Art Show Applications

The show season for the summer and fall actually began last month, since applications for almost every show are due in February and March. In the past month I have sent out applications and fees to 15 shows, and I will be glad to be done with that bit of business administration! In March and April there will be two or three more. Now it is time to wait. Waiting is awful! I have spent a good two months looking at shows, putting together a schedule, dreaming about what my year will be like, and looking forward to a road trip out west. Now I must wait to hear if I got into the shows. My jury photos turned out so nicely that I decided to gamble a bit and apply to some shows that I am not at all sure I will get into. If I am rejected from all of them, then I will certainly be in trouble! On some weekends, I also applied to a "back-up" show, in an attempt to make sure I get into SOMETHING! I hope to post a more complete show schedule on my website by mid-April.

On a related note, I wonder if some shows are in trouble because artists are in trouble. Five of the shows to which I applied extended their due dates at the last minute, which could be interpreted to mean that the number of applications was way down and the show promoters wanted to give more people time to decide to apply. Also, one show I have applied to in the past (but not this year) sent five reminders about the upcoming application deadline and encouraging application to the show. It began to feel like desperation to me. I might have applied, but had already applied to a show (Yellow Daisy Festival in Stone Mountain Georgia) that DOES NOT refund your booth fee if you are accepted and I won't know whether I am in until early April.