Invest fest

Artists ante up for festival season

Rows of white canopy tents line our city streets every May. Looky loos and art aficionados alike peruse the spoils of our local art scene at Blue Dome Arts Festival, Tulsa International Mayfest, and dozens of other local arts festivals in the metro this spring and summer to see the hands that painted, molded and assembled it all. 

Ideally, a festival artist simply hangs the results of hours of both toil and joy on a hook in one of those canopy tents, lounges in a canvas chair, and awaits the arrival of patrons of the arts who take to the streets to toss bank rolls into the pockets of artists and, often, their friends—that is, if the weather holds up. 

I approached an oil painter’s booth at Blue Dome Arts Festival in 2012. Jan McKay surprised me with her English accent; we chatted for awhile about her wildlife artwork, about one of her images in which an oversized bumblebee collected pollen from a sunflower. McKay spent over 120 hours preparing for the festival that year, she said. She sold $800 in art, $800 in future commissions. She paid the $125 booth fee to festival organizers, about $4.50 per hour of festival foot traffic. “If you include tent, mats, chairs, business cards, banners, and Gilclee copies of my work, the fee is nothing in comparison,” said McKay. 

“I do consider the Blue Dome as an advertising event, an opportunity to get my name out,” McKay said. “As they say in business, ‘a loss leader.’”

The festival is profitable for many artists, according to Blue Dome Arts Festival organizer JoAnn Armstrong. Her festival is affordable, she said, “from beer to booth space to the price of art. It’s low-key and laid back. Artists come and hang out with not a lot of expectations. People doing these festivals are typically not here to get their next paycheck.”

She remembered one artist who exhibited at the 2013 Blue Dome Arts Festival, one who didn’t sell a single piece. “The next week he sold $4,000 at his business because they saw him at the festival,” Armstrong said. 

Organizers don’t see a profit, she said. “This festival actually loses money,” said Armstrong.

Steve Cluck, who has taken part every year of the ten the Blue Dome Arts Festival has been in Tulsa, begins making his Tulsa-themed flair two months prior to the event. He said he bears the brunt of the cost of participating in the event on labor: “You are setting up your booth, doing a lot of heavy lifting and then working in the booth for three solid days. Luckily the adrenaline and excitement kicks in,” he said.  

“There are a lot of artists who make their primary living doing festivals,” said Kelsey Karper, associate director of the Oklahoma Visual Artists Coalition (OVAC), though she admitted festivals are not every artist’s cup of tea. Julie Kirt, OVAC director said she knows festival artists who travel to upwards of ten nationwide events a year, but it’s a financial gamble. A festival may prove fruitful one year and run a loss the next, she said.  

McKay travels the festival circuit because “I love beauty in art and hope that others may see what I see when I paint,” she said. The festival setting is social, which McKay enjoys, and she can meet potential buyers and fans of her work face  to face. 

McKay is readying her set-up for the 2014 Blue Dome Arts Festival, set for May 16-18. Her inventory of original art will double to 17 works total. She said she would be over the moon to sell $2,000 worth of art, her break-even point. McKay plans to reuse some of the materials she purchased to support her first showing at Blue Dome to keep
costs down.

The Blue Dome Arts Festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, is bigger than ever at 225 vendors. Organizers hope to draw a crowd to match. With 50 percent of vendors returning annually, there are signs of payoff, whether it’s sales, marketing, or, as Armstrong said, just a really good time. “It’s a really great festival, its grassroots,” she said. “And everybody’s just so dang nice.” 

MORE ART HAPPENINGS

LATINO IN TULSA // See the diversity within Tulsa’s Latino community through a showcase of art from eight artists, including Pantoja, a refugee in the states from Cuba, to Teresa Valero,
University of Tulsa Professor //
5/2 through 5/22; Living Arts; 307 E. Brady; 918-585-1234

ARTS DAY AT THE CAPITOL // Let your voice be heard and join the statewide lobbying effort to educate elected officials about the need for public funding for the arts // 5/7, 9-3 p.m.; Oklahoma State Capitol; OKC, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd.; OklahomansfortheArts.org

HUNTING TROPHIES // Price Jones’ first solo show is compiled of original characters and sculptures. He relies on color and bold lines to create his cartoon-like creations // 5/3 through end of May; Colour Gallery; 1532 S. Harvard; 918-815-0910

More on festivals

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A look at the evolution (and demise) of historic Tulsa fests

Tulsa in search of itself, and its perfect festival