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Mind your manners while making the rounds at the art fair booths |
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Written by Lisa Gutierrez
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Monday, 18 June 2007 |
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Here's what not to do at the next art festival you hit:
Don't drink and browse - you might break something.
Don't stand around yapping with your friends and block the way into the booths. Makes it hard for people to shop.
Don't make uninformed comments about the art within the artist's earshot.
That's Art Festival Etiquette 101 from the artists recently at the Prairie Village Art Show.
Oh, and did we mention the universal pet peeve?
Keep your dogs out of the tents.
WATCH YOUR KIDS
Artists like children, they do.
A lot of them have kids themselves. And they know that children are future art consumers. But please: "Take care of your children," said Rod Garrett, a Florida artist who sold acrylic sculptures for hundreds of dollars.
"When a child comes in an area like this, he makes everybody else nervous," he said. "(But) if you're going to be in this environment, bring your kids here and teach them respect for the arts."
Garrett's heavy acrylic sculptures aren't easily broken, but Mark Thorson's ceramic pieces are.
"A lot of times kids will come in the booth without their parents and start picking things up," the Mission, Kan., artist said. "You have to jump up and cut them off at the pass."
DON'T DICKER, DON'T BICKER
Many artists work festivals for a living, so they don't want to haggle.
"I think artists get shortchanged anyway," Thorson said. "They usually sell themselves short with the amount of time and effort they put in a piece."
But if you feel compelled to barter, be respectful. Ask "How firm are your prices?" Don't lowball.
"If someone comes in and says `Can you do any better, I'll say yes, it's $95, but for you, it's $105,'" said Anthony Pack of Overland Park, Kan., who makes folk art from recycled materials.
"... then I want to say `What do you do for a living, and can I come over and get a discount from you?' I think for some people, art fairs are like flea markets."
But here's a secret: Regular customers sometimes get discounts, and some artists offer payment plans.
"There are a lot of us out here that on large-scale pieces - you know, our stuff is not exactly inexpensive - plans are available. Ask," Garrett said.
St. Louis artist Clark Stoeckley will give a "deal" to people who buy more than one of his pencil drawings. But bring cash.
"You better have cash if you want art for cheap," he said. "Credit card just says, `I've got money but not yet.'"
NO PICTURES, PLEASE
Taking pictures of the art without asking the artist first is a "good way to lose your camera," Garrett said.
"That is one of the biggest bugaboos out here right now because of the digital technology involved," he said. "It's a nightmare out here."
The nightmare is piracy. Not the Capt. Jack Sparrow kind. The art festival kind.
It's not so much an issue for artists working in three dimensions like Garrett. But the painters?
"Somebody captures the image digitally, they can have it printed in four hours and framed," Garrett said. "And it's a big deal. These are original creations of work. Somebody comes by, snaps a photo of it and it's at some home decorating store a month later in a frame for $19.95. It's been going on for years, big time. I have seen cameras destroyed."
If you innocently photograph someone's work, don't be surprised if the artist confronts you. Apologize, Garrett said. Then offer to the erase the images. Apologize again.
DOGS GONE WILD
Lots of the artists have dogs of their own, but few bring them to the shows.
They wish the public would do the same.
"Usually I prefer that they don't bring their dogs," Stoeckley said. "If you love your dog, don't bring it to an art fair. Dogs don't really care about the art."
Horror story No. 1.
"I absolutely forbid them," Garrett said. "Little dogs are the worst because nobody sees them. The only damage I ever had in my booth from a dog was a little miniature dog. I told the (owner) three times, "Please do not bring your dog in." He did it anyway. Somebody stepped on the dog's foot, the dog yelped, everybody (jumped), 12 pieces gone."
Horror story No. 2.
"This friend was at a show in Minnesota and this dog went to the bathroom in front of this guy's booth," Pack said. "So the dog starts doing this (pawing the poo), and it starts spraying all over his booth."
Horror story No. 3.
"I've had dogs pee and poop in my booth," Stoeckley said. "So I'm usually not sure who's smarter, the dog or the owner. It's one of the two."
DON'T FIB
If you're not going to buy it, don't tell the artists, "I'll be back." They're onto you.
"I get a lot of `be-backs,' which is an artist joke," Thorson said. "Small things raise your hopes at shows."
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