Brandywine Arts Festival Is Cancelled
This disappointing but not surprising news just came through from the News Journal:
After 48 years of tradition, there will be no Brandywine Arts Festival this weekend.
With the third proposed venue for the festival announced last week, organizers could not get enough commitments from artists to go through with the festival at its most recent possible site in Hockessin.
“It’s a sad, sad shame,” festival executive director Janie Blanch said about the cancellation, announced this morning. “After the third change, they were done.”
Nice one, Ms. Blanch, making it seem like it’s all the artists’ fault. Of course, if it’s the artists’ fault instead of horrible mismanagement of the festival, this statement doesn’t sound that outrageous:
Blanch said she cannot refund all the artists and craftmakers who spent up to $360 a space at the festival.
“That is impossible to do. We spent money on advertising and all this other stuff you spend money on like the Web site,” she said. “I’m going to get in touch with a lawyer and find out what I do next.”
What a shame. I hope that the artists can get their money back and that someone can save the Brandywine Arts Festival for the future.
Tags: Brandywine Arts Festival
I am an artist who signed up to do, and paid to do the Brandywine Arts Festival. I have never been contacted by the promoter as to if I would do a festival at the third location. This is how I make my living and I count on the money I make each weekend to pay my bills. Of course I need to do a show this week end, and I would have gone to a third location even at this late date.
I was at another festival last weekend and no one I spoke to about this has been contacted by the promoter to go to another location. In fact she hasn’t been returning phone calls to artists who have called her.
I would like to see receipts to prove that this money was spent for advertising. What advertising? She didn’t even have a location to advertise about.
Sounds like we all need to be contacting a lawyer.
This was a good show. I hope someone who knows how to promote and run a show takes it over.
This is really a shame.
And I do hope that the artists are made whole here. Guess the guy in the other thread was wrong about some imminent solution.
If you were an artist who paid to participate in this, I hope you keep in touch with us to let us know what is going on with getting your funds back.
I too was accepted into the BAF for the first time this year. By that I mean my jury and booth checks were cashed. I was not notified by anyone for anything, no official acceptance, no notification on where my booth would be (I am in a wheelchair so this is hugely important for me), and the voice mailbox has been full for several days. I finally received a call today from Ms. Blanch informing me the festival has been cancelled. It is a shame, for the artisans, the community and the good name the festival has enjoyed for so many years. It sounded to me, however, that she inherited many of the problems she’s now facing and appriciate what a great undertaking she committed to. In the interst of self preservation and self respect however, I am interested, if other artisans are, in filing some sort of class action to insure we will be reimbursed for our fees. Does anyone know an attorney willing to represent us? I’m in the book if you want to contact me. Please though, no Obama ravings. Thanks for a place to vent.
From the beginning of the discussion in the paper about the BAF this year it sounded as though Blanche was in way over her head. It is a shame to lose this tradition in Wilmington. Hopefully next year the tradition can get new life under better direction.
We were accepted as a juried artist and paid the exhibitor fee. We have never been contacted to see if we still planned to exhibit. Over the past few weeks, I have called BAF several times and sent several emails to both the BAF email address and the Executive Director’s personal email address; we never received a response. Very very disappointing. I do not understand why we will not receive refunds, there seems to be some very bad management going on here.
I was contacted Sunday while at my day job. I told the BAF person that before I committed to the show, I wanted to know how many other artists were doing the show and how they were planning to make good on the advertising plan announced in the mid-august letter to accepted artists and artisans. I emphasized that I was willing to do the show once they supplied the information…
The BAF person said they were going to give admission passes to local radio stations – nothing more. They whined about how much money they had lost…. (Doing what??) I told them to call back when they had answers to my questions and to count me as undecided, but willing if they could answer those simple questions.
They have failed to respond to 4 e-mails now and several phone calls. None of my e-mails bounced, but Ms. Blanch indicated to a reporter that she had been unable to access the account or perhaps that the e-mails were lost (I forget….)
I have contacted the Delaware Attorney Generals’ Office and left my information for them to contact me. I will also likely be filing a small claims complaint in the very near future so Ms. Blanch needs to secure some representation and be paying for it out of her own funds. I believe the wheels of justice (criminal and civil) have been set in motion.
However, I wouldn’t put it past the BAF to be unable to provide an accounting of their financial transactions. But, if I have to, I will subpoena their bank records and business records. My suspicion is that the BAF was paying their personnel (IMO likely the Blanch family predominantly) on a regular basis.
The only advertising I ever saw was a Sunshine Artist listing which is not an ad, only a paid listing.. Sunshine Artist has lots of nice professionally created ads from other smaller festivals… what’s their problem??? They collected in excess of $50k from the artists in booth fees based on 150 participants. There was a refund cut-off date and the August letter to artists was past that date. The August letter indicated 150 artists/artisans were on board. They promised a big advertising program… Where????
Since they likely took in $50 K prior to June (my check was cashed May 16th, I believe), how is it that they could not pay the State Park past due fees and get on with the program??? IMO, I think that it is possible that after the State Park rejected them, they either passively or by plan were seeking to pull the plug on the event..
You have to wonder if they pulled 20,000 people at 6$/person for admission (of course this would require advertising), wouldn’t this have generated an additional $120,000 in revenue? Even 10,000 people would have pulled in $60,000 in revenue from the gate itself. You have to think this would have covered permits, security, shuttle busses, rentals, sanitation, and Park Fees….
Contrast that with the Delaware by Hand members show in Sussex Co. coming up at the end of the month… They have placesd paid ads in several Sussex publications, sent out press releases, public radio announcements, printed signs and generally have communicated well with both the public and their members… And this all for an event with 50 or less artists (so far).. BTW, they will still take last minute exhibitors. See http://www.delawarebyhand.org for further info
I have to agree about the artists being painted with the failure brush. Likely, if you got the registered, paid artists together, you’d find that the majority were willing to show up if they could pull their permits together. Instead, Janie pulled the plug on the very first business day after the holiday…
If artists have questions or want to kvetch, contact me at marks-art@earthlink.net
I say we do a Delaware Liberal Arts Festival at Twin Lakes next year!!!
but based on the money involved this thing was huge
Perhaps the artists should get together and approach the city of Wilmington to use the park. You wouldn’t need much advertising, since the festival has always been a given and I’m sure the News Journal would write an article about the event being on again.
I’m sure the News Journal would write an article about the event being on again.
anything to keep them from covering Dover
I was also accepted at the BAF show and my check was cashed. I still have not been called or contacted about the show being canceled. I just read about it. I will be talking to a lawyer and I contacted the Delaware Attorney Generals office a few minutes ago.
My first time trying this event and the worst happens..
I need to contact the Delaware Attorney General’s office. But being from Maryland I am not sure how to do so.
Is there an online link? Phone number??
No contact from Janie – no surprise.
Thanks for any information that might help.
Click here for the webpage with the DE AG office contact info.
I was also accepted into this show and was planning to drive up from Virginia when I read of the canceled show on-line. I have been waiting for my show information packet to arrive for the last few weeks as was promised by the promoter but thought perhaps it had been lost in the mail. Thank goodness I did not make the 6 hour drive to find an empty park. How inconsiderate and irresponsible of this promoter. I have been doing arts and craft shows for 15 years and have NEVER had a promoter do something this underhanded. I am disgusted that I will now have to fight to get my show fee refunded not to mention the loss of possible income from this show or any other I could have done this weekend. I have contacted the state attorney general office and am awaiting a return call.