Lakeshore Art Festival 2013

Muskegon, Michigan

I’ve come to the conclusion that anyone responsible for an art show should be required to have at least done the circuit as a solo for three years. They would have learned in that time that when a show claims to have booth sitters they damn well better show up close to when requested. Good shows send volunteers around on the circuit and actually ask if a vendor needs anything or needs a break. They do this all day on both days too. For many reasons the Lakeshore Art Festival is not a good show. No-show booth sitters is just one. Besides the check-in booth where I signed up for a booth sitter on Saturday I had only one contact with show workers.

A person came around to make sure we knew that the police were ticketing or towing on Saturday. Really? That was my one contact? Does the show have such a crappy relationship with the Muskegon police that parking issues can’t be worked out --on a weekend --- for a major event drawing money into town?

The show is an exceptional Friday-Saturday event that is open too long into the evening. The customers will always tell when the show is over. It was over between 5 and 6 on Friday and by 4 PM on Saturday. Since we were pointlessly required to be there until 7 PM on both days---it makes for long days. This is same thing happens at many shows not just Lakeshore. The management needs to open their eyes. The customers will scream when the show is over. Pay attention.

Friday the crowds were great, but they were literally lakeshore tourists. They had already dropped their money on overpriced hotel rooms. However they, in the main knew what they were looking at. The Saturday crowd would in reality might not be able to negotiate a store aisle let alone life. It reminded me of the family in Caldwell’s Tobacco Road. Everything that was new, good, and whole was degraded, worn-out and inevitably destroyed. Quite literally one oversized bunch was so without bodily muscle they could not stand up. They leaned on the print bins in such a way as to cause them nearly to collapse. I’d not experienced that before.

There were almost universal tattoos on Saturday, and almost none on Friday. I took in more cash on Saturday, but I had only four sales and it included one canvas. None of the people I sold to on Saturday had tattoos (that I could see). I had six sales on Friday and no tattoos.

I do not think it is quite as telling, but the tattoo tourists tend to want to touch the canvas. I think this is because they have almost no experience with art, artists, or formal art displays. They seem to have no ability to understand unless they can touch -- as if they were two years old. They were enthusiastic, but ignorant.

As usual the positives were the other vendors. The opal artists from Standish were next to me again as in Rochester a few years ago. They mine, import, cut, and finish the jewelry. It is exquisite. A quiet young lady & husband were next door selling her design prints of which I’m not certain she sold much. Dallas Gallbrieth who works metal into wall art from Fort Wayne was there. We briefly spoke. A woman stained glass artist & husband helper I’ve seen before were across the way. Joe Kisselburg from Chelsea who does tie-dyed clothes was working the show management as is his passion, as I made my way to the port-o-lets at the end of the day. Joe has & does make a living selling his work. He has a very reasoned approach to the many errors of management. The management does not seemed to be moved which is too bad. I think it was even the light traffic on Webster behind me that covered but it just seemed quiet there even though there were generators running sitting out near the road.

Hackley Park is a lovely city park. In place of the normally required fountain there is a towering Civil War monument with bronze statues on each of its lower four corners. It is topped with a bronze Liberty, I think. The park is liberally sprinkled with other bronze pieces that I did not have opportunity to study. It should be a great setting for an art show. The booth spaces were close to double-width. Was that liberalness of booth space because of fewer vendors from the past?

On my rating scale of - o + Lakeshore gets a -.