Nine years ago, my employer decided that we should hold an art show on the park-like front lawn of the campus at the College of Medicine at Rockford. Art on the Lawn, a juried event of fine art in various media, was born. Because I worked at the College as graphic design supervisor, and because I had participated in and actually directed a few small local shows, I became the show director, coordinating nearly everything from start to finish. Art on the Lawn grew from a community venue to a large regional show attracting artists from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin, as well as New York, Arizona and Georgia.

My functions have included (but are not limited to) submitting show information to the various online and print artists' resources; artist recruitment; database management; answering correspondence, telephone calls and e-mails; art direction, graphic design and production for all show materials (call to artists, application and confirmation forms, posters, postcard invitations, tickets, booth numbers, name tags, advertising, program, purchase award certificates, volunteer T-shirt design, etc.); jury recruitment and participation; writing and mailing all acceptance/rejection letters; return of slides to artists; serving as artist liaison; PR appearances on TV and radio; all financial accounting of artist fees; show layout and site map; miscellaneous mailings; coordinating with food, volunteer and entertainment committees; set up and troubleshooting the day of the show, and an evaluation mailed to artists after the show. I have also been a participating artist in Art on the Lawn since the first year.

My employer declined to host the show after 2006. Undaunted, I made inquiries and secured a new sponsor and venue. Two years later, I'm still running the show for Rockford College. It is my privilege and a real treat to work with them, and to meet and interact with all the artists, many of whom have been with us since our first show. I'm now looking forward to sharing my expertise and skills with others as a consultant. For information on promoting and producing a successful art show, please e-mail me.

To see the Art on the Lawn promotional postcard from 2007, click here.

all rights reserved | all images and content © 2008 by barbara d. berney