I got there about 3:00 in the afternoon. The rain at that point was fairly light and we already had small but steady stream of visitors. As the rain picked up, traffic fell off. Because the rain cooled things off we were able to open the windows and enjoy the breeze.
As afternoon drifted to evening, the rains slacked off and the visitors picked up. A number of friends from Broadway Baptist came by, though a competing event (that I would have attended myself, should I not have been otherwise committed) kept a number of folks away. Quite few old TCU cohorts and work friends made their way over.
Catching up with old friends was probably the most enjoyable part of the evening. Usually I do that at other people's art events; it was a nice change to have my art on the walls. If I'd bothered to price things I think I would have sold several pieces (I've got a couple of people I need to get back to on that topic).
We finally closed up shop around 9:15. I stopped off at the venue my brother was volunteering for and ended up giving their evening's guitarist a break by playing for about 15 minutes. The audience consisted of the other volunteers who didn't seem to mind one way or the other whether I was there. I go home about 10:30 to discover the neighbors had "pigged" me (local joke) -- part of the pigging included a bottle of Tanquery gin.
All in all, the evening was a success. The CRNT people were as nice as could be, the space (an old converted house) was well-suited to my rather domestic scenes. I've taken the show down (this was a one night only event) and am now in search of my next venue.
Thanks to all who came by or made this possible.
2 comments:
Hi Donna, glad you could stop by.
When I referred to "minimal publicity," I was talking about publicity by the kind people at Courage and Renewal, North Texas did. They'd never done an event like this and it was a learning curve for them.
As to the thousands spent by Fort Worth South, Inc.: while they are a non-profit, they're *not* a charity. The FWSI website states among its primary goals:
a. Attract new residents and new residential development,
b. Support the growth of the district's existing businesses and institutions and
c. Attract new businesses to the Near Southside.
FWSI's board and members are comprised principally of developers and members of the medical industry. While a fun event, Arts Goggle is as much about keeping their property values up as it is the fine arts. We're just another coat of paint on someone's old building.
Finally, I spent a week and several hundred dollars getting art framed and in a condition to show (I dare say I'm not alone in this) -- this in addition to the time spent creating the work.
While it may have been free to you, the public, I'd hardly call it free for the artists.
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