I ventured out early to get a jump start on the annual Art Mart at the Art Student's League of Denver.  It's an event that I enjoy because you get to see old favorites as well as new emerging artists.  My strategy for the Art Mart is to walk through the entire area taking notes of the places that I'm attracted too and then I return for more serious viewing.  I learned lots of lessons today about outdoor art shows that I'll share with you in the coming days, but the one that stands out for now is the sharing of booth space.

I don't know if artists share space to save on the cost or they want company or they don't have enough work to fill the booth, but overall sharing booths, at least how most were done here, is confusing.  Too many times the work is in such contrast to each other that it is distracting.  I went to a few booths where the two artist's works were do contentious to one another that I started to get a headache.

If you want to share a booth then shouldn't it be inviting?  There were a couple of booths that constructed a wall to divide the space.  Were they not speaking to one another, trying to create intimacy for their own work, or were they trying to add wall space to the already cramped and dark space?  I heard many negative comments about those booths and people just kept on walking by, so their strategy failed, they lost potential sales, and most of all the whole idea of getting your work out to the public was a bust.

This is certainly one of those "Don't let this happen to you moments".  It's a deal buster for the audience/buyer/collector and makes you the artist look unprofessional.  If you can't do it right then reconsider this venue or this type of outdoor festival because they're a lot of work and doing it poorly isn't worth your time, effort, energy or money!