On Saturday March 19th, I went to pier 92 to check out the new Artist Project, held in conjunction with the Architectural Digest Home Show on pier 94. There were over 100 artists participating. The work was very high quality and there was plenty of room at each booth for a good representation of each artist's work. The atmosphere was conducive to perusing and discussing at leisure. Artists were running their own booths for the most part. Unfortunately the artists were complaining on Saturday of low traffic and few sales. This was the maiden voyage for this event in New York. It had a lot of promise for unrepresented artists to be exposed to design professionals and the public at large, despite the high fee for a booth. As of Saturday, it didn't seem to be living up to the promise.
The story on pier 94 was quite different. The place was mobbed and claustrophobic. There was a section, "Made", where artists and craftspeople could display their wares. These booths were smaller and shallower than the ones on pier 92, but the traffic was dizzying! I was especially impressed by all the innovative handmade furniture coming out of Brooklyn, and at reasonable prices. But, that was a digression from my mission . . .
I had spoken with one artist at the Artist Project who expressed regrets at not showing in "Made" as she had done in the past. It was easy to see her point of view. Of course, contacts made at these shows can spin out in many directions over the course of a year and not just be a source of sales, however much one would like to at least recover expenses. I'll follow up with a few artists to see how they feel post-event.
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