Artscape 2017 Review

 July finished out with a BANG! The weekend of July 21-23 was my second year doing Baltimore Maryland’s Artscape and I can’t wait to go again next year.

 FIRST: Sales!  I sell Fine Art HDR photography on aluminum, in frames, and also matted in 3 standard sizes. Sales were down 22% from last year however 2016 Artscape ended up being my #2 show of all time. 2017 Artscape lands firmly in my #7 show of all time. I sold more pieces this year, though at a lower price point. No big-ticket item sales but plenty of small and medium sales this year.  

 Second: Costs are high for this show. There is a $60 application fee and booth fees range from a ‘low’ of $700 to $950 for an ‘end of group’ space.  Also the parking garage is $15/day for a space and hotels in the city are not reasonable.

 Third: Crowds are HUGE! Artscape says it is the largest FREE festival in the US and I cannot dispute this. The whole city knows about this show and comes out for it despite the weather. It will be hot and there will be rain one (or more) of the days, but they come and come and keep coming. At times there were 12(!) people in my booth. They ARE here to buy Art, for the most part, and actually stop, look, and engage. Yes there are bands, performance art, and a whole lot of food but with only 130 Artists there was plenty of attention given to all the artists.

 Lastly: Miscellaneous – Hours are long 11A-9p Fri and Sat, 11A-8p Sun. No booth sitters nor artist amenities. Artscape supplies huge sturdy tents that you fit inside of with 3-5 other vendors. Backstock areas are on the sidewalk behind booth. There are no “bad spaces” as all artists are on the same street and patrons walk the whole show.

If I could give my deposit for 2018 Artscape now I would!