As I finally finish the autumn art fair madness it got me thinking about all my strategies for surviving the kinds of events that I hate most.

Lots of artists, new and old alike, say that the public and promotion side isn't what they like. They're not good at it. Blah blah. Excuses. I hate it, I sometimes get physically ill (particularly with needle sharp excruciating back pain that disappears immediately after the day or week, at Edinburgh I couldn't stand up on the Friday), and if someone else would do it I'd be overjoyed. But that's a tough call - sometimes you just know it needs to be you there interacting. And at the end of the day I know I'm actually good on a stand and good at selling work (mine and others).

So in our line of work we can't use excuses; we have to be jack of all trades and that includes representing ourselves. Read that again: representing ourselves. Not necessarily just representing our work.

So here's my 5 point plan for art fairs:


1. PLAN
The more you plan in advance, the quicker and more stress-free the event can be. And in fact the better you plan, the more flexibility you will have for changing your set-up or approach once you're there because you aren't trying to work from chaos!

• Know the dates, times
• Know how you'll get there and back.
  
• Draw out your hanging plan
• Draw out your three hanging plans!
  Plan 1: first hang.
  Plan 2: rehang when stuff sells.
  Plan 3: ditto.
  A great thing to do is have areas planned by size so it's simply to replace work. So I might have a large 1m painting at the top, then a 50cm high by 1m long painting below, then a set of four 50cm squares below that. My "Plan 2" will have the same as replacement work! One 1m square, one 50x100, a set of 50cm squares! Plan 3, for me, is usually a whole rehang with different sizes.
  
  
• Consider different crowds over different days. For example, Sundays at a gallery art fair tends to be more impulse, small purchases. Plan a rehang differently for that day.
• Inventory all the work, including unframed work, and have a list with thumbnails and titles prices. Preferably in colour. These are great for showing people who are interested but would like to see more before you pull it out of storage.
• Plan wall signs, price tags, leaflets, postcards, business cards
• Plan supplies (tape, scissors, screws, drill, spare hanging wire)
• Plan for sales (credit card machine, slips, receipt book, mailing address book, pens)
• Plan your outfits
• Plan for weather/temperature (so have alternative outfits! Some indoor art fairs are very very hot under the lights.)
• Plan your wrapping (Some fairs will wrap sales, some you'll have to do yourself. Often wrapping for transport gets wrecked as you unwrap to hang. Bring extra. Bring carrier bags for small pieces.)

2. PARTNER

If you can, find someone to help. This can be a friend, family member, or even just another person who will be doing the same event. Help can be for:

• Packing and travel
• Unpacking and setting up
• Sales person on the stand
• Coffee and food fetcher
• "Dogsbody" (wrapping, boxing, filling out receipts, etc)
• Or just someone to watch the stand while you go to the loo!

3. PUSH AND PULL

All this stuff to do? Don't do it!

• Delegate (especially if this is something you're doing with a group)
  Make sure that everyone in the group has tasks. Give clear instructions for each task and then let go. (The 'plan' part in step 1 really helps here: a list helps you delegate better and make sure everything is covered.)
  
  
• Hire
  Some things you don't have to do, and the cost of having someone else do them can be either minimal or well worth it in terms of your sanity. Get a taxi. Have someone else print postcards and flyers rather than home printing. BUY things rather than make do and make it yourself. The great thing about our work is we can come up with creative solutions to things - but often artists forget that it makes more sense to buy something for $10 than spend 3 hours making your own.
  
  
• Swap
  Find someone else to do it for you. My example: I did the Affordable Art Fair with Skylark Gallery. Knowing I don't do well at art fairs I instead swapped with artists and did their upcoming shifts in the gallery and they did my art fair shifts. Everyone's happy, it's an equal swap but we were all doing tasks we were better at. That benefits everyone!
  
  This works equally well with bits and pieces of planning too. A friend can print but can't drive to the event? You have extra bubblewrap but no leaflets? If you're buddying up for a fair see who is better at what prep jobs and do each other's.
  

4. PAMPER

• Before the event: Do NOT work the day before the event. Just don't. Make sure your planning allows you a day off to relax, sleep in, go to bed early. Of course in the worst case scenario this also means you have a bit of extra time if something goes awry.
  
  
• During the event: Make sure you have plenty of food and drink, or a budget for it. Don't starve or dehydrate, you won't be a happy person on your stand. If you need herbal or pharmaceutical help, this is not the time to play the martyr. I take Rescue Remedy for nerves for small events (it's not enough for large ones); calming teas instead of coffee might help some people. Or you might need caffeine to keep going. If you know you usually have pain by all means take painkillers with you! (fwiw, I have to take both ibuprofin and a paracetamol + codeine tablet for my back during fairs)

5. RECUPERATE / CELEBRATE

Take the day AFTER the fair off. No work. You can unpack if you want but usually I try not to. For me it's my minimum time to recover from people. And of course you've probably worked a weekend - so now it's your weekend. And of course don't forget to thank all the folks who helped out. :)