I participated in the Pancakes and Booze art show at Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh for the first time last week. My favorite part was connecting with a lot of local artists. Unfortunately I didn’t sell any of my artwork. I did learn a lot from the experience though!
What makes Pancakes and Booze different from other art shows? It’s like a combo art gallery and night market with all-you-can-eat pancakes in a nightclub atmosphere. Hence the name, Pancakes and Booze. Pancakes and Booze brings the party atmosphere with a DJ spinning tunes. Earlier in the night, they were playing music from when I was in middle school and high school. Probably because the old folks are the ones who have money to spend! Later in the night they switched to more electronic dance music when the crowd started to thin out.
Location, location, location
Get to the venue early if you’re picky about where you set up! I arrived at setup only 15 minutes after the doors opened and there was already a line to get in. I picked what I thought was a good spot. High enough up on the wall to see my work mostly at eye level. Not too far from the entrance, but not next to the bar or bathroom either. Unfortunately, our space felt more like a hallway that people were passing through to get to the floor area by the stage or back to the bar or the pancake station. Next time, I would choose a different space.
Types of art at Pancakes and Booze
Artists showed a large variety of art at so many different prices. I saw paintings, wood work, drawings, linocut prints, blankets, jewelry. Most artists had a wall panel to show off their work. Some vendors had floor space with a table of their goods. We also had a nail artist and a potter with a wheel! A lot of people had prints and smaller items like stickers available. Original art work is a lot more expensive so the people who had prints had more sales.
During the Pancakes and Booze art show
Artists need to be close to their work during the show to handle their own sales. Being in the show with others helped since we were all in the same place of hanging out, waiting to see if people were interested in purchasing our work. I did see people stop to point to my cat and penguin illustrations. One of my fellow artists told me she heard several people talking about how cute my cat painting was. She noticed that animals and cute things seemed to sell well at shows. I enjoyed chatting with the other artists even if the music and background noise made it hard for me to hear what anyone was saying.
Selling artwork
The artists making sales offered a lot of different payment options like Venmo and CashApp. I’m looking into options for taking credit cards since that seems like the most secure. I didn’t realize how many credit card vendors were out there! All of them take a percentage of each sale plus a flat fee per transaction. Now I understand why stores have a minimum credit card sale… Still though, I trust a credit card transaction more than Venmo or CashApp which just feel a bit sketchy. And those apps charge transaction fees for vendors too. It’s only their family and friends which is a free transfer. Since I would be selling as a business, I can’t use a family and friends option (unless I want to get audited).
Breaking down Pancakes and Booze art show
Artists started packing up around 9:30-10 even though the event officially ended at midnight. We heard from someone that was pouring outside. I was going to stick it out since my weather app claimed the rain was going to stop soon. Every time I checked the app, the rain was ending in “15 minutes.” Around 11:30, when only artists were left, I decided it was time and packed my stuff up. They were giving out garbage bags so artists could protect their work.
Overall thoughts on the Pancakes and Booze art show
I would participate in another Pancakes and Booze art show. There is so much standing around though! Next market I participate in, I will bring a sketchbook to keep me occupied. My biggest takeaway is to start making prints of my work to sell.