August 25, 2009

I've about had it with arts and crafts fairs. I went to one known around the state as "high end," and it was extremely tiresome. Quantity is not quality and, after a long haul past one booth after another in full summer sun in the midst of people's kids, everything begins to look the same: one jewelry display looks like every other jewelry display, one woodturners' beautiful wares look like every other woodturner's wares, one shelf of ceramic coffee cups looks like every shelf of coffee cups. What's worse, the whole craft fair looks like all the other craft fairs one has attended since the beginning of time. The tents are the same, the amplified music is the same, the sno-cones are the same, the presence of religious handiwork is the same.

I think entries should be juried (which defeats the purpose of the local arts and crafts fair, I'm sure), so that you see less but better stuff. That way, though you'd be tired after winding through it, but you'd be able to see and make sense of more. I'll bet they'd sell more. The planners could say, "We're going to have three (or four, whatever) bead jewelry booths." All beaders who want to show would present samples of work and the three best, whose jewelry demonstrated the greatest variety in bead jewelry, would be selected for show. So it would go for all media. There'd be no booth rental but a percentage of sales.

I have, also, formulated plans for world peace. I've no doubt they'll be just as easy to implement as this reorganization of the arts and crafts fair.

Always glad to help.

PW