Ok, we got the first one done. I think it was reasonably successful. There were a fair number of artists, a couple musicians, and a fair number of visitors to the exhibit.
I think if we clarify the 'intent' of the art on the fence in Mitchell Park it will be easier to assign futures art show dates, what happens, who our target market is, etc.
This time, we just went out and got whoever we could to exhibit and perform. Thanks to everyone who participated. And I hope everyone will participate again. You are the foundation.
For myself, I think that having another venue for 'local' artists to exhibit on a fairly regular schedule would benefit the local artist primarily, and our neighborhood as another thing that just happens because we like the activity.
The Art on the Fence was not juried. The Tempe Festival of the Arts is juried. One of my friends has been one of the jurors for several years. The Tempe Festival allows exhibitors from everywhere else, this year they decided to include in their advertising that 33% of the exhibitors were local. The intent of the Tempe Festival is to sell things.
Art on the Fence hopes to help artists to sell things too. But being in the Park it is, and should continue to be an exhibit that does not allow in the Park sales. To begin with, it is really complicated with city permits and fees to allow sales in the park. But also because there are no sales allowed in the park, and it isn't juried, no should feel that the exhibitor next to them is inhibiting their 'sales potential'. This does occur at the Tempe Festival; there are 'premium' locations. Exhibiting in the park was 'first come, first serve'. If that doesn't continue, then but luck of the draw could be implemented.
Also, as to intention, maybe it's more about another activity that gets neighbors out to meet each other. And to include residents in adjacent neighborhoods,and Tempe in general. Tempe had a vibrant, mostly underground, artscene up thru the early 80's. That has all but disappeared, mostly because of cheap studio and performance space.
Exhibiting on the fence is free. If artists can, to some degree, count on it, then i think more artists will be inclined to make it a priority on the exhibition schedule. One thing to keep in mind, is that artists represented in galleries typically can't exhibit outside the gallery. This reduce the number of 'professional' artists that exhibit, but on the other hand allow more room for 'amateur' or maybe childrens art.
So how big do we want it to be? By keeping it local, i think that might sort itself out. The goal is not to compete with the Tempe Arts Festival, but to help turn Tempe into the art capital of the Valley for a day, and in particular for local artists. This is not dis-similar to having a First Fridays artwalk that includes the streets, galleries, restaurants, etc. I've hear that restaurants on Mill dislike the Tempe Arts Festival. It competes with their businesses for patrons, by offering outside food sales, and by blocking easily visible storefronts from pedestrians on the opposite side of the street.
The date coinciding with the Tempe Arts Festival was an experiment, we had to have someday, and the sooner the better. Note, that the Arts Festival has staked out two of the prime weekends each year. The summer months are out of the question, we dont have access to auxiliary exterior lighting, so cant avoid the hot sun. Therefore when we start talking about other dates, the best dates will be within a 6 month period. Subtract out the holidays, you can count the number of weekends on yours fingers and toes.
