Happy to say that I survived the hot sun and crowds at yesterday’s Cherry Creek Arts Festival. A few observations:
1. I had understood that booth shots were critical to getting into high-quality art festivals like CC, so was amazed at some of the really crappy booths. I mean really crappy. It was very disappointing to see at such a prestigious event. Everything from no lighting to ugly pedestals to sagging banners. What’s going on here?
2. There is no paucity of paintings of trees. Lines of cyprus and poplars seem to be all of the rage. I’m guessing at least ten booths with similar styles of paintings. Again, what gives? Do they sell that well? I like a good line of trees as much as the next gal, but I’m wondering if putting in a bunch of similar art is good or bad for the artists. Just wondering, that’s all.
3. No more dichroic glass. When I attended CC two years ago, most of the jewelry seemed to feature dichroic glass. Didn’t see any of it this year (although I could have missed a booth or two). Big, chunky, geometric jewelry was in full force.
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Cherry Creek Arts Festival, arts festival booth, booth shots
2 thoughts on “At the Cherry Creek Arts Festival”
I recently read a national study done by the Urban Institute about what motivates people to go to cultural events as studied by type of event. It said that only 25% of art fair goers attend art fairs or festivals for the quality of the art; the majority are motivated by social factors (they expect it to be an event that facilitates family and friend time). The same study said 56% of those going to a museum or art gallery were going to see high-quality art. And art museums and galleries had attendees with the least desire to socialize of any of the attendees of the art events they studied. Such attendees also had the highest desire to learn something/see something new. The purpose of the study was to encourage arts administrators to cater events to what people actually want– put your administrative dollars/effort into making art fairs more pleasant/accessible places for people to socialize, and in galleries and museums make sure that the quality of the art presented is paramount. Etc. I am sure there are implications for artists exhibiting in these different venues. Find/read it here, or go to the Wallace Foundation website and poke around to find it. The study is titled “The Diversity of Cultural Participation: Findings from a National Survey”.
Cherry Creek Art Festival
Last weekend was the much anticipated Denver cultural event, the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. According to their website it is one of the nations most competitive outdoor juried arts festivals. Well I have to admit until this yea…