SASKATCHEWAN CRAFT COUNCIL News LATE NEWSLETTER EXCUSES My apologies for the lateness of the SCC Newsletter. Due to a less than "text-book" surgery and some downtime of our email service (due to swithcing from SHAW to SaskTel), I have been unable to send the newsletter until today. Normal services have been resumed! [Colin] ALERT READER OF THE WEEK Congratulations to Everyone, you're all the winner of the "Alert Reader of the Week" award. Last edition's issue of the Newsletter had NO mistakes, and none of you spotted any! If you see what you consider to be a typo in this edition, send it to Colin Wallace.
This week, we invite you to explore and enjoy the following Saskatchewan Craft Council Member websites:
If you would like to share your website with the rest of the Craft Council members, send your web address to Colin Wallace. NEWS OF THE WEEK SELL MORE AT MARKETS! - As the pre-Christmas Craft market begins to draw near, we are offering the chance to become much better at selling your work. The SCC is contracting with Barb de la Sablonniere to offer all-day workshops on how to become more effective at presentation and sales. If numbers warrant, we will be offering one workshop in Saskatoon on Friday, September 28 and one in Regina on Monday, October 1. Ms. Sablonniere is a published author of a wide range of articles on effective communication and selling. She has presented workshops and seminars for groups ranging from the Government of Canada to the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership to Tourism Saskatchewan to the Chamber of Commerce. Participants will receive coaching on a wide range of topics including:
The workshops will be tailored specifically to meet the needs of Craftspeople selling at markets. Participants will also receive a personalized workbook for future study, reference, and reminders. The SCC will be offering these workshops on a cost recovery basis. The fee will be $150 for SCC members, and $200 for non-members. To sign up, or for more information, contact Donna at 653.3616 or e-mail at saskcraftcouncil@shaw.ca. We will need to know soon if there is sufficient interest to proceed with the workshops, so an early response would be very helpful. SASKATCHEWAN HANDCRAFT FESTIVAL - The Saskatchewan Handcraft Festival was held in the town of Battleford from July 20 to 22. Most marketer’s reported good sales for the event. Average reported sales went from $2,080 last year to $2,628 in 2007. Overall attendance was down slightly, from 2,196 last year to 2,053 this year. Marketers were asked to vote on which exhibitor had the best booth. The prize was won by Rus-tix (Sergej Sinicin). The SCC also got two volunteers to serve as “secret shoppers” to give an evaluation of the salesmanship and personal interaction of exhibitors. Each individual’s evaluation will be provided directly back to them – however, the secret shoppers also awarded a prize for best salesmanship to Natural Attractions Jewellery (Mary and Michael Giles). A new food concession operator Cando Catering of Cando, was on site. Their food met with very favourable reviews, and they have indicated a desire to return next year. The SCC conducted a survey of patrons who attended the Festival. They reported purchases of averaging $56.50 per person (ranging from a low of $0 to a high of $400.00), which would project to total sales for the market of $115,995. A significant number of patrons expressed a desire for a return to a larger show. Several expressed a desire to see a return to the opening of Dimensions at the SHF. Conversely, however, another significant group also indicated they prefer the smaller Alex Dillabough Centre as the venue for the event. Just over 20% of patrons expressed a desire for more wood craft – woodworkers might want to note this for next year. 67.4% of patrons were from The Battlefords, 21.7% were from other parts of Saskatchewan and 10.5% were from other provinces (primarily Alberta). 12.5% were attending for the first time, and 87.9 said they planned on returning next year. WINTERGREEN UPDATE - There are less than 150 shopping days till Christmas. Three of these are Wintergreen. This year, we will be building on the success of the Mudslinger's Challenge introduced in 2006. In addition to the media challenge, we will also be holding a marketer’s challenge. There will be an elimination tournament schedule drawn up, with exhibitors competing to win honour and glory. The judges will be patrons attending Wintergreen. We will have two pools – one for those juried in for ceramics, and another for those juried in for all other craft mediums. So...when you come to Wintergreen, be ready for a challenge and some fun in addition to a weekend of great sales. And...to help make Wintergreen a success, remember to look over your mailing lists and order dollar off and complimentary tickets from Chris. Last year, 13% of all patrons reported that they were at Wintergreen because of receiving a dollar off coupon. We will be trying some new marketing and promotion approaches this year (and will tell you about them as they become firmed up), but let’s keep doing the things that are proven to work. FALL CLEAN-UP! - The SCC will be holding a Craft and Art supply “garage sale” on September 8. It’s an ideal way to contribute to the success of the SCC while cleaning up your studio. If you have any left-over supplies or equipment that you are tyred of tripping over or working around, just drop the stuff off that the Craft Council. We’ll put it out for sale to aspiring craftspeople – young and old. Proceeds will be used to support SCC educational programming. UPCOMING EXHIBITION AT THE HAND WAVE GALLERY - Nisha Rocamora will be exhibiting all new works at the Handwave Gallery in her solo exhibition, "S-H-I-F-T", from August 4 to August 31, 2007. The exhibition opened on Sunday, August 5, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Watch for Nisha's new website coming soon! LIVING ARTFULLY UPDATE - Living Artfully (the new version of Waterfront) will be at the Mendel Art Gallery on August 18 this year. The Saskatchewan Environmental Society has joined our on-going partnership with the Mendel. This means that the traditional Craft market will be joined by:
One final point to remember – with the changes to the event and the corporate sponsorship, there will be no admission charged to patrons. GALLERY NEWS - You only have until August 19 to see the exhibition Perspectives by Zane Wilcox and Paul Lapointe at the SCC Gallery. Guestbook inscriptions from this show include the following:
Opening on Friday, August 24 will be Transforming Light:The Power of Glass, a special juried show by the Saskatchewan Glassworkers Guild. Come learn the Three R’s: Refraction, Reflection and Radiance. COUNTING CRAFT'S ECONOMIC IMPACT - One of the difficulties in getting governments to give Craft a proper level of support is the lack of data on the impact we make on Canada’s economy. The Craft Working Group of Trade Team Canada (led by Tom McFall of the Alberta Craft Council) has worked for several years to attempt to convince Statistics Canada to begin to collect data on the impact of Craft artists and artisans. Recently, officials at Canadian Heritage have been convinced of the need for data on the economic impact of Craft. (In the United States, a massive study by the Craft Organization Development Association found that Craft contributes $13.8 Billion to the American economy) As a result, Statistics Canada will be looking to see how it now categorizes and counts a sample of Craftspeople. It is hoped that this study will be the beginning of a process leading to a proper accounting of the Craft sector’s contribution to Canada’ economy. A number of SCC members have been asked for information to allow this study to proceed – thanks to all of you for your prompt responses. COUNTING YOUR COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS - Volunteers will be phoning you over the next month to conduct a survey about how much volunteer activity Craftspeople contribute to their communities. The information will be used to help demonstrate to funding agencies the importance of the survival and prosperity of the Craft sector. The project is being led by one of our energetic new Board members, Dale Anne Potter of Morse. When you get your phone call, you can expect to be asked about:
We will keep individual information confidential, and only report on the aggregate totals. We know that Craftspeople are a generous group who play a key role in their communities – it is time we documented this contribution. PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART CRAFT SHOW UPDATE - On Thursday, July 19 the SCC Gallery was the site of a press conference at which the Hon. Carol Skelton, Minister of National Revenue, announced that the SCC has received a $15,000 grant from the Trade Routes Program of Canadian Heritage to conduct a marketing campaign for Saskatchewan Craft tied to this year’s Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show. “Culture is an integral part of our Government’s trade agenda, and we are dedicated to helping arts and cultural entrepreneurs succeed at home and abroad,” said Minister Skelton at the Press Conference. “Our Government is pleased to assist the Saskatchewan Craft Council by helping promote exports of Canadian cultural products at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show.” SCC Chair Ken Wilkinson pointed out that with 3% of Canada’s population, Saskatchewan Craftspeople won 12% of the spots available in the prestigious show. In a related development, the marketing piece featuring Saskatchewan Craftspeople has been fully subscribed by members interested in presenting themselves to galleries in the North Eastern United States. Production of the book is underway.
We are pleased to welcome the following new member to the Saskatchewan Craft Council:
Melody Kozmeniuk has been asked to create our Premier a sculpture for the 25th anniversary of the Premiers Business Dinner in September. If you have news to pass on to the SCC, email our publications coordinator, Colin Wallace. OPPORTUNITIES FOR SCC MEMBERS INCREASE YOUR SALES AT MARKETS: The Saskatchewan Craft Council will be offering workshops on how to become more effective in sales at the markets. For detailed information, refer to the "News of the Week," section at the beginning of this newsletter. LEARN ABOUT SOFA (International Exposition of Sculpture, Objects and Functional Art): This is one of the largest Fine Craft markets in the United States - held in Chicago in the fall and New York in the winter. The Canadian Consulate in Chicago offers an orientation program to SOFA which features educational sessions, networking opportunities, a visit to SOFA, and local gallery visits. For more information, visit SOFA's website: www.sofaexpo.com or www.chicago.gc.ca under "Trade and Investment."
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