I’ve been asked to speak at the annual board dinner for the American Craft Council in a few weeks about the DIY movement. Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m not a fan of labels, but I am excited for the opportunity to talk with the ACC board about the needs of the next generation of crafters.
I was able to get a list of questions posed by the ACC board in advance, and I wanted to throw a few of them out to you. After all, I’m not just speaking for myself here. So please, share your thoughts in the comments so that I can make sure your voice is heard when I meet with the ACC board.
What can the Council do to inspire more of the DIY crafters to participate in our shows?
How do we bridge the gap between the two “groups” of fine craft and the DIY makers?
What do you think of the term DIY? Do you have an alternative?
What are the biggest artist needs in the DIY craft community?
How can ACC be valuable to the DIY artists?
Do you see yourself as part of the DIY movement or separate from it?
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I’ve been participating in some events hosted by Gary Rosenthal of the Gary Rosenthal Collection. He has been in the fine craft business for 30 years. I’m not sure if he does the ACC show but I know he just got back from the NY gift show. I personally have been in business for 5 years and have done shows like the Craftsmen Classics and Eastern Market.
Personally I view the groups a little different. I view them as production
(fine craft) and retail (diy). The first day or two of the ACC show in Baltimore is a wholesale show. Many Retail artists don’t yet have a staff or a product that they can reproduce for a profit. Many of the retail artists i know may have one or two wholesale accounts and mostly they are consignment. I think your blog and guide are great for teaching retail artists how to incorporate a wholesale business into their current structure.
I think one of the biggest issues facing a retail artist when they want to take their business wholesale is money. First it’s the cost of the shows. There are many MANY good shows were retail artists make $500 to $1000 a day and the cost for their booth is $150 or less. I’m not sure exactly what the Acc booth fees are this year but i believe they are about $2000 for a 10 by 10 for 4 days. That’s $500 a day in booth fees it takes a lot of no production items to make that profitable. The second money issue concerning retail artists is wholesale terms. The wholesale buyers want at least “net 30”. This means to the retail artists that they have to pay for the shows months in advance and then aren’t going to get paid for their items till 3o days after they send them. This is VERY VERY scary to a retail artist. I know you know all this Megan, I just think ACC needs to hear it. They have been in business for so long they may have forgot. I mention all of the wholesale stuff because that is how most of the retail artists i know view the ACC show.
The biggest problem the ACC shows have for inspiring new retail artists to do their show are the “fine artists” they have now. What i mean by this is that every fine artist I’ve asked about the ACC shows have told me that they have been disappointed with their sales there. It makes retail artists think it is to risky to put up the money need to do the show.
I personally find myself growing in to a production artist. My products are reproducible and i have my price point worked out and tested. I plan to do my first wholesale show this year. It will be the ABC Kids Expo. And yes, I’m Scared to death.
Patrick
hey megan –
so I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately with all the talk of the trade fairs happening – I’ve also been listening to some old ACC podcasts, so I’m kinda back and forth.
I think I’m on the border of maybe being able to make it into a show as a non “alternative” artist (if I worked on my pics/website/everything, of course). But I’m concerned that the type of buyer they bring is still really attached to a more conservative style. I wonder if they are wooing any new brick and mortars with a more modern aesthetic – I actually wonder how many new brick and mortars there are that can buy wholesale vs. consignment. I wonder about the difference in buyer at NYIGF vs. ACC. Do they cross over at all? I think if an etsy person can get into ACC and make bank, then all this talk will go away, DIY’ers will want to get into it, I think it really comes down to business. Who wants to kill themselves trying to get into a show, get totally vibed when they are there, then have crappy sales? I think that’s the rumor going around about some of these shows, founded or not.
I also wanted to address what I think is a big issue that no one really talks about which is affordability. People like to talk generically about this by calling it “quality”. I think much of the work at ACC is higher priced, which is totally justifiable, but it’s not affordable to the average person. There is much talk on those ACC podcasts about “collectors”. I don’t think they’re talking about the same kind of collectors that Etsy tries to create. Many more people can spend $100 on a necklace, but not $600. I think previously (before etsy times) there were only 2 options – really high end craft and mass produced junk. DIY came in because people saw a need for a place that sold things that wasn’t quite either. DIY has more to do with the way we sell our wares than the manner in which they are produced. Many couldn’t make it into ACC but the wares were certainly better than flea market style selling, so etsy was born. and please try to get the point across that we are helping to educate a generation of people raised on Target quality items accessible at their fingertips on the web – and alot of ACC & guild people aren’t on the web! Their first step in making a conscious decision to buy from Etsy will hopefully lead to them to eventually buying that $600 vase. That first step is the one that we really need to fight for – otherwise we’ll all vanish.
But on the other end, total devil’s advocate here, I think the standards of ACC are important, I think they champion the master craftsmen who are the backbone of this country. (dramatic statement maybe? but I mean it!) I wouldn’t want to see the show diluted just to say they’ve included this group. if anything, I think we all need to step it up (myself include).
If ACC continues to accept emerging artist or alternative or whatever they want to call it, I would suggest intermingling them, a small sign can be placed in the booth with that label if they need it, “DIY” is a kind of negatively associated with Home Depot, I’d suggest “emerging artist”. I understand it’s going to be weird. AND include printmakers and paper people!! why is this such an issue?! on the idea of attracting more varied buyers, maybe offer deals, like free entry or hotel packages or something for first time buyers to get some younger shop owners/magazine editors/bloggers in there. I think if they do they’ll be interested a lot of work from both newbies and veterans. It would help everyone!
whoah I’m blabbing on and on – I look forward to hearing what everyone else has to say!
Yet another opportunity for the ACC to “listen”…. Too little too late for someone like me who can do many, MANY other shows. They’ve had 4 odd years to change the “alt-craft” section, to reach out to past alt crafters, and to be engaged in the many conversations that have gone on about this exact conversation.
Are they expecting you to talk up the Indie Craft movement again? Anyone who has been part of it knows how incredible it is and how much it has evolved. Calling it DIY is so outdated it’s funny. Calling it DIY does a disservice to those of us who make art and craft and have been selling it online and at shows for years now.
At this point I don’t think the ACC can do anything to entice me anymore. There are plenty of places that embrace Indie craft and let’s face it, Indie artists are selling like crazy without the help of the ACC.
Good luck Megan.
I think the divide between the so-called DIY and fine craft is much the same as the divide between fine craft and fine art. Issues that play into it include tradition, education, and in some cases snobbery. It’s Art with a big “A” vs. art with a little “a.” Instead of trying to define craft, maybe the ACC needs to define its values and then admit people to their shows whose work exemplifies those values without labels or breaking them into arbitrary, devisive categories. I appreciate that they want to be inclusive, but at some point their being malleable is just going to leave them a shapeless blob.
I agree with Patrick and the other posters. I think I would like to do a wholesale show but what I make is generally OOAK. It is only me and so I don’t do any production work. I beadweave and forge and fabricate metal. I mostly sell retail at art shows and the idea of wholesale shows is a little scary. The cost of the show, the net 30, the need to fill a large order of the same thing are all things that concern me. My pieces are a little pricier than many indie shows and I don’t like the DIY title – sounds like anyone can do it – home depot stuff – also sounds like the products should be inexpensive, which mine are not particularly. Just my 2 cents.
I agree with what others have said as well. I think the most important message the ACC needs to hear is what you said in your open letter to them last year: they need to stop perpetuating the us vs. them vibe that is so rampant in today’s culture. Craft should not provide yet another forum at which to display such divisiveness. Craft has all the ingredients needed for a large, welcoming, inclusive community. So do that, ACC. Bring us together. Let us all learn from each other.
I guess the more I think about this topic, the more I wonder why anyone is bending over backwards for the ACC to take notice of the great things happening in craft (for years now). Isn’t it kind of their jobs to know what’s going on out there? Why not just let them have their fine art show and let the artists and crafters decide if the ACC is right for them.
There are certainly many avenues a crafter can take these days and all roads DO NOT have to lead to the ACC shows.
To answer a few of the questions:
What can the Council do to inspire more of the DIY crafters to participate in our shows?
I think it is a matter of spreading the word that ACC shows attract retail and wholesale buyers that aren’t put off by handcrafted price points.
How do we bridge the gap between the two “groups” of fine craft and the DIY makers?
I think there always has been and always will be a group of crafters who are not appropriate for ACC. Beyond quality of the product, I’m not sure that babies onsies handprinted with clip art images as an example, are appropriate for an ACC show. Is it a DIY craft – yes. Does it support the mission of ACC – I don’t think so.
What do you think of the term DIY? Do you have an alternative?
To me DIY denotes crafters imitating mass produced goods. Crocheted fridge magnets and crocheted reusable Swiffer pads are DIY. Crocheted wall hangings that show a complex and pleasing use of color, material, and texture wholly designed by the maker is craft.
Karen makes a lot of good points. I will disagree with her about the typical ACC buyer being more conservative. I think they will respond to fresh product as much as anyone.
For me it has everything to do with scale. Small shows are a good fit for smaller indies. Larger shows are a good fit for larger indies. The ACC is a large show. Just as I wouldn’t hire a large expensive design firm that has a fortune 500 list of clients to design my logo or marketing collaterals, I don’t consider shows like the ACC or NYIGF good fits with the creative practice I envision for myself and am developing.
I also think the internet has made some of the big trade shows unnecessary. It has empowered solo creatives in the craft community, who may not fit any conventional molds, in the same way it has revolutionized indie music.
Why no follow up Megan? I was hoping to hear what was talked about at your meeting. You tweeted about your title “Stop calling it DIY”. A few people responded to this post. They took the time to answer the questions that you were given by the ACC. Why no blog post about what feed back you got from them?
the honest answer is that i’ve just been really busy since i did the acc talk – i do plan on following up, but knowing that people are interested means i’ll make it a priority!