Art Fair Selection

choose the right shows for
selling your jewelry

© by Ellen Leonard; all rights reserved

How do you decide whether to apply to a particular art fair? Each year jewelry artists prepare to select events in which to participate. Established artists tend to have a set show schedule where customers seek them out, while newer artists have to experiment to discover the events that fit their unique artistic creations.

Jewelry can be hard to sell, depending on your competition. As a jeweler, you need to be realistic about where your jewelry fits into the grand scheme of the events in which you are thinking about participating.

It's important to scout out shows before you apply for them. When attending an art fair for the first time, there are several things that you should notice:

• Quality of the Show
  First, note the level of quality of the event. Sometimes the quality is different from that which the show's organizer claims, or what other artists have discussed.

• Competition and Niches
  Are there many other jewelers at the show? Are there any jewelry niches that are not yet filled that you could potentially fill (i.e. there were beaders, but no lampworkers)?

• Price Range of the Products
  Equally important is to observe the prices of the goods in various booths. When browsing the art fair note the price range for both the jewelry and the other products. Think about whether or not your items could realistically compete here, or if you would have to bring a lower or higher end of your products. Pay attention to what patrons are purchasing. Are they purchasing anything at all, or are does the crowd seem to be mostly browsing?

• Did the Artists Have a Good Day?
  Lastly, feel free to discuss the art fair with the artists participating in it. Ask them how their day has been. If that makes you uncomfortable, you can simply observe them at the end of the day. After a long hard day most people will be easy to read as to whether they had a good show or a bad show. You can also look at their inventory levels. Are there lots of gaps in their displays?

Art fair entry fees can be expensive, but sometimes it's worth the big fees to get big sales. Look at each event and decide what it is worth to participate. These simple evaluations can help you establish how you will do at a specific art fair.

Even then you might not fare as well as you would have liked at the event, but there's always next year and other shows.

When applying to shows it's important to remember that you probably won't get into all of them. But you must also be very conscious of your time constraints, and realistic about your ability to create inventory - because if you do get into most of the shows you apply for, you can very easily become overwhelmed.

I always apply to several art fairs that I know I will get into without any problems, then I throw in some applications to art fairs in which I have never participated just to try new things. This way I am being consistent, but allowing myself to grow.

There are several resources which can be helpful when trying to select your shows:

• There are lots of jewelry forums where fellow artists discuss their experiences at art fairs.

• Professional artists often use a publication called Sunshine Artist Magazine, which provides reviews and rankings from events all over the country.

• An invaluable resource is networking locally. Local artists love to discuss their good and bad experiences at local art fairs, plus you get to make some great new friends.

You may find that your first year of art fairs was not at all what you expected - in both good and bad ways. But remember that each art fair is a learning experience, and teaches you more about your target market, sales skills, and each event itself.

Try the comprehensive listings at Fairs and Festivals for premium event information with detailed lists of events, costs, booth space, and contact information.

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