First came ORA's annual Celebration of Art. It's our 8th annual art show, and it continues to grow and evolve. We held it again at Mittleman Jewish Community Center, in the beautiful Ballroom. The show is just beautiful, with about 25 artists showing and selling their artwork.
Everyone agrees that the room is beautiful, and the show is beautiful. But everyone also agrees that the attendance is a challenge, seemingly for a different reason each year. We continue to ponder that problem. But in the meantime, I had an enjoyable day, and my sales were good enough.
Two weeks later came Hadassah's Chanukah Gift Fair, which returned to MJCC this year after many years at Neveh Shalom. I welcomed the change, because of the neutral location and the superior space and lighting in the MJCC ballroom. But to be frank, the sales were dismal.
I've done this show for 14 years now, and feel a great loyalty to it. But it has been suffering a downward spiral since the economic downturn. Less paying customers = less quality vendors, and less quality vendors = less paying customers. It's a terrible conundrum, and I personally have a difficult decision to make. My sales for the day were definitely not worth all the time and effort that goes into doing a show.
This month I also opened my Etsy store, with just a few items at first. In December I hope to post more items for sale, and give this thing a go! www.etsy.com/shop/EstherBeads
Selling any kind of art is a tricky business, and I continue to look for the right path for my business.
