How can I keep art fair costs down, especially when traveling to shows?

Be strategic about managing show expenses to avoid losses. When possible, choose shows within driving distance to avoid major travel costs. If you do travel to distant shows, try to arrange free or low-cost accommodations with friends rather than expensive hotels - a bad show becomes devastating when you’ve added thousands in hotel and travel costs to a booth fee. A $250 show that’s local might break even or profit slightly, but that same show result plus $2,000-3,000 in travel expenses becomes a major loss. As you build a financial cushion from successful shows, you can take more risks on distant shows, but early on, keep shows as local as possible to minimize risk. Also, buy used equipment when possible - quality booth setups can be found affordably on secondary markets.

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Asked by an artist managing art fair expenses · Answered by Bob Gherardi and Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2024-11-14