SuperCute!

[SuperCute! at the East Atlanta Strut, 2007]

So I’m considering not applying for the East Atlanta Strut this year, and I’m pretty bummed about it. There are some new rules in effect that are pretty discouraging. It almost feels like they’re saying “Crafters Need Not Apply.” From the official application information pdf:

First off, they specify that works must have “no
 commercially
 available 
parts.” I sort of worry that the lunchboxes and utensils that I include in my Lunch Kits would work against me here.

They are also pretty anti-jewelry, which is a problem for my boothmates (and therefore me), since both of them make gorgeous artisan jewelry:

Attn 
Jewelers: 
In
 order 
to 
create 
a 
well-balanced
 quality 
market, 
we 
will 
limit 
the
 amount
 of 
space
 for
 jewelry. 
If
 you
 have 
completed 
an 
application
 and
 specified
 a 
medium 
other
 than 
jewelry, 
but 
intend
 to 
show 
jewelry 
in 
your 
booth, 
no 
more 
than
 5%
 of 
your 
booth
 can
 display 
jewelry 
and
 your
 booth
 photo
 must 
represent 
your
 jewelry 
display.



Five percent?? That is insane! Our booth is usually more like 20% – 30% jewelry, but I don’t think that qualifies us for the extremely competitive jewelry category! This alone makes me think it would almost be a waste of my nonrefundable application fee.

They’re also being more strict about booth sharing:

A 
booth 
can 
be 
shared 
by
 two 
artists 
ONLY 
(no
 groups, 
no 
co‐ops,
sorry).
 Artists
 sharing
 a 
booth 
must
 be
 represented
 in
 the
 required
 booth
 image.
 EACH
 artist 
must
 submit 
an 
application 
and
 jury 
fee.


I understand that they want us to honestly represent what our booths will look like, and I even get the separate applications, but separate fees? We share a booth to save on cash. And two artists per booth basically means that the three of us can’t do the show together. We can’t afford two booth spaces for the three of us, and we don’t even need that much space.

This whole thing is a real bummer, because I love doing the Strut, and I love East Atlanta! Part of me wants to figure out a way to make this work, but part of me sees it as a sign that I should just pull it together and try to do Crafty Bastards in DC. I met a bunch of the folks behind this show at the Summit of Awesome, and I also sort of fell in love with DC, if it’s possible to fall in love with a city in 5 very busy days.

What do you guys think? Am I over-reacting to these new rules? I am having my first glass of wine in almost two weeks, so that is not outside the realm of possibility.