Texas State Arts and Crafts Fair 2013

So despite the most chaotic and confusing weekend ever, we actually came out with a little bit of money and a lot of knowledge at the Texas State Arts and Crafts Fair 2013.

(For the short version scroll to the bottom of the page and read the final paragraph.)

(From Left) Nicole Kutzer, Teresa Miles, and Reanna Lee
Standing in our Student Booth

Myself, Reanna Lee, Nicole Kutzer, and AJ Lopez III were accepted to have not one but two booths at the art fair in Kerrville, Texas on Memorial Day Weekend. If we knew how much trouble we would have had this past weekend I do not know if we would have gone through with it, but I for one am glad we tried. 

We first found out about the fair about two months ago by a Midwestern State University recent alumni. She told us about an opportunity the Texas Arts and Crafts Education Foundation (TACEF) set up for college students that allowed them to have their own booth at an arts and crafts fair and not only have a chance to sell their work next to accomplished artists but have a chance to make scholarship money as well. We had an idea to print T-shirts live at the fair using a print making technique called Linoleum Relief Printing. Add to that a wonderful new textile ink created by the company called Drive-By-Press and we were in business to sell t-shirts. The only problem is our idea was to good to simply be a part of the student booth so we were given the opportunity to have a demonstrators booth as well.

Our booth Guardian

After weeks of preparation we were able to talk to a few people at Midwestern about making this event school sponsored. A Special thanks needs to go out to our professors, Catherine Prose and Dr. Anne Marie Leimer and Gary Goldberg for helping us prepare. Also Magaly Rincon-Zachary who is in charge of the EURECA program at MSU and Provost Dr. Betty Stewart. With their help we were able to get most of our trip paid for by the school! We are extremely appreciative of all the help we have received and I am very proud to say that I am a Mustang.

Then Thursday finally arrived and after a sleepless week we drove 7 hours hauling a horse trailer full of artwork to Kerrville, Texas. Despite the lack of sleep we were feeling really good about the whole event. Right before we got to Kerrville we get a call from AJ about some complications with our booth spaces in Kerrville. Apparently there was some miscommunication between the officials in charge of the event. We were prepared to bring our own tent and were ready to get there and set up but instead we had a tent (a very leaky tent I might add) set up for us and a lot of confusion as to where we were suppose to go. I am grateful that AJ was able to settle a lot of that for us before we arrived. We were to late to set up anything except our walls for the student booth on Thursday night. We also set up one of my pieces to guard our booth for the night. We were told to come back as early as 7am on Friday so we could get everything ready for the opening on Friday night at 5pm.

Preparing our trailer for the rain at 4am on Friday

After a long day we were finally able to get a few hours of rest before Mother Nature decided to give us an early wake up call. At 4 o'clock in the morning on Friday, we woke up to an alert warning us of thunderstorms heading our way. Thank God we have great technology because that weather alert allowed us to rush out to our horse trailer and get it water proofed with tarps and massive amounts of duck tape before the rain really began. It saved our artwork from being ruined. We managed to get just a wink of sleep more before heading up to the Fair grounds at 7am when we were told we could come back. The workers in charge of the artists was there to great us only to reveal that the ones in charge of our booths was not there yet. So we waited and tried to get another hour of precious sleep.

Rain on Friday Afternoon 

They finally arrived at 9:45am and we were finally able to start setting up our booths at about 10:20am. Three hours after were were told we could set up. Then came the fun battle of the leaky tent. We were lucky to have 4 people and were able to get our student booth set up. We also had to take down the leaky tent they provided. We wrestled with it in the mud for a few hours before we finally got our tent set up to demonstrate and sell t-shirts. Some how we were able to set up both our booths with minutes to spare. Covered in mud and soaking wet we then proceeded to wait for the 3-10 judges who were suppose to come and judge both our work and our booth set up at the student tent. We didn't know how many judges we would meet with and when they were suppose to arrive but were told to wait because if we missed them we would not be able to talk with them at a different time. One judge came by, then another and finally a third before the fair ended at 9pm. We were confident in what the judges had to say and we were eager to hear back the results promised that night or early the next morning. The rain let up some by the end of the day but the crowds never showed. Tired, muddy and hungry we had to then deal with the complication of what to do with the tent we took down. After speaking with officials we returned the parts of the tent that we had and finally made it to bed with hopes of sunny tomorrows.

Getting interviewed about our demonstration booth.

Saturday morning arrived and Mother Nature showed her power once again. Rain fell for most of the day and we were covered in Mud once again. What surprised me the most was that the fair did have some what of a plan to help with the rain. We received a wooden board to place leading up to our booth so people wouldn't have to walk in the mud but no straw was given out to help soak up the rain water. I am glad we did put up our own tent because we would have had a miserable day dealing with the rain. As the rain slowed down, people began slowly trickling in to the fair. We were able to make a few sales. To our surprise, announcements for scholarships never came, but a fourth judge did come by. I am glad we were all actually there because we would have missed her completely. The fourth judge did explain why announcements had not been posted but by the end of Saturday we never heard anything.

Saturday night, AJ and I took off to Fredericksburg, Texas (about 20-30 minutes away) to go to Mass while Nicole and Reanna hooked up with some friends we made at the fair. On our way back from Fredericksburg, AJ and I found a small hole in the wall Bar and Grill called "Wing Kings" to watch the San Antonio Spurs beat the Grizzles in the third game of the Western Conference Finals. The locals were wonderfully friendly and it was a good relaxing way to wrap up a crazy night.

Flash Flood Warning on Sunday at the
Texas State Arts and Crafts fair in Kerrville, Texas

That night we were able to get the most sleep we had gotten in well over a week, but once again rain threatened our fair experience. In San Antonio, Texas (an hour and a half away) there was so much rain  on Memorial Day weekend that there were flash floods all over the city. So when we received a warning about flash floods possible for Kerrville until 11:30am we got a little worried. Especially because we were only about 200 yards from an already bloated river. Soon after the fair opened for it's final day, the rain came. It rained and rained and just when we thought it might stop, it rained some more. One good thing about the rain is that they finally announced the Scholarship winners and Reanna received a scholarship for her horse. We were very excited and that is when things began to look up a little. The rain slowed down and eventually stopped. The crowds picked up around 3pm and the fair finally ended at 5pm.

Printing T-Shirts at our Demonstration Booth

Then the fun began again and we rushed to pack so I could make it back to the Falls for work at 6am. about four hours after the fair ended we finally left Kerrville behind.  Overall it was a successful weekend despite the rain. After talking to some of the other artists this was a very very bad fair when it came to sales. The rain just ruined the weekend for everyone and they said to not get discouraged by the crowds.

While I am grateful for all of the opportunities TACEF gave us, the lack of communication between myself and those in charge of the student booth and demonstrators booth made things a lot more difficult. There was not a lot of marketing for the event and there didn't seem to be a lot of preparation made to handle the rain and the challenges that they faced.

Well here is to a crazy weekend and hopes for more fair opportunities in the near future! Now back to working on my senior show!

Here is the short version...

Seven hours of driving, Confusion about "tents" vs "booths," Rain making a 4am wake up call, Setting up a booth, taking down a tent, setting up a tent, MUD, Confusion about Judges, Little to No crowds, did I mention it rained, small crowd, 30 minute drive to Church, SPURS WIN, more rain, survived a flash flood, actual sunshine, slightly larger crowd....slightly, Won a Scholarship, sold some art, take down booth, take down tent, did I mention it rained, 7 hour drive, work at 6am, sleep! Texas State Arts and Crafts Fair 2013