“ We’re taking a big risk, too,” says Strope. “Regardless of how many exhibitors are in the show, we still have to pay the facility, our staff, the caterer — there’s a whole set of fixed expenses that go up every year.”

Steve DeLuca, show manager for the Buyer’s Market of American Craft (BMAC), says that it’s not uncommon to spend over a million dollars putting on a show, with much of that money going out months before the event takes place.

But, what if the show management needs to cancel? Christine Crawfis, the director of shows for the American Craft Council says that the ACC has never had to cancel a show, not even in the middle of a blizzard in Baltimore one year, or in the midst of North Carolina’s power outages and ice storms this past winter.

Strope says GLM was forced to cancel the first day of the Washington Gift Show one year after a blizzard crippled the city. The exhibitors had already arrived and set up, and had spent their money on hotel fees, advertising, and transportation to the show.

The contract for a GLM show does cover such an event, stating that the management has no liability to the exhibitor, but might refund a portion of a booth fee, at its “sole discretion” if the show is canceled due to “war, fire, strike, exhibit facility construction or renovation project, logistical problems, government regulation, public catastrophe, act of God or the public enemy, or other cause beyond the control of the management.”

Although GLM wasn’t contractually obliged to make amends, Strope says every exhibitor was offered a discount on the booth fee for the following year. (See related story, page 16.)

Find PROMOTERS WITH REPUTATIONS TO protect

Fortunately, show managers who are in it for the long haul want many of the same things exhibitors want, and they’re motivated to get them. They need buyers to show up, and to buy. Because the show’s reputation is dependent on buyers coming and finding appropriate work, show promoters want to fill booths with artists whose work is right for the venue.

Unfortunately, some shows, especially smaller ones, may inflate the number of expected attendees, or represent themselves as showing only completely handmade work, when in fact some exhibitors are showing imports or embellished factory blanks.

Try to talk to the show’s promoters before deciding to exhibit. Ask them to define terms, and try to get a sense of their philosophy and intentions. Sarah Spahn, cultural arts coordinator for the Champaign, Ill., Parks District, says that for the city’s “Taste of Champaign-Urbana” craft show, the jury considers anything that’s been made with the hands of the person in the booth, whether or not they are the designers. “For us, it doesn’t matter if they’re using a pattern or a kit; as long as it’s handmade, we’re fine with that.”

Local show promoters may, like Spahn, wear many hats in their jobs, and may not be well versed in conventions that most artists take for granted.

Investigate shows on your own

The very best defense against getting stuck in a show that doesn’t deliver what you need is to investigate ahead of time: visit the show, examine the community in which the show will be held, and ask other exhibitors about the show with specific questions.

Just asking, “How is show X?” may garner no more information than some numbers. Instead, analyze what you really need from a show in order for your work to sell. Who are your buyers? Is atmosphere important to you? Does it matter if you’ll be exhibiting among book publishers? Then ask fellow artists about the show, keeping in mind that what works for them may not work for you.

Glassblower Mary Holtorf noticed several booths with buy/sell merchandise at the Harvard Lion’s Festival in Harvard, Mass., this year. “The organizers are well-intentioned, but I don’t think they’re jurying the way they should be — or else I’m misunderstanding their intentions,” she says.

According to Holtorf, there were imports and one double-booth with so many different types of crafts that she believes the exhibitor was representing several different artists. “This is a fairly new show, and I had high hopes for it,” she says. “I recommended it to a couple of other friends. Frankly, I was embarrassed because [some of the merchandise was] so obviously imported.”

But Bunker Davis, a crafts committee member for the Harvard fair says except for allowing “a couple of co-ops from Peru” the festival organizers have gotten rid of everyone who does not meet their criteria. “We try to make sure that the crafts [on exhibit] are made by the people who are selling them,” says Davis.

Jewelry maker Carmel Fair Friedman has also been surprised by buy/sell work at “good” shows. She asked around with other artists before applying to the Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree and Crafts Festival in Smithville, Tenn. The show received high marks from the artists she consulted, so she was surprised to find “obviously imported” work in some of the booths.

“ It was supposed to be handmade only,” she says. “There were about seven sentences in the contract along the lines of ‘If you don’t make it, don’t bring it.’ When I got there, it looked like a flea market.”

Friedman couldn’t find any staff who would take responsibility for enforcing the rules, but Festival coordinator Neil Dudney says the person responsible for Friedman’s street may have been away from her post when Friedman complained. Dudney says he has called the local sheriff during festivals to dismantle the booths of exhibitors who misrepresented themselves. “If we catch [buy/sell or imported work], we ask them to put it away,” says Dudney. “If they bring it back out, we ask them to leave. We’re strict on them … [but] that’s not to say they don’t try to slip something out when we aren’t looking.”

Who’s counting?

Another issue that galls Friedman is when shows misrepresent the number of attendees when they call for artists in magazines. Though contracts don’t state the number of expected attendees, Friedman says, “To me, if I call and they tell me one number and a quarter of that number actually show up, they’ve violated an oral contract. When I say something on my application, they expect it to be true. I should be able to expect that what they say will be true.”

Deluca says, “[The show promoter’s] control over the gate is analogous to how much control an exhibitor has over how many orders they’re going to write.” The BMAC markets to buyers most successfully through direct mail, and much of DeLuca’s promotional budget goes to buying mailing lists. If the economy seems slow, as it was in the summer off 2001, he’ll put out extra effort and money to reach more people in order to try to keep the gate in line with estimates.

Larry Oliverson is the CEO of the National Association of Independent Artists (NAIA), an organization that advocates for professional business practices among show promoters.

Oliverson says that a good show experience is contingent on professional behavior from both sides. “There’s a certain level of understanding that has to go on,” he says. “Some information, like attendance, is going to be an estimate, but it should be an accurate estimate.”

Contracts mostly protect promoters

Unfortunately, a typical show contract outlines only the responsibilities of the exhibitor and the privileges of the show promoter. Typical topics covered by the contract include whether or not the artist who makes the work must be present in the booth, what merchandise is and is not allowed in the booth and, especially for larger indoor shows, requirements regarding electricity, unions, and fireproofing, and the cancellation policy.

One of the issues that the NAIA is advocating for is that shows establish a hardship clause for extenuating circumstances such as illness or family emergency that forces an artist to cancel with a show. “This is possibly one unfair business practice of some shows right now,” says Oliverson. “Any business — any corporation in the country — gives their employees special consideration in the event of a fire, an accident, or a death. If a true hardship exists, for example, a death in the immediate family, there should be some compassion for the artist. Especially if there’s an alternate list and the artist can be replaced, the artist shouldn’t be liable for their booth fee, though there should possibly be an administrative fee.”

Some shows do have compassionate policies for extenuating circumstances, but these policies aren’t always written into the show’s contract, so good, prompt communication with show organizers is key. The American Craft Council, for example, does allow for partial refunds if an exhibitor who needs to cancel due to extenuating circumstances provides the proper documentation (e.g., a doctor’s note).

LAWSUITS ARE only an OPTION FOR some

Acts of God and public enemies aside, if an exhibitor does go into a show with reasonable expectations, and those expectations are not met, the artist is essentially at the mercy of the show’s promoter. As Friedman says, “I’ve found that once they have your money, there’s not much you can do.”

Artist, gallery owner and show organizer, Richard Rothbard is the exception to this conclusion. Rothbard filed a lawsuit against the Art and Apples Festival in Rochester, Mich., when they excluded him from the show because he employs assistants — even though, by his estimation, dozens of other exhibitors also have production studios.

The rules of that Michigan show state that artists must make all the work entirely themselves, so Rothbard sued for fraud and discrimination, arguing that the rules were inconsistently enforced. Ultimately the two parties submitted to binding arbitration, settling out of court for an undisclosed sum.

Rothbard says he is satisfied with the outcome, but notes that his position and contacts gave him the power, resources and information to build a case, an option most artists wouldn’t have. “An artist … risks being left out of the show,” he says, “and possibly being blackballed from others if the organizer tells other promoters, ‘Hey, don’t deal with this guy.’”

Representatives of Arts and Apples did not respond to requests for comment about Rothbard’s lawsuit while this story was being prepared.

Make your complaints heard

Show promoters say they want to know about rule violations and other complaints, but that trying to deal with complaints at the show can be difficult. “You can’t really deal with it on site, because you need to give the exhibitor time to get their credentials.” says DeLuca.

When accusations are made against other exhibitors at the BMAC, DeLuca says the show management investigates, and if they suspect a rule violation, they will approach the exhibitor and provide a chance to disprove the accusation. If the artist doesn’t produce the right paperwork within the given time frame, he or she isn’t invited back to the show.

For other complaints, DeLuca suggests a letter after the fact, explaining the exhibitor’s issue with a show. If a letter doesn’t bring satisfaction, the only recourse may be to avoid the show in the future, and to spread the word so that other artists will be spared your experience. As show promoters know, word spreads quickly in the craft world, and a floundering reputation combined with a drop in the number of applications (and application fees) may be the impetus a promoter needs to address the issue.

Ultimately, fair or not, the majority of an artist’s power resides in the decision of whether or not to apply to a show, so it pays to do your homework, read your contracts, and make that decision very, very carefully.

-Kara Laughlin is a free-lance writer who specializes in writing about art and craft. She lives in Urbana, Ill.