Displaying at art shows

I registered for an indoor art show in my small city. The city has no gallery as of yet, and this show is mainly to display local artists' work. I have one 4 foot square panel to display on. What is the best way to display: unframed prints on artboard/canvas, or framed and matted prints? Also, what should I have on hand for prints to sell?

Thanks,

Raymond

I would suggest matted but no frames. Mats do make the prints stand out. You may have some inventory on hand and possibly a computer with WiFi to get onto your website to show your portfolio. Good Luck. The market is kind of soft so I find people just don't want to pay for anything.

I have found canvas prints to be very popular although sales of anything are a bit slow. Matted prints are great but I found a few framed ones are a good accent to a display. Also, I would have plenty of business cards handy and in view where people could contact you later should they decide to buy something and for other opportunities. Include your phone number, email and website on your business card- you'd be surprised how many forget that detail.

Be sure to have a good supply of your business cards, postcards or other promotional material. You may not sell anything but it is an opportunity to increase your visibility beyond what you show if you can pass out things which lead people to your website. Also see if you can collect email/snail mail addresses for future marketing efforts.

Good morning, Raymond
I will take a different view than Ed. You really do not have much room for display here and you want to showcase what you have as well as you possibly can. I would hang framed pieces and indicate both a framed and a matted price. If allowed and space permits, you could put a bin in front of the wall containing matted prints. Is the show just for a day or two (as in an outdoor art festival), or will the images be hung for some period of time while unattended (as in a gallery)? If it is the latter you may want to have a portfolio of 8x10's in a binder for people to thumb through. Good luck.

Raymond, I have found small local displays to actually be quite lucrative, especially if the photos are of that area. I discovered a very effective method by accident when I signed up too late for a booth at a local arts/crafts fair. Because I didn't have enough time to pre-print I just displayed a few samples of matted prints to show what they could look like and set up a computer and monitor with a slide show of hundreds of my photos. I set up an order book where people could write down their mailing address, write down a photo name/number, specify a size and pre-pay for a print. I had people spending as much as an hour in front of the computer screen and picking out multiple photos to have printed. One lady from Anchorage ordered enough prints to decorate her new home. I only sold 4 matted prints from the display but sold well over 100 print requests from the computer. Many prints were selected because they struck a chord or a memory rather than because they were spectacular or of high quality. I was printing and mailing frantically after work and on weekends for two weeks after the show but it was certainly worth it. I mailed rolled up prints in a mailing tube and didn't have to do any matting or framing. Since I charged a postal fee up front along with the print price I had zero overhead. The especially good news of this method is that you only print photos that are sold. There is no inventory or wasted paper and ink. I have duplicated this method 3 more times with the same or even better results (in the same tiny town, no less). The profit margin is much higher also as there is little or no profit in matting and framing, especially when you consider your labor time. Another advantage is that many more of my photos got out to a much wider audience and everyone thinks of me as a source when they want local photos for presents, awards, presentations, etc. The down side is that you (or somebody else) has to be there and you have to have at least a laptop for display plus a small table to take orders and money so it may not work well or at all for a gallery type of show.

Whatever you end up doing, I wish you the best of luck!

Thanks for the help and advice everyone! I actually have to panels but am using one for paintings and one for photography. It is a two day show. I'm not sure if I can have a table set up, but we are required to be present for a big part of both days. I'm thinking I'll mat all of the prints and maybe frame a few as well.