Have you ever wondered about what goes on behind the scenes at art fairs, venues, and shows? From experience it a world wind of emotions, strenuous both physically and mentally, and one of the most loved thing any professional creative does. As an artist and creative myself, let me share with you some of the secrets into planning or attending an event; the things many people do not see happening.
From the time of deciding to attained an event or a creative starting their own, preparations begin. The ideas start rolling as to how they want to display their work, how they would like people to perceive it all, and most importantly the works of art or items to pick from or make. Depending on the trade the creation of new works and crafts can take days or even weeks to make a handful. Just making a single crescent moon pendant from my own collect takes a minimum of 3 - 4 days. This part of the process can be repetitive, takes a lot supplies, and time but coming from my personal perspective, that is when the motivation kicks in to have an amazing display for all who visit the show because it is all worth it when we see our audiences reactions at the event.
After all the preparations have been made leading up to show time, there is still the process of setting up the scene. This is the day when it all comes together; the ideas, the new works, the old works, the theme, the display concept, and more. In many cases artists have 2 to 4 hours to set up for a day long event and usually one day ahead for events longer than a single day. This may seem like a lot time to many but in-fact the hours fly by like nothing. There is the loading of the works and display into the space, finding your designed spot in a room full of other artists, starting set up, and then realizing you need to improvise! It never fails, something is always either missing, the space was not as you predicted, or the display does not look as intended so then it’s time to get creative on the spot, plus with a time crunch. Creatives race to beat the clock for showtime and manage to put the last bit of sparkle as the first person comes through that door.
Then it is show time! The artist is happy with their display and you may even see the artists with a drink in their hand to ease the nerves of the chaos that just occurs 5 second before the doors opened. As the minutes pass by more and more crowds start pilling up (pre-covid) till just about every booth has guest, friends, and family gathered around to congratulate them on their magnificent display of works. It is a little bit of an ego booster to hear that especially if you make sales at the show, but so much work was put into it that it would almost be shame not to. The interactions with everyone is timeless and personally speaking I’ve have meet some of the most wonderful people whether they are other artists, art lovers, or people who just happen to be walking by the venue. Every interaction was growing experience both personally with facing fears, opening up to others along with it being educational for my progress, learning new things about the art scene, and being inspired to try new things. And I think I can speak for many other artists when I say this.
Once the event is over, the doors have been closed, and the last guest walks out the venue; it is not over just yet! There is still the process of taking it all down and packing it up to go home. It is almost sad to see it all end but that means it is time to go on a hunt to find the next big event of the week, month, or year for a creative so that the cycle begins once again!
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