This weekend, Friday-Sunday, TulsaNow will be hosting a booth in the Blue Dome Arts Festival.
We will be on Elgin, between 1st and 2nd streets. Our booth is directly next door to "The Artist."
Come get lambasted with articles on form based codes and even enter a contest to win a... (we haven't figured out the prize yet.)
Come meet/harass TulsaNow board members while enjoying The Blue Dome Festival and Mayfest.
Can it get any better than that?!?
Can the Admin get away with spamming?
[:D]
I tried to correct the post and replied instead.
quote:
Originally posted by Admin
This weekend, Friday-Sunday, TulsaNow will be hosting a booth in the Blue Dome Arts Festival.
We will be on Elgin, between 1st and 2nd streets. Our booth is directly next door to "The Artist."
Come get lambasted with articles on form based codes and even enter a contest to win a... (we haven't figured out the prize yet.)
Come meet/harass TulsaNow board members while enjoying The Blue Dome Festival and Mayfest.
Can it get any better than that?!?
Do you really want me to harass the board members with a cup of beer in my hand? [;)]
What is with the Blue Dome Festival, isn't it sort of becoming an anti-Mayfest?
"What is with the Blue Dome Festival, isn't it sort of becoming an anti-Mayfest?" - comment heard about town.
The timing of Blue Dome was designed to take advantage of the Mayfest foot-traffic: you know, Piggy-Back on a major event without having to spend real money on advertising -transparent, IMO.
I popped off with this the first year and suddenly there was much visual interest in the sidewalk underfoot.
Pissed me off no one admitted it, not even with a smirk.
"Yeah, well... we are not charging anything for artists' to show their work.", (which was most definately said in an "anti-Mayfest" tone) was the best reply after pushing the point.
This year booth space runs $75 bucks.
So much for that.
However, counting all that cash - slots are sold out - must have been hell for the staff because the website wasn't kept up to date, Artists were not kept informed, and advertising around town is more scarce then "Killroy Was Here" graffitti.
Hmmmm, mMaybe there's a reason the Mayfest staff is just slightly smaller then some City Depts.?
Still, a little competition never hurts, and if a Johnny come lately wants to marry a matriarh that historically hold her picnic on soggy weekends, then so be it.
Kinda like a sprig of mistletoe on a big Oak: no longer concidered symbiotic, but poses no threat either.
Mayfest staff?
Many people take "staff" to mean "paid" which Mayfest volunteers are not. Is does take a LOT of people to put on a festival of this size.
Blue Dome doesn't have the staff of the years of experience.
Mayfest is a more structured event with applications and Juries to go through to get in. Blue Dome is an open event, primarily for local artists.
Kinda like the US Open vs PGA Championship.
quote:
Originally posted by Tulsa Mayfest
Mayfest staff?
Many people take "staff" to mean "paid" which Mayfest volunteers are not. Is does take a LOT of people to put on a festival of this size.
Blue Dome doesn't have the staff of the years of experience.
Mayfest is a more structured event with applications and Juries to go through to get in. Blue Dome is an open event, primarily for local artists.
Kinda like the US Open vs PGA Championship.
Decent analogy. But that would sort of dilute the field and the spectators if you had the U.S. Open playing at Cedar Ridge and the PGA at Southern Hills on the same weekend.
Hopefully each festival can draw off each other, and the sum total is more people in downtown. But, it seems in a case like this the upstart gets the better end of the deal than the established event.
I for one, probably would be a lot less likely to bother with attending Mayfest if it weren't for the Blue Dome fest. Its more of a local scene for sure and I find the art more interesting. I have never understood the Mayfest jury process There are some really talented artists represented at Mayfest, but I've mostly found it to be pretty dull. Blue Dome fest is helping to establish the creative district downtown and is much more accessible to local, outsider, and more non-traditional artists. So what if its known as the anti-Mayfest? I'll still go to the main deal, I just can't afford to buy anything there and don't find the people very interesting. Let the Mayfest be the anti-blue dome fest for all anyone cares.
quote:
Originally posted by jne
Let the Mayfest be the anti-blue dome fest for all anyone cares.
I like that.
I think it would be nice if the two could merge at some point. Have the "local artists fair" inside Mayfest. Mayfest would provide overall administration, infrastructure and advertising while very cheaply making the festival much larger and more diverse.
quote:
Originally posted by Conan71
Do you really want me to harass the board members with a cup of beer in my hand? [;)]
Sure
For the last decade or so I have found the art booths at Mayfest severely lacking in... art. Last year I remember perhaps 2 or 3 that were of any quality or interest. The rest was more like something you may see at a craft fair or flea market. So I am not sure just what criteria Mayfest uses to pick what is allowed at their festival.
Last year I went to a similar festival in KC and was absolutely blown away by the art there. I would say half of it was museum quality or high end art gallery level. And there were far more booths containing art. Those 2 or 3 best booths at Mayfest would have been in the lowest quartile there.
What I really like about Blue Dome is that it gives budding artists a chance to show. At Mayfest you have to show examples of your art and a booth that you have set up at another festival. If your just starting out you may not have an example of a booth to show or even be able to set up a full fleged booth. This will be my first time to ever show my photographs at an art festival, this will be a great opportunity for me to listen to the public, get an idea for what they like or dont like, what sells or doesn't sell so that I can make adjustments. Plus I will have my mural portfolio there, extra exposure never hurts lol.
(one thing I learned with paintings is that you have to have a variety of price points, some shows you may sell a hundred 10 dollar things and no expensive things, but at another you may sell a couple 5000 dollar things and hardly any cheap things, either way you make enough to eat at both shows where as if you only had one price point you may not. Unfortunately at this my first show I dont have the funds to buy a large range of prints lol, but its a start and each time I will have more and more variety until I have a good enough range )
Having done that ages ago with paintings and murals I know that the first show my stuff is not going to be that good with my new hobby of photography and I will not likely sell anything. But the Blue Dome is a great opportunity to learn and grow. Even being there with other artists and hearing their comments and what they have learned works or sells is helpful in finding your way.
In the end I like that each festival is different, it offers more opportunity for artists and for buyers. Perhaps some of the local newcomers at the Blue Dome will someday mature into high quality artist by being allowed this opportunity for exposure. 75 dollars is not a large amount for a starter show. Some shows and festivals my parents sell their stuff at have fees that start at around 500 dollars, some can be a 1000 dollars or more. But those are usually proven shows where you know you are likely to sell and thus artists will pay that to get in.
"I have never understood the Mayfest jury process...".
Nor do some of those trying to get inside Mayfest.
Peggy, a water colourist, was shut out every year. I say show me the slides you submitted. And no wonder.
Just knowing how the slides are ordered can be a major thing, quailty presentation, even more so.
Next year she even made the Invitational.
She went on to become rather famous.
Happy ending.
http://www.peggymcgivern.com/
Whoa! Timba,
Did I say Mayfest had staff?
Yep, that's what the shirt's read, or did.
However, in no way did I mean to imply that these people were over-paid, unpleasant, tripping over themselves in droves, or even moaned about having to do so much walking.
Nope, good people doing good work.
Actully, the difference's were one of my points.
Like non-juried shows adding little clout to ones Bio.
That to pay for security, jiffy-Johns, permit's, blah blah blah...it was niave to think a street fair could just give out booth space, without some Corp. Sponcor or a deep pocketed buddy you have some dirt on.
I think the best that could happen would be the two events seperate a few weeks apart on the calander and draw most the same crowd twice to DT. Might happen sooner with more than a handfull of people living inside the loop, eh?
Never good to have everyone show up at once where some are so put-off they don't come back ever.
One question I have is if TN makes a switch to the upscale crowd, what would be the reason?
I'll take my answer off the air. jdb
I doubt that Blue Dome would try to do a festival on a different weekend than Mayfest.
It would be interesting to see what would happen though.
"I for one, probably would be a lot less likely to bother with attending Mayfest if it weren't for the Blue Dome fest."
^
Count me in this tent.... Mayfest is more of the same... Year after year.. Maybe a new piece of drift wood.
A new may to use rocks..
Can you say "Looks like a tourist attraction"......I knew you could.
Blue Dome is the difference between "Hollyweird" and "Venice Beach"...
Everything is set in concrete... Or it can all be fluid and change.
I had stopped going to Mayfest for a few years, but when I heard about Blue Dome I started going again. Before it was not worth going for me because I mainly go to shop and look at art and Mayfest didn't have much to look at. But with the Blue Dome starting it made it worth while to go again.
Each festival on its own I "may go" but with both at the same time it makes it more of a "must see" event, more worth while. I really think they compliment each other and help to draw larger art purchasing crowds to both, not just the beer drinking, deadly food eating, music crowd.
Come see the Invitational Gallery at Mayfest. We worked really hard at making it fresh this year.
It shows work from some of the best local artists and most of the pieces are very affordable.
Here is the Tulsa World review...
http://www.tulsaworld.com/entertainment/article.aspx?articleID=070517_238_D3_hMayf14115&breadcrumb=arts
Its perplexing that you have to put a 500 dollar limit on the art at the invitational gallery. Perhaps they arent getting the traffic through there? Some signage may help. Before I knew there was an invitational gallery I wouldnt have run across it and even after I did I had to ask around to find it.
Mayfest bills itself as Tulsa's premier art festival,"created to promote a broader knowledge of and appreciation for arts and humanities among serious, as well as casual art lovers." "planned to encompass some of the very best in both the exhibit and performance areas"
To me such a festival should have booths of art with artists having lots of works to sell not just an invitational gallery where each artist only has one work. I know its a contest so its not supposed to have several works by each artist, but I am still flummoxed as to why it doesn't allow more artists that have better quality art? I was walking by on an errand and saw a booth setting up tie dyed T-shirts and another that had some sort of log furniture like you see them selling along the roadsides in Arkansas. That kind of stuff shouldnt even be allowed, its not art or certainly shouldnt be taking up space that a decent artist could be using.
KCs art festival has over 200 artists and much of the work is quite nice and interesting.
http://search.cityguide.aol.com/kansascity/entertainment/plaza-art-fair/e-200055
Here is a list of some of the artists at their last festival and some have links to websites. I glanced at a few and here are some that I found interesting. I wonder how many artists Mayfest will have that will be like these?
http://www.countryclubplaza.com/plaza.aspx?pgID=944
http://www.sudduthglass.com/
http://www.kurtwalrath.com/portals2.html
rtbronzesculpture.com/New%20Work%202.htmhttp://www.a
http://www.suzyscarborough.com/image18.htm
http://brmdesign.com/items/moon~galaxy-bowls/galaxy-bowls/set-of-3-galaxy-bowls-gbset3-detail.htm
http://www.eatonart.com/ke/ke-serigraph-frm.html
http://www.stephenbach.com/Works/WorksDetail/BehindTheSky.htm
http://www.candone.com/catalog.html
We did not put a five hundred dollar limit on the art in the gallery. I suggested to artists that they price their art for the Tulsa market and mentioned that we only sold a few pieces last year that were priced over that amount.
Many of the local artists (90 in all) came back with very affordable art, but I have already sold four pieces this year that went for over a thousand dollars.
I limited it to two pieces of art per local artist because we wanted to include as many artists as we could.
I am really surprised at how much misinformation there is about Mayfest.
People keep bashing us and acting like we turn away from local art. I can assure you that it is not true. I didn't accept any art in the gallery from an artist who lived more than 75 miles from downtown Tulsa.
Urban Tulsa wrote about us "...with a few local artists huddled together in an "Invitational Gallery..." That really offends me. I don't know what you call 90 artists, but it is a few more than "a huddle".
I am also surprised that you say these clearly wrong things about Mayfest on this forum, William. Especially after we paid you to paint the mural and worked hard to publicize you in the paper and television.
Please get your facts straight next time.
I apologize if I mischaracterized things. I read the TW article a bit too quickly on the 500 dollar limit thing. The limit was on the size not the price. Thanks for the correction. I certainly did not mean to sound like I was bashing the invitational gallery at all. They really do have some great art there. I wish more people would go to see it, you will see wall to wall crowds on main street then go to the gallery and not find many people. That was my complaint. I want more people to see it.
As for Mayfest. I am very glad we have this festival downtown and I know everyone involved puts a lot of work into it. I guess I am just frustrated that it is not MY vision of what it should be lol. My goal of griping was to try and get someone to notice what I was complaining about is my desire to see more quality art booths there. I just want Mayfest to be better in that way, dont want to sound as If I dont like Mayfest.
I have mentioned this for years and years to many different people and I just get the ol brush off and excuses that dont seem to make sense to me. If someone just said, "We don't want all art booths" or "We don't think that would go well in the Tulsa market." or even, "Mayfest can't draw those high end artists because the market in Tulsa don't support them." Then I would have an answer I could understand and could even possibly work to find a solution to help make things better. If ya dont know what the cause is, ya cant find a solution. And heck you may not want a solution. Everyone may like things just the way they are and its only me that wants more art there. I am sure there are people that dont care about the art at all. I suppose different people are going to have a different vision and each would complain or push for it to be the way they wanted it to be.
I suppose I should talk to you in person about this because this medium allows for too many musunderstandings on all sides.
Thanks William. I will look forward to talking to you in person.
I am a big fan of your work. I was the one who came up with the mural idea for mayfest after seeing your work around town and visiting your website.
quote:
Originally posted by recyclemichael
Thanks William. I will look forward to talking to you in person.
I am a big fan of your work. I was the one who came up with the mural idea for mayfest after seeing your work around town and visiting your website.
Bucking for a commission? [;)]
See you guys out and about this evening.
TulsaNow is live and online in the blue dome district.
Pictures posted tonight.
Come see us!
I found the TN booth and even had a few beers on me: but alas, the booth was unmanned.
Curious. Behind the presentaion screen wall was but three folding chairs and a hammer.
I beat it out of their before SWAT or CSI showed up.
jdb
Hey a person has to eat ya know lol. Plus I wanted to check out what they had at Mayfest.[:)] We have had some good response with the booth. Quite a few people have mentioned that they are glad we are here, and that someone is doing what we are doing as an organization. Makes ya feel good. Been nice to listen to people as they look at our booth set up and talk about whats on the boards.
Have had some nice discussions ranging from people concerned about neighborhood tear-downs and older buildings being lost downtown, to the possibility of a new Wal-Mart...some firmly against, some for. A lot of people are excited about the possibilities for downtown that we have presented. Have got quite a few people who have wanted to sign up for our newsletter, and the bottle of wine lol.
I would really like to make us some better display boards at some time. These worked in a pinch and I am glad another member made us a second new one, but I think our organization really should have some quality presentation material for any type of gathering. And definitely something that can stand up to a good breeze and not have to be taped, nailed, weighted,etc, down lol.
Oh and if nobody is in the TN booth check the photography booth next to it I may be hiding in the shade behind that. [8D]
We had 50 people sign up for the TulsaNow newsletter. Names to be drawn/winners announced soon. Many gave some interesting ideas of what they think Tulsa needs. From downtown revitalization to legalizing marijuana.
quote:
Originally posted by Admin
We had 50 people sign up for the TulsaNow newsletter. Names to be drawn/winners announced soon. Many gave some interesting ideas of what they think Tulsa needs. From downtown revitalization to legalizing marijuana.
They did supply a mandatory DNA sample so that we can tell if they are real or mole people didn't they......?
[}:)]
quote:
Originally posted by Admin
Many gave some interesting ideas of what they think Tulsa needs. From downtown revitalization to legalizing marijuana.
I could be in favor of legalizing marijuana, but only in downtown. That would be a corner "stone" of our revitalization plan.
quote:
Originally posted by Rico
center]
They did supply a mandatory DNA sample so that we can tell if they are real or mole people didn't they......?
[}:)][/center]
No, but I think the contest was open to mole people as well. Didn't screen for suburbanites either.
I was there, and the booth was empty!
Who abandoned their post? What if the Oklahoma Citians tried to invade and the post was not manned? What then, huh?
I was hiding behind the barricade ready to pour a hot roiling cauldron of oil on any of them if they came within reach. [:D]
My wife and I got down there about 6pm or so and headed north on the west side of Elgin. I looked over and saw sgrizzle in the booth. I intended to make it back up the east side of the block prior to walking through Mayfest and say hi. We took a good look at everyone's wares down on 1st, then got stuck in the gallery where the old bordello used to be, then wound up down in Sager's office talking sailing. By the time we got out of there, the tents were closing. What's up with that, why so early?
Most of the Mayfest tents were closed as well by the time we got there but the bands were still playing.
All-in-all, we had a great time. Not dissing Mayfest, but the Blue Dome is a lot like Mayfest was 25-30 years ago. I thought the whole scene in DT was pretty cool Friday night.