5 Things to Remember When Showing at Art Festivals and Events

It was 2018 and on our way San Diego we stopped to stretch our legs in small town known as Temecula, California and as we passed through old town we discovered Temecula's Art & Street Painting Festival. This was where I met local fine-art photographer, Walter Santos (https://waltersantosphotography.com), who kindly introduced us to the vibrant arts & culture community of the area and shared all the places around town we could see his work.

As one thing often leads to another, I began to show my artwork at Temecula's Art Off The Walls events which happened every first Friday of the month. The event provided me with an opportunity to interact with a live audience outside of social media and where I began to see myself evolve as an artist and photographer.

I talked with people who stopped to admire my photography and we shared stories of what different photos reminded them of, as well an incredible teaching moment for myself in understanding what attracted people to collect photography and the difference between an event and an exhibit.

During my participation with Art Off The Walls I met two extraordinary women, Isabel and Bella, who organized and ran the event. Bella also organized the other art galleries for the city and in 2019 I had my first exhibit at the Temecula Regional Library featuring 8 pieces of fine-art photography. The four larger pieces were locally printed in Temecula by ColorPlak (https://colorplak.com) thanks to an introduction by Walter, and the smaller pieces were printed in my studio. All were mounted in hand made frames using wood from a mill in the Los Angeles area, Foster Planing Mill https://www.fosterplaningmill.com.

By the end of the year I was also scheduled to exhibit at The Merc. For me, this was a big milestone. The Merc featured a different artist each month with an artist reception and hosted multiple other art related events through the month. I was excited to finally get some exposure as fine-art photographer and feature over 20 pieces of work in a town and art community that I was falling in love with. However, unfortunately, the pandemic was in full strength at the time of my scheduled exhibit and all events for the year were cancelled.

My experiences in Temecula taught me some really valuable lessons about the art and event world as well as gave me opportunities to accomplish a few milestones, make some new friends and explore a town of unique shops, restaurants, craft breweries and of course wineries which reminded me of my hometown, Auburn, California.

Here are a few of those learning points:

1. Know you audience for events. If your event will have a lot of locals then bring with you fine-art from their area because that will more likely resonate with them.
2. Ask questions and persist. If you want to be in an event or exhibit start contacting people and asking what is needed to get involved. Do the work and be persistent.
3. Keep as much as you can in-house. This will produce a product with lower costs to you and allow you to more economically control your inventory.
4. Think about the environment your artwork will be in and make sure what you provide is appropriate. For example, when I exhibited at the Temecula Library I didn't use glass (another blog post on this later) and I didn't dry mount the prints. Over the three months time hanging in sunlight the prints buckled. Also, events can be windy, so bring ways to secure your work. Also, will you need lighting?
5. Don't compromise your style just to be in an exhibit or at an event or because you think a certain style photo will sell more. You want future collectors to remember you for your style and story.

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