My Art Starts In The GardenPosted on by Mary Ahern
The Washington Square Outdoor Art Festival
Ever wonder what Art brings to a community?
University Place NYC during the Washington Square Art Festival
Look at University Place in NYC during the Washington Square Outdoor Art Fesitival and look at the same street without.
All the Artist’s set up this mini city each morning starting at 10:30 and the show officially starts at noon. For the city that never sleeps, you can’t really dictate show hours however so frequently you are discussing your work while half of the booth is still in cartons.
University Place after the Washington Square Art Festival
At 6pm we take down our city. We do this exhausting work each day over the course of 3 days.
We do this show each Memorial and Labor Day Weekend.
My Art Starts In The GardenPosted on by Mary Ahern
Memorial Day Weekend, 2007
What beautiful weather we all enjoyed. Just cool enough to bring people out of their air-conditioning and warm enough to invite a stroll along the streets of New York City.
This show is in it’s 76th year and I enjoy being a part of the history of this great city. What fun to be a member of the Art community of the Art Capital of the world.
BTW, I didn’t start showing with them
at the onset ;-)
My Art Starts In The GardenPosted on by Mary Ahern
Mary Ahern- Art Naturally had a Successful First Time Showing at the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show
The 2007 CT Flower and Garden Show moved to the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford CT. We never showed at this venue before so this was a new experience for us.
We brought our Traveling Art Festival Gallery to this exciting and very popular event and we’re sure glad we did.
The promised crowd of over 30,000 people showed up and at times, I felt as if I got to speak to each and every one of those winter starved gardeners.
This 4 day event has very long hours. Evenings until 8 each session. Did I mention very long days?
I’m glad that I brought my new bamboo director’s chair even though there were many hours I never got to touch it except to put my coffee in the cup holder.
The new lighting inside our Gallery worked just as we hoped so next time we’ll probably add the same system to the outside wall. The color correct lighting really makes a difference when showing Art.
As you can see, we’ve added new furniture to the Gallery and it makes writing up orders and taking information so much easier. Drawers in the desk really help me stay organized and the wood adds a nice sleek and solid look.
The racks on the outside of the Gallery were less than successful and we’re looking into alternative systems to show the small prints.
Mary Ahern-Art Naturally booth at the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show, 2007.
My Art Starts In The GardenPosted on by Mary Ahern
The third reason in my decision of whether to blog or not was:
To “open up my rather cloistered existence for greater conversation.”
Having enjoyed a career in sales which included at times 80% travel, which means that I was on the road by car or airplanes 4 days a week, and my life now, creating Art in the serenity and quiet of my studio, I can say that I sometimes miss the dialog of humans. During the year I solve this void by showing my work in a number of upscale Art Festivals around the NY, NJ and CT areas.
I call them my mini trade shows. I used to attend, as an exhibitor, huge trade shows targeted to the Television Broadcast and Production industries such at NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) in Las Vegas, IBC in Montreux, Switzerland, Video Expo NYC while wearing high heels and silk suits. Construction crews and electricians put up huge booths over a period of days and many sleepless nights where experienced by the company engineers when the equipment didn’t work after the jostling of shipment.
My Festival Show booth
Now my booth is a 10’x 10′ EZ-Up popup tent with mesh side panels to hang my Art, racks to display additional smaller prints and a collapsible desk. My husband Dave, who is in charge of all logistics, has timed our set up to one and a half hours as our best-case scenario. That doesn’t count the endless fiddling I do during the course of the shows to perfect the positioning and hanging of the Art. My dress code has changed from 3″ heels to khaki and Birkenstocks. How sweet!
The conversations I have with people during the two to four days of each Art Festival are so energizing. The questions and suggestions from them spur me to really think about my work and to stretch myself in ways I don’t get from working quietly in my studio by myself. The studio and the shows each are contributing so much to my creativity, my life and my Art. I’m looking forward to opening up the dialog even further with my blog.
