The Queen West Art Crawl was a big it for me! I learned a lot from this past weekend and thought I would share so others can make a great first outdoor art show.

How to set up the booth

1. Have a set up that allows you to easily re-arrange pieces. I hung pieces on hanging grids, and zip tied the grids to my tent. Fortunately watercolour artist Shelley Prior at a different outdoor exhibit had told me about sticking hang tags to my bags holding my art and using S hooks to hook my hang tags to the grid.
   • I had prepared the hang tags and S-hook solution for my unframed pieces.
   • But for my framed pieces, I figured I would just zip tie them to the grid. This was awkward to install because I had to get behind the grids when I already had tent walls up. Further, I realized most zip ties I had were not long enough, and had to be cut every time I would have to rearrange the pieces. This led to delays in my set up.
   • On the second day, I rectified this by simply creating a big loop with a zip tie to the frame so it allowed me to use an S hook to attach the frame to my grid.
   • The ability to rearrange pieces is key. You want to have a display that looks right from the wall from afar. Having incorrect spacing that needs to be fixed for one piece can completely throw off the rest of the pieces.
2. Put the table at the side/back of the tent. Having the table on the side of the booth allowed people to have the space to come in. This makes people more likely to come in because it’s not crowded.
3. Have multiple table top surfaces. I realized the value of having brought many stools and small tables. This was essential during set up so I wouldn’t have to put everything on the ground. I only brought them to have display options but if it were wet and rainy on the day of (which it wasn’t) that would have been rather problematic without them.
4. Do a pre-run set up. I would have realized the problem with zip-tying frames earlier if I did this.
5. Get in early. I arrived at the assigned time which was 9:30 AM for my booth and the show started at 11 AM. I didn’t realize the initial set up took so long and I felt pressure given my neighbours were already set up by the time I arrived. People started arriving before I was set up on the first day.

How to engage with patrons

5. Make descriptions with your art. Many people appreciated my descriptions. They took a long time to write so I’m glad! My intention was to make it like a museum so you could come in and read everything. Apparently it gave something for people to connect with.

6. Tell people they can come in, ask you any questions etc. I noticed people hesitated about coming into an art booth. I’m sure it is from a mix of things: being told not to touch art pieces in a museum when little, not feeling worthy enough to visit a booth, or the fear of being pressured to buy something. My mother had no hesitation in telling people about my work and bringing in people from the pathway. She joked with patrons, “Seeing is free!” and was a delight to so many visitors. Despite having little exposure to the art world, she was a better sales representative and PR person than I could have asked for. Clearing up any misconceptions about art by being forward helps people feel comfortable, and the more people who see your work, the better exposure you receive.

Cashing out

7. Make an easy check out system. If I were to do it again, I would probably create a QR system to scan pieces so I could easily check out items. I typed in the name of the pieces and would have to find the right one every time. I invested in a lot of time and money into this so might as well go the extra mile. I enjoyed giving people proper gift bags, using the Square reader to make it seamless. The inventory count built in with Square was also great. It was painstaking to add in every single limited edition print on top of every original but definitely worth it.

8. Have an inventory system and list. I knew that I had only printed a certain number of cards and limited edition prints. This helped me keep track of it, but I fortunately brought a printed list of all the prints and cards. Patrons would ask whether we still had anything left in stock of certain originals. It also helped me find pieces that were similar to the ones they wanted.

The unexpectedly helpful items I brought

I’m not sure if this is everyone’s experience but by the time the mini-van was loaded and unloaded with the help of my whole family and friends, I had no idea where anything was anymore. I felt very pressured given all my neighbours were happily set up when I was still putting up the tent. I was very grateful that I brought a number of items last minute though:

1. A stool to sit on – being on your feet all day was exhausting and I was glad to sit down sometimes.
2. Binder clips – I brought these by chance and they were critical for me clipping up cards to my extra grids.
3. Snacks – I didn’t get to eat much of anything both days. Granola bars and some sandwiches really helped.
4. Water – I brought 1.5 L of water, which was 1 L more than I expected I needed. Talking to people during a warm day made me quite thirsty.
5. Patio tables/stools – I had limited table space since I brought only 1 fold out table. It was more helpful than I thought to have brought actual full size tables and some stools just for set up.
6. Short step ladder – I debated about having to carry this but it was really helpful when setting up the tent. A side note was that sometimes the ground can be uneven so this proved to be more helpful than I thought.
7. Extra phone battery – Had to use both days since my phone was running out of power. Having it made me more at ease that I would still be able to process transactions at the end of the day.
8. Bungee cords/thick rope – For carrying things on the hand truck trolleys from vehicle to tent. Didn’t think it was necessary and it was important to secure everything down.
9. Paper weights – last minute, I brought some rocks that were on my desk. It became windy the second day and it was very helpful to not have papers fly everywhere
10. Paper towels – this might seem obvious but an outdoor show has a bunch of dust/sand that flies in the air. I found myself wiping down some of my art (fortunately covered with plastic bags) because they were getting dusty.