WARM TEXAS PEOPLE AT COTTONWOOD ART FESTIVAL
Cottonwood Art Festival in Richardson, Texas was the second in a series of four out-of-state shows. I had to work like mad to prepare an inventory while still making progress on my commissions. I work generally from 7:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. daily when at home in my studio. I always feel nervous excitement when doing a new show. Reading reviews on sites like Art Fair Source Book can never really prepare for the specific protocols and every festival has different rules and procedures. I try to spot a friendly veteran in these cases and ask for advice.
The setting for Cottonwood Art Festival is at Cottonwood Park and unprecedentedly beautiful! So well appointed and festively adorned! The spring flowers were in bloom, ducks and ducklings in the ponds. The atmosphere was fantastic! So celebratory and happy. The reception party was fabulous, fun and generous, treating us artists so well. Great music, food, drink and fellowship. I felt very appreciated. One of the best artist treatments I have experienced. There are a few shows I have done that make the artists feel like there are doing us a favor by allowing us to display. This was the opposite of that.
This show has a reputation for being a tough load in and load out. There is limited space for vehicles in the show site and most spaces don’t allow for driving up to booths. It’s great when I get warned heavily by other artists about an event because it is rarely as tough as it is made out to be. Load in was a pleasure! No where near as bad as I feared. The local Boy Scout troop was so helpful in carting some my supplies to my spaces. I spent a great deal of time setting up as I had a double booth for this event and setting it up by myself is quite an undertaking, but I enjoy it. Load out was tough! The Boy Scouts helped a lot again but my double booth and need to arrange paintings for specific deliveries made the process arduous. I did not leave the show site until 10:20 pm.
I made three deliveries during the show weekend, and one was at 10:45 p.m. More deliveries post-show to be scheduled for commissioned pieces. I will definitely apply for the Spring show again but in the Fall I’ll be on the East Coast. The next time I’m at Cottonwood Art Festival I’ll be sure to get there early for the load-in and look forward to once again enjoying the friendly, warm people of Texas.