Handmade In Hamilton Art Market - the Plan
crossposted from Lee Edward McIlmoyle's blog
So, the thing is, this is all happening in real time. Not much preliminary planning or organization here. If it fails to draw a crowd (or even participants), I won’t feel too bad. The timing was sort of sprung on me quickly. Seems some folks have wanted this for a while.
Okay, I hear you asking, “What the hell is he talking about?” So I’ll tell you. There’s going to be an art market on the rooftop of Jackson Square in downtown Hamilton this coming Saturday, between 11am and 5pm. There will (perhaps) be music and live performances of other disciplines on the pavilion stage (if I can get anyone booked to perform there), and there will be tents with crafts and arts and such, all created by local Creatives (y’know, artist, musicians, writers, craftspersons, dancers, comedians, etc…) using stuff created right here in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (assuming you’re in Hamilton. I gather two or three of you are from the US. Welcome! And one or two of you may even be in Europe or Asia. Bonjour!).
The idea was something Dawn and I got talking about last Friday morning. It was just an inkling of an idea. I’m honestly not sure which of us actually came up with it first, but we were being pretty clever that morning. I claim it was Dawn’s idea, and she seems convinced it was hers, so I’m leaving it at that. But we shared it out to some of our Facebook friends to get some feedback and maybe get a bit of buzz going. Well, that may have been a little premature of us, because our friend Dave Stephens had a planning meeting that afternoon, and took our idea with him. By six or seven o’clock, he tried calling us to tell us it was happening. I got a call an hour or two later from James asking to be part of it. I immediately started pan… err, I mean planning.
Problem #1: we wanted local artists and such with products made by them in Hamilton that they could sell. With only one week to plan, we’d have no time to vet them other than creeping their Facebook pages and such, IF we could get enough of them to make an event of it.
Problem #2: we wanted performers of various disciplines to come use the pavilion stage and keep the visitors entertained. Without a budget, we have no incentive for these performers, unless they have CDs and tee shirts and stuff to sell in a merch booth. I’ve got a friend renting a PA for us for this event. No idea if he’s come through or not. I can check to see if the PA is still available, but not if it’s signed out for us specifically.
Problem #3: we want to run a stall ourselves. We don’t have many shows coming up, and need a venue for our own art. But I’m starting to think I may have to nix that plan and stick with selling the performers’ merch and giving out info and coordinating. Very non-lucrative gig. Not looking good for us.
Problem #4: I have a small but healthy network, but everyone is overcommitted elsewhere this weekend, because it’s 100in1Day Hamilton. Interventions are happening all over the city. In fact, our event is actually a 100in1Day event as well, thanks to Terri Wallis, who created an art instruction intervention with her assistant/friend, and decided to let Dave co-opt it for this bigger event. In fact, that creates another problem…
Problem #5: Terri hasn’t gotten in touch with me. No idea if I’ve already gotten up her nose over this planning flurry I’ve started. I don’t want to alienate her. She’s a great gal, and she makes these fun zombie dolls. I don’t even like zombies, and these are great. But without her on board, I see all of this planning going down the toilet quickly.
So there you have it. I didn’t even have money for printing until today, and technically, it’s not promo money; it’s our ODSP money, which needs to go to rent and bills and groceries. But I’m thinking I might be able to afford at least some printer paper… if I can figure out why the printer made a red streak across two prints yesterday. I guess that makes it Problem #6. Wheeee!!!
OH! Just thought I’d post my initial floor plan, to outline what Dawn and I originally discussed for event layout (I figured on at least 21 stalls, and did them in white; the grey stalls are just in case we need to expand… which seems highly unlikely now):
Needs to be updated, and frankly, I’ll probably have to scale it WAY BACK, if I don’t get enough participants to register in time.
I certainly don’t look forward to letting just anyone set up on the day. We want to start this properly, and maintain the local vibe, to provide an opportunity for the many artists and such that have trouble setting up at the highly competitive Art Crawl, and whom can’t afford to set up at the highly expensive festivals. We just don’t want it to turn into a cheesy little Flea Market. No used vinyl. No Orgonite. No ‘vintage’ clothes merchants. Homegrown talent, homemade products. That’s the mandate, and I’m being kept to it, even when I want to bend a bit to accommodate visitors who want in as well. It’s not easy.
Anyway, I’m listening to a classic Genesis concert from 1980. It’s helping me to clear my head. Genesis…. mmmm… I’m also drinking coffee. I need to consider clothing. It’s approaching time to make more coffee and wake my wife. Then it’s time for the big Costco shop. I doubt anyone is available to take us out there. Probably won’t wait too long before we head out. I need to put money on the bus cards, too. Might do that after I get Dawn up.
Thank you for reading.
Lee.
So, the thing is, this is all happening in real time. Not much preliminary planning or organization here. If it fails to draw a crowd (or even participants), I won’t feel too bad. The timing was sort of sprung on me quickly. Seems some folks have wanted this for a while.
Okay, I hear you asking, “What the hell is he talking about?” So I’ll tell you. There’s going to be an art market on the rooftop of Jackson Square in downtown Hamilton this coming Saturday, between 11am and 5pm. There will (perhaps) be music and live performances of other disciplines on the pavilion stage (if I can get anyone booked to perform there), and there will be tents with crafts and arts and such, all created by local Creatives (y’know, artist, musicians, writers, craftspersons, dancers, comedians, etc…) using stuff created right here in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (assuming you’re in Hamilton. I gather two or three of you are from the US. Welcome! And one or two of you may even be in Europe or Asia. Bonjour!).
The idea was something Dawn and I got talking about last Friday morning. It was just an inkling of an idea. I’m honestly not sure which of us actually came up with it first, but we were being pretty clever that morning. I claim it was Dawn’s idea, and she seems convinced it was hers, so I’m leaving it at that. But we shared it out to some of our Facebook friends to get some feedback and maybe get a bit of buzz going. Well, that may have been a little premature of us, because our friend Dave Stephens had a planning meeting that afternoon, and took our idea with him. By six or seven o’clock, he tried calling us to tell us it was happening. I got a call an hour or two later from James asking to be part of it. I immediately started pan… err, I mean planning.
Problem #1: we wanted local artists and such with products made by them in Hamilton that they could sell. With only one week to plan, we’d have no time to vet them other than creeping their Facebook pages and such, IF we could get enough of them to make an event of it.
Problem #2: we wanted performers of various disciplines to come use the pavilion stage and keep the visitors entertained. Without a budget, we have no incentive for these performers, unless they have CDs and tee shirts and stuff to sell in a merch booth. I’ve got a friend renting a PA for us for this event. No idea if he’s come through or not. I can check to see if the PA is still available, but not if it’s signed out for us specifically.
Problem #3: we want to run a stall ourselves. We don’t have many shows coming up, and need a venue for our own art. But I’m starting to think I may have to nix that plan and stick with selling the performers’ merch and giving out info and coordinating. Very non-lucrative gig. Not looking good for us.
Problem #4: I have a small but healthy network, but everyone is overcommitted elsewhere this weekend, because it’s 100in1Day Hamilton. Interventions are happening all over the city. In fact, our event is actually a 100in1Day event as well, thanks to Terri Wallis, who created an art instruction intervention with her assistant/friend, and decided to let Dave co-opt it for this bigger event. In fact, that creates another problem…
Problem #5: Terri hasn’t gotten in touch with me. No idea if I’ve already gotten up her nose over this planning flurry I’ve started. I don’t want to alienate her. She’s a great gal, and she makes these fun zombie dolls. I don’t even like zombies, and these are great. But without her on board, I see all of this planning going down the toilet quickly.
So there you have it. I didn’t even have money for printing until today, and technically, it’s not promo money; it’s our ODSP money, which needs to go to rent and bills and groceries. But I’m thinking I might be able to afford at least some printer paper… if I can figure out why the printer made a red streak across two prints yesterday. I guess that makes it Problem #6. Wheeee!!!
OH! Just thought I’d post my initial floor plan, to outline what Dawn and I originally discussed for event layout (I figured on at least 21 stalls, and did them in white; the grey stalls are just in case we need to expand… which seems highly unlikely now):
Needs to be updated, and frankly, I’ll probably have to scale it WAY BACK, if I don’t get enough participants to register in time.
I certainly don’t look forward to letting just anyone set up on the day. We want to start this properly, and maintain the local vibe, to provide an opportunity for the many artists and such that have trouble setting up at the highly competitive Art Crawl, and whom can’t afford to set up at the highly expensive festivals. We just don’t want it to turn into a cheesy little Flea Market. No used vinyl. No Orgonite. No ‘vintage’ clothes merchants. Homegrown talent, homemade products. That’s the mandate, and I’m being kept to it, even when I want to bend a bit to accommodate visitors who want in as well. It’s not easy.
Anyway, I’m listening to a classic Genesis concert from 1980. It’s helping me to clear my head. Genesis…. mmmm… I’m also drinking coffee. I need to consider clothing. It’s approaching time to make more coffee and wake my wife. Then it’s time for the big Costco shop. I doubt anyone is available to take us out there. Probably won’t wait too long before we head out. I need to put money on the bus cards, too. Might do that after I get Dawn up.
Thank you for reading.
Lee.