My second stop on my Midwest tour brought me to Des Moines, IA. "The Other Art Show" is put on at the state fairgrounds, indoors, where the forecast was much better for the weekend than it was for the downtown show located outside. It stormed every night while I was in town, but the daylight hours turned out pretty nice.

Setup: The setup required hauling your supplies in through specific doors of the building which made the setup time-consuming, but not difficult. The spaces were at least 10' x 15' feet deep. Very generous by art show standards and this allowed ample storage behind the booths. Electricity was available for purchase, but I opted not to bring my light system. It would have been nice to have lighting, but I don't think it hurt my display by not having them. The building was lit well enough to make booths very visible from a distance.

Sales: The show started off with a bang. Heavy foot traffic with lots of customers ready to buy, filled the floor until lunchtime, then things tapered off and never really regained that same momentum for the remainder of the show. I did not have a high number of transactions, but my average transaction was 25% above my normal average. My results were solid, but the show had more potential than it returned. Several other artist, who have done the show previously, stated this was a lower turnout than experienced in previous years.

Teardown: This was like setup, not difficult, just time consuming. Vans were pulling into the building around 6:30 pm, an hour and a half after close if you were willing to wait.

Summary: The promoter, Sue Stookey, is very friendly and professional. She runs a great show with an excellent selection of artists. Many customers seemed to agree, as I overheard many remark about the quality of this show being better than the big downtown show. The big concern for this show seemed to be the drop in foot traffic after Saturday morning. 

Minneapolis is a long, long way from home, but the Stone Arch Festival, seated on the banks of the mighty Mississippi river, made that journey worthwhile. This photo was taken from the back of my booth. It was a beautiful view, fortunately, I did not have a lot of time to enjoy it as the booth was busy the entire weekend. 

Setup: This was relatively easy. I showed up about a half-hour before set-up was to begin. A few artist were already setting up and I joined them. My van was parked about 100 feet from my space, which made for a painless setup. The parking got more congested as the second group's setup time arrived, but the promotors and the police had the area blocked off for artist parking only.

Sales: Whenever I do a new show, the reaction to my art is usually enthusiastic, but this crowd seemed exceptionally excited and it was difficult to keep track of all the smiles and laughter. I had over 60 transactions over the weekend, which is well above average, and many customers who took cards in interest of purchasing at a later date.

Teardown: This went just as smooth as setup. I always breakdown before getting my van and this allowed some of the movers and shakers to clear out. I was parked a bit farther away than setup, but hauling your setup some distance is to be expected when doing shows in a downtown location. Bring a dolly. 

Summary: The weather is always a risk when doing shows in the midwest, but it did hold out for a nice weekend. The foot traffic was heavy on booth days and customers came to buy. Parking for the artist was about a half-mile from the show, but it can be a pleasant walk. Artist can come in and drop off product before and after the show if necessary. For me personally, there was no negative aspects to doing this show, it was a relaxing and enjoyable show. I hope to return and do it again next year.