My First Art Fair

When the Chester County Art Association outside of Philadelphia teamed up with a local township to put on an art fair, I knew I had to apply!  It really was the perfect opportunity to test the waters being close by, 4 hours long, and also having a rain date which eased my anxiety about my first fair turning into a disaster.

Once I was accepted I knew I needed the standard white 10x10 tent. Research told me I should look for a 500 D top, which is basically the fabric thickness.  I decided I wanted one that had walls that could fully Velcro across the top and zip together at the sides in case I did an all weather event in the future. I found a tent at Walmart by a company called Smilemart but also considered similar tents by Euromax and ABC Canopy. The tent also came with sandbags that filled with playsand. 

Next I spent too much time figuring out how I could create a professional looking setup without investing  in Pro Panels or Flourish walls.  (Side note, I actually found myself petting  an artist’s  Pro Panels at the event. It was a weird moment but thankfully she laughed). An artist in a Facebook group I’m in suggested privacy fence screening.  This is a heavy mesh tarp with grommets. I ordered two in a 6x10 size on Amazon.   We used the included cable ties to attach them to the tent top and legs.  Drapery hooks were the perfect solution to hang the work from, and I found larger pieces hung best with two hooks.  Looking back, I wish I bought a third because hanging my largest painting from the back of the tent didn’t quite work out.  Fortunately I had room on the side walls. My labels were printed on card stock and taped to the back of each canvas. 

The rest of the setup was fairly simple.  My husband borrowed tables from work and I found a tablecloth at home.  I bought nice wood tabletop display easels at Target for $5 each.  Acrylic display frames held up a paper about me and payment info.  I had a mailing list signup on a clipboard. My banner was printed at my local Staples.  For payments I signed up for Square and used their free reader, but also accepted cash, Venmo and PayPal. 

Overall it was a great day, I sold a few originals and prints. Met lots of people,  talked about my background in commercial art and how it lead into abstract art, and passed out many many business cards!  My biggest regret was not wearing better shoes as I was standing on pavement the entire time!  

Another takeaway was that it was so much prep work that I think it would be a good idea to cluster a few fairs in a 2 month period in the spring or fall.  (I’m not interested in the summer or winter unless it’s indoors!) Fortunately I already had a pop up gallery planned for the West Chester Gallery Walk (a first Friday event), and could reuse most of my signage and labels for that.

 Have you done an art fair? What are some tips you can share? Comment below!