artDC: a [very short] personal recap

I'm back from a whirlwind of a weekend at artDC. I did wind up manning the booth nonstop during show hours from Thursday night's opening reception to yesterday's close at 5pm. Since it was my idea, I felt compelled to take every shift, I guess! It was a blast, and a nice change of pace from sitting in the office. We were fortunate to be given one of the free non-profit booths to disseminate informaton on our organization and programs, so we were not there actually selling art like the larger gallery spaces. The jury is still out, it seems, on whether it was a successful event, but as far as I am concerned, we connected with a lot of really great people and were able to spread the word about what exactly it is that we do. I know that the show organizers expected somewhere around 10,000 people to walk through the doors, so I look forward to a final report in the near future.

The art on display was all, unfortunately, out of my price range because I did see a lot that I liked. I think the galleries were catering to much more established collectors than me.

Some personal highlights from my time at artDC:

• Watching some of the areas top art collectors narrow down their next big purchase
• Finally meeting the legendary Tim Tate and seeing his new glass work incorporating video
• Conversations with the proprietors of The Steps Gallery, Bristol, UK and Migration: A Gallery, Charlottesville, VA - both of whom hold motivational stories of following their dreams to enter the art world and open a gallery
• Getting lost in the Perpetual Art Machine
• Discovering that Gallery owners and uber art world people are much more down to earth than I previously thought
• Connecting with the other non-profits in the row and learning more about what is going on in this city of ours, specifically Take Me To The River, Black Artists of DC and the Lorton Arts Foundation- all have excellent missions to bring the arts to larger communities and through non-traditional venues

I'm looking forward to next year. I've heard that the organizers have signed a three year contract with the convention center, so if you missed it this time around, don't let it happen again!