - it was a yes! I have now updated my events calendar through the end of this year. Applying to shows is a fairly involved process. I recently came across this description shared by artist Justan Elk:

"Most don’t know it, but exhibiting at all Art shows is an involved and very competitive process that requires a lot of planning. The Art show application process starts about 6 to 9 months before show date when all artists who want to participate submit images of their work plus pay a fee so their work will be considered by a jury for a show. For well known shows, there are between about 3 and 10 artists who apply for every space available space. The jury scores each artist’s work and the top scoring artists in each category are invited to attend. Other applicants are either added to an alternate list, which is commonly called a "wait list." People on the alternate list are drawn from if selected artists don’t attend for some reason. The rest of the applicants are rejected. Due to the highly competitive process, many artists will apply for several shows which occur on the same weekend. That way artists have better opportunity to achieve their target number of shows.
When an Artist is accepted to a show, the artist pays a substantial fee for their booth space. Everything that goes on the booth space is provided by the artist. A 10’ x 10’ space is usually half the cost of a 10’ x 20’ space, and a space with a corner that can be used as viewing space is an added premium."  You can see Justans work on his Web site: www.justan-elk.com or Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Justan-Elk-Artworks/142618685929898

I feel very lucky this year to have gotten an invitation to all but one of the shows I applied to. Part of that is due to better photos and knowing my niche. But as you learned above it is a very competitive process, even more so for jewelers. There are often sometimes special requirements for jewelers because there are so many of us. So luck does play a part!

Check out my calendar and come and visit me at one of my many events.

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